ISGlobal Becomes Member of the Civil Society Organisation Steering Committee for Gavi, the Global Vaccine Alliance

ISGlobal has become a member of the Gavi CSO Steering Committee, a group of 19 civil society organisations from 15 different countries that guide the work of more than 3,000 CSOs that seek to ensure access to vaccines for children, even in the poorest countries.   

Civil society plays a crucial role in helping promote access to vaccination and health services to children and mothers through multiple actions including direct service provision, advocacy for increased access to immunisation, and ensuring accountability from governments and international actors.  The profile of the CSOs engaged in Gavi is also very diverse and includes large international organisations, local NGOs, professional associations and academic institutions.   

The Steering Committee, whose headquarters are located at the International Federation of the Red Cross Societies in Geneva, Switzerland, meets twice a year and holds monthly calls to advance their strategic roles. “Each committee member brings a unique and complimentary perspective to support Gavi’s mission”, explains Rafael Vilasanjuan, director of the Department of Policy and Global Development at ISGlobal, who will be representing the institution in the Steering Committee during the next three years. 

ISGlobal already participates in the 'Alianza Empresarial para la Vacunación Infantil', an initiative promoted by the “la Caixa” Foundation that invests donations from companies and staff in child immunization, in collaboration with Gavi. 

About Gavi

The global alliance for vaccination (Gavi), created in 2000, brings together the public and private sectors with the aim of  promoting access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries. Through the collaboration with partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF, the pharmaceutical industry and civil society organisations, it seeks to guarantee affordable and accessible vaccines in low-resource countries. Since its creation, it has reached an additional 500 million children and has helped prevent more than 7 million deaths.