From singers and Presidents to Ministers and advocates, GAVI Alliance supporters explain why they are backing the Alliance’s vision for 2020


The need to go further

Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission  

"Alliance partners have collectively immunised nearly half a billion children - a number that represents nearly the entire population of the European Union. This is indeed an excellent achievement. But there is more to do. We can go further and must go further, both in the public and private sector."


Immunise 300 million additional children

Dagfinn Høybråten, GAVI Alliance Board Chair  

"The movement that begins today, GAVI’s replenishment, will enable us to do great things. In the period 2016 to 2020 an additional US$ 7.5 billion is needed to immunise 300 million additional children. To put that in bonus terms, it’s somebody’s brother, somebody’s sister, somebody’s son, somebody’s daughter. That cannot be measured in dollars. It is un-measureable."


Country leadership

President Mulatu Teshome, Ethiopia  

"When you take Ethiopia’s experience into account, GAVI is investing and financing the country programmes we have in the health sector. So the impact it is making is not GAVI’s programme it is Ethiopia’s programme but we are doing it together as partners."


A healthy future and a healthy world

Pe Thet Khin, Minister of Health, Myanmar  

"A fully funded GAVI Alliance for 2016 to 2020 is very crucial. The progress we have made over the past decade cannot be lost. And together we must build up on this investment for a healthy future and a healthy world."


Strengthen routine immunisation

Saira Afzal Tarar, Minister of State for Health, Pakistan  

"We must strengthen our routine immunisation because that is the way forward."


Return on investment

Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International Development, United Kingdom  

"The question I have as an accountant is if I have one more pound where would I spend it? And I can honestly say that GAVI is one of our best investments because we do get a huge return on that investment."


A new way of working

Liliane Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, The Netherlands  

"First and foremost it is about a healthier life for children globally. But it is also that you have modeled a way of working that I hope many others will follow. Because this is the way it should be done because it’s effective, and no other reason."


Changing the world

Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany  

"GAVI has changed the world because it has created an atmosphere that everybody can contribute to and see results … This isn’t only a moral question. It’s about realising the full potential of the younger generations, not to fall ill and to be able to fulfill the creativity and energy of young people."


Long-term commitment

Luis Riera Figueras, Human and Society Development Director, European Commission  

"We have been backing GAVI from the very beginning and I think co-hosting this conference is an indication of the heavy commitment, not only of the Commission but of the European Union as a whole in favour of GAVI."


Collaboration

Yvonne Chaka Chaka, UNICEF Ambassador and President of the Princess of Africa Foundation  

"What I like most about GAVI is that they don’t work alone. Collaboration is the most important thing because you can’t do anything on your own; you need four or five braids. The collaboration with other people and the fact that they are working with government in other countries contributes to the impact they are having in giving people the hand up instead of the hand out."


The power to change

Erin Hohlfelder, ONE  

"For many children, simply because they can’t access the basic vaccines we take for granted, they don’t have the chance to grow up to be the next Didier Drogba, Per Mertesacker, Mia Hamm, or Abby Wambach. That’s an unacceptable reality that we have the power to change, starting by securing new financing for GAVI."

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