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Paris, 4-5 March 2010 - GAVI's trademark innovative approach to funding immunisation was put on show at the Marketplace for Innovative Financial Solutions in Paris this week.
Both the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) and the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) received front-row attention throughout the two-day conference, with Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, singling out both initiatives as among the "most encouraging" examples of innovative thinking in financing development.
Innovative financing is a simple idea, now becoming reality. Bernard Kouchner, France's Foreign Affairs Minister |
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Hosted by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank, the Marketplace brought together hundreds of development practitioners from around the world to discuss fresh ideas on financial solutions for development.
"There is a crucial need to find additional financing and increase innovation in order to maintain momentum toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Innovative financing is a simple idea, now becoming reality," said France's Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner in his opening remarks to the conference.
"France plays a key leadership role in innovative financing, illustrated by its strong involvement in the successful International Finance Facility for Immunisation," added Kouchner. France is the second biggest donor to the IFFIm after the UK, committing €1.2 billion to the table.
Referring to the IFFIm, Jean-Michel Severino, head of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), noted that GAVI was among the good examples of increasing predictability of development co-operation and reducing risks for developing countries.