GAVI Alliance receives US$4.5 million from new Matching Fund donors

    The GAVI Alliance said it will receive at least US$4.5 million for child immunisation from two new partners to its unique GAVI Matching Fund program. The new funding was committed by Comic Relief, a UK-based charity that fights poverty and social injustice, and The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), a UK-based charity that works to improve the lives of children living in poverty in developing countries. The new funding will be matched by the British Government and the Gates Foundation, bringing the total to US$9 million. Separately, GAVI said that “an anonymous private foundation also hopes to make use of a GAVI innovative finance vehicle by investing in the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), The anonymous foundation has discussed an investment in IFFIm bonds whereby it could donate the interest generated to GAVI through the Matching Fund. Under such an arrangement, the coupon (interest) has the potential to exceed US$5 million, which would be matched by the Gates Foundation. http://www.gavialliance.org/library/news/press-releases/2012/gavi-alliance-programme-raises–us$-38-million-for-child-immunisation/