Immunization Advocacy Initiative

Project Period

December 2016 - October 2021

Project Partners

  • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The Immunization Advocacy Initiative (IAI) believes that a stronger civil society, armed with technical skills in using evidence to drive advocacy priorities, can be an effective lever of influence on government decisions to fund a stronger and more resilient health system, with equitable and inclusive coverage of routine immunization as a foundation for that system.

Over the lifetime of the project, civil society networks in Kenya, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire will receive bespoke training in using evidence for advocacy as well as financial support to carry out advocacy-oriented activities at national level to both generate demand for vaccination and to encourage sustainable funding of those vaccination campaigns.

As the date for transition away from eligibility for financial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, looms ever-closer for these three countries, it is critically important that they initiate and execute transition plans to ensure there is no vacuum in funding for immunization and vaccine commodities when they no longer receive international assistance.

As many as seven community-based or non-governmental organizations in each country will benefit from the targeted investment of time and financial resources in their advocacy efforts. We believe that building strong networks of civil society actors, drawn from within the health sector and beyond, will inform a more holistic strategy in countries looking to self-finance activities that benefit public health but that require a rights-based approach.

APHRC, together with its capacity-strengthening partner WACSI, aims to host an inception meeting for all of the national-level partners in January 2019.

PARTNER INSTITUTIONS

  • West African Civil Society Institute (WACSI) http://www.wacsi.org/

PARTNER MEMBERS

  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation www.gatesfoundation.org
  • World Health Organization who.int
  • UNICEF www.unicef.org
  • Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance www.gavi.org

PROJECT PERIOD

  • Start date: December 2016
  • End date:   October 2021

PROJECT FUNDER

  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation