BERLIN— The ONE Campaign applauds today’s largest-ever US commitment  to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The pledge of $1 billion over four years (2015-2018) by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah came as global leaders announced a massive expansion of the program by pledging a total of $7.539 billion. The new funding announcement, made at a pledging conference hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, sets Gavi on a path to nearly double its impact in the next five years, immunizing 300 million more children and preventing up to 6 million more deaths.

The news comes as nearly 150,000 ONE members around the world called on their governments to support Gavi’s work, and advocates in Berlin reminded leaders attending the conference today that every parent deserves a chance to give their child a healthy start in life.

Michael Elliott, President and CEO of The ONE Campaign said:

“Gavi is simply one of the smartest aid investments around. Since 2000, more than half a billion children have been vaccinated with their support and more than 7 million needless deaths avoided. The more than $7.5 billion pledged today is a huge vote of confidence in Gavi to continue delivering measurable, cost-effective results and ensure that more children, regardless of where they are born, can access the vaccines they need.

We believe that 2015 can be a transformative year for global development efforts.  Commitments made by donors, companies, and affected countries here in Berlin give real momentum to the fight to end preventable deaths and extreme poverty within our lifetimes.

We wish that nations such as Japan—which will chair the G7 in 2016—had stepped up and supported Gavi, and we’ll be working to ensure that they wholeheartedly join the fight in the months to come.

We commend Chancellor Merkel for her leadership on Gavi today. With Germany hosting the G7 this year, her support in the fight against extreme poverty, preventable diseases, sustainable development and gender equality is going to be crucial, and we look forward to her continued inspirational role in making the world a better place.”

Tom Hart, US Executive Director of ONE, said:

“We applaud President Obama and American leaders on both sides of the aisle for their significant commitment to saving and improving the lives of children around the world through improved access to vaccines. The US pledge of $1 billion over four years to Gavi is something all Americans can be proud of, and is a great down-payment on the Administration’s commitment to ending preventable child deaths and extreme poverty.”

ONE also welcomes significant contributions to Gavi announced today by Germany, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Kingdom, the European Commission, and the Netherlands.  However, ONE is disappointed that Japan has failed to make any pledge for the 2016-20 period and that commitments from Sweden and Australia lack ambition.