85% of unvaccinated children live in the world’s poorest countries. Millions will die this year alone because they have not had access to basic vaccinations.

Millions of others, however, will live because they have.

The demand for vaccines in developing countries is immense, and more children are receiving vaccines now than ever before. Why should you care?

Because getting to this level of awareness has been no easy feat.

When you work at a non-profit, as I do, you’re all about the grassroots efforts. And when you’re all about the grassroots efforts, you’re all about the details. So work with me here, I’ve got a little detail-oriented grassroots victory about vaccines for ya. Say that three times fast.

Governments, non-profit organizations, people like you and me, and dozens of other entities are constantly working together to get  more children more vaccines. What makes this kind of collaboration special is when it incites a successful chain of events that successfully increases  access and awareness.

And that’s just what happened these past few months as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance received increased funding.

Gavi, who? Let’s start with the first chain in the link.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is a public-private partnership that seeks to develop sustainable solutions to lower the costs of vaccines and increase accessibility to them for many developing nations. The United States was one of the original six donor countries and has contributed over $1 billion USD to Gavi in the past decade. Why is this an important detail? Well, even in the development and non-profit sectors, you generally need money to get things done.

Now for the second chain; wait for the link.

In May 2014, the African Leaders Declaration demonstrated huge support for vaccines and included a commitment of $700 million USD from African countries between 2016 and 2020 to support routine immunization.

Then, in January 2015, Gavi held a pledging conference in Berlin, Germany to build support for increased access to vaccines where the U.S. pledged its commitment of $1 billion to Gavi over the next four years.

So what’s the connection?

The very earliest pledges to Gavi by countries like the United States helped inspire new commitments from around the world, and the May commitment by African leaders to bolster routine immunization efforts in turn inspired other African nations to take action.

Leading up to the Gavi conference, for example, the Ghana Coalition for NGOs in Health held meetings and a press conference to stress the importance of increasing funding for immunization and seeking solutions to increase access to it. The press conference was not only highly-attended, but every major news outlet in Ghana was there.

And then the United States increased their pledge at the conference in Berlin! That’s what I call full-circle, baby.

The initiatives by Gavi, the United States, and Ghana to secure further funding and to advocate for immunization exemplify the success yielded by grassroots efforts for any issue.

But our work is not yet done. Spreading awareness about vaccines and ensuring that all children have access to routine immunization is a core priority in the coming year. Sign the petition now to call on G7 countries to help increase access to vaccines.