Posted on January 28, 2013

GAVI Alliance Receives Pledges Totaling $25 Million in Matched Funds

The GAVI Alliance, a Geneva-based nongovernmental organization that works to deliver life-saving vaccines to developing countries, has announced commitments totaling $12.5 million from Comic Relief, LDS Charities, and Vodafone.

Announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the pledges will be matched by the UK Department for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the GAVI Matching Fund. Comic Relief, a London-based charity that uses the power of entertainment to fight poverty and social injustice committed £5 million ($8 million), bringing its total commitment to the alliance to $12 million, while LDS Charities, the relief and development arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, pledged $3 million, bringing its total commitment to $4.5 million. Vodafone, a leading mobile communications company, pledged in-kind contributions valued at $1.5 million to explore how mobile technology can help boost childhood vaccination levels in sub-Saharan Africa.

Launched in 2011, the GAVI Matching Fund provides a one-to-one match for donations to GAVI from private organizations, their employees, and customers. The latest pledges bring the total raised through the matching initiative to $78 million.

"These new pledges point to the power of public-private partnerships in helping immunize the world's poorest children," said GAVI Alliance board chair Dagfinn Høybråten. "The generous investments by our partners Comic Relief, LDS Charities, and Vodafone bring not only critical funding, but also strong advocates for children's immunization who can bring significant visibility to this issue."