Geneva, 14 December 2018 – Highly competent young professionals from Japan will have the opportunity to work at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance following the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between the Government of Japan and Gavi in Geneva today.
Gavi CEO Dr Seth Berkley and H.E. Ambassador Ken Okaniwa, Japan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva, signed the Memorandum of Cooperation at Gavi’s headquarters at the Global Health Campus, Geneva.
“Since 2011 Japan has been a key supporter of the Vaccine Alliance, providing funding that has helped to save millions of lives through vaccination,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi. “I’m delighted to sign this memorandum, which will take our relationship even further, and look forward to welcoming more Japanese staff to the Gavi family.”
“I congratulate Gavi on its successful 18-year journey and its completion of a fruitful mid-term review in Abu-Dhabi. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped the world’s poorest countries to immunize over 700 million children and prevented over 10 million deaths,” said H.E. Ambassador Ken Okaniwa. “With this MOC, a new window is now open for Japanese young professionals to work with Gavi. I hope that this cooperative framework will provide further impetus for Gavi and Japan towards the next stage of innovative collaboration.”
The Japanese government will recommend candidates to Gavi for the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) programme. Candidates must be 35 years old or under, be fluent in English and have an advanced university degree in a relevant discipline as well as relevant experience. The first Japanese JPOs are expected to be in place at Gavi before the end of 2019.
Notes to editors
About Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation – over 760 million children – and prevented more than 13 million deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 developing countries. Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningitis and yellow fever vaccines. After two decades of progress, Gavi is now focused on protecting the next generation and reaching the unvaccinated children still being left behind, employing innovative finance and the latest technology – from drones to biometrics – to save millions more lives, prevent outbreaks before they can spread and help countries on the road to self-sufficiency. Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
The Vaccine Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. View the full list of donor governments and other leading organizations that fund Gavi’s work here.