European Union and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to co-host Gavi High Level Pledging Summit

BRUSSELS (5 December 2024) – The European Union and the Gates Foundation, together with the close support of other Gavi donors and implementing countries, will co-host the Gavi 6.0 pledging Summit. The event is planned to take place in Brussels late in the first quarter of 2025. It will bring together global leaders from government, partner organisations, vaccine manufacturers, civil society and the private sector, to secure crucial investments in vaccination programmes.

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said: “In today's world, addressing health challenges at the global level is more important than ever. Vaccines have a lifesaving power. And Gavi's role is key for making equitable vaccine access a reality, and for empowering our partners to achieve health sovereignty. Together with Gavi, we have the goal to vaccinate 500 million children by 2030. That is why the European Union is proud to co-host Gavi's High Level Pledging Summit in Brussels. Our support will remain steadfast.”

António Costa, president of the European Council, said: “In a multipolar world, the EU has an essential role to play to address global health threats and unprecedented challenges to people and communities. Vaccines availability is vital not only for humanity but also to restore global economic activity and prosperity. The forthcoming Gavi's High Level Pledging Summit in Brussels reaffirms the EU's commitment to build sustainable partnerships with countries in need of health security. Multilateral collaboration is vital for pandemic preparedness and responsiveness.”

José Manuel Barroso, chair of the Board of Gavi, said “By investing in Gavi, our donors are investing in a world that is more resilient to disease outbreaks, in economies that are more capable of contributing to global growth and in the future of over half of the world’s children, whose ability to lead healthy, productive lives is so vital for the future of our planet. I am deeply grateful to our co-hosts, the European Union and the Gates Foundation, for their leadership and commitment to building a future that is safer, healthier and more prosperous for all.”

The European Union and Gavi: a commitment to global health solidarity

The European Union boasts a long-standing and impactful partnership with Gavi, having committed more than €3.2 billion in total since 2003, including the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) and EIB financial instruments.

The EU and its Member States, in a Team Europe approach, remain collectively Gavi's largest contributor, totalling more than €6.5 billion for Gavi 5.0 (2021–2025).

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: co-host and leading development advocate

As a founding member of Gavi, the Gates Foundation has been instrumental in bringing global attention to the critical importance of immunisation, and of high-powered sustainable development approaches to solve market access issues for countries. Since 2000, the Foundation has committed $6.1 billion to Gavi to improve the delivery of high-quality, affordable vaccines for more equitable coverage.

Bill Gates, chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said, “When the Gates Foundation made its first investment in Gavi 25 years ago, I couldn’t have predicted the extraordinary impact it would have on combatting infectious diseases, lifting up economies, and saving lives. The foundation is proud to join the European Union to co-host Gavi’s pledging summit, and we look forward to our continued partnership to build a safer and healthier future.”

Global Citizen will be a strategic partner in supporting advocacy, campaigning and event production. As an international advocacy organisation dedicated to achieving the end of extreme poverty, powered by a community of millions of Global Citizens, Global Citizen will aim to strengthen support from leaders and citizens to act on vaccine equity, sustainable economic development, and poverty reduction.

Background

A global game-changer since 2000, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has transformed global immunisation efforts by vaccinating over 1.1 billion children, saving more than 18.8 million lives from preventable diseases, and driving transformative innovations in both funding mechanisms and vaccine delivery and demand. These efforts have generated over $250 billion in economic benefits and anticipated more than 100 outbreaks.

Gavi's 2026–2030 strategy (Gavi 6.0) is the final push to achieve global immunisation and health security targets ahead of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) deadline. The strategy is anchored on three key pillars: protecting the world through strengthened global health security; protecting people by vaccinating more children against more diseases at an accelerated pace; and protecting communities by reducing the number of ‘zero-dose' children and building resilient health systems.

Central to this strategy is a commitment to country ownership and sustainability, with low- and middle-income countries projected to contribute 46% of the total vaccine cost, a significant increase from just 10% a decade ago. Over the next five years, Gavi 6.0 will deliver an estimated $100 billion in economic benefits, with more than half of its vaccine portfolio contributing to climate resilience.

The 2025 pledging Summit builds on the successful launch of Gavi's 6.0 Investment Opportunity in June 2024 in Paris, co-hosted by France and the African Union, which raised $2.4 billion towards the $9 billion funding target of Gavi. The European Commission has already announced its pledge for Gavi 6.0 when President von der Leyen made a pledge of EUR 260 million on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. To date, $2.8 billion has been pledged to Gavi by donors.