Photo credit: GAVI/Ryan Youngblood

Yesterday the Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening MP, revealed to us that the UK government would pledge £1 billion to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. This money, spread over five years, will help to vaccinate more than 300m children and prevent 1.4 million children dying needlessly in extreme poverty.

This was all down to you.

You’ve been emailing and tweeting the Secretary of State for the last few months now and it really made a difference- so much so she even told us herself.

This money will have a huge impact across the world, helping those that need it the most. You should be really proud of your achievements.

Image credit: GAVI/Sala Lewis

The Secretary of State and the Department of International Development have committed an incredible amount of money that will make a huge difference across the world, and we want to thank them for this.

Whilst it is a time for celebration, this commitment is slightly less than we asked for. That means there’s a very real need for us to increase pressure on other governments across the world to similarly step up and pledge big.

So as Global Citizens, our work is not yet done.

We’re so close to beating preventable childhood diseases. As we approach the crucial global conference on vaccines in January, we have to make sure every world leader makes a significant contribution.

We’ll be in touch with how we be continuing the campaign but for now, thank you. You’ve made an incredible difference.