Thursday 06 January 2022
The Overseas Aid & Development Commission announced in mid-December that it would match fund the donations from the public to the Guernsey UNICEF VaccinAid appeal. It stated that for every £1 donated by the end of 2021, the Commission would also donate £1, up to the value of £50,000. At that time £40,000 had already been raised thanks to the generosity of Islanders.
By midnight on 31st December, 2021, the £50,000 public target had been reached with a total of £50,352.
Deputy Chris Blin, President of the Commission, said
"The Commission set Islanders a challenge and they have stepped forward and made us proud. I have witnessed at first hand the generosity of the Bailiwick's public towards people living in the developing world and so I had no doubt that further donations would be received. However, I did not expect an additional £10,000 to be donated in just two weeks. I and the Commissioners would like to give their heartfelt thanks to all those who have contributed.
The Commission has made its £50,000 matched funded donation directly to UNICEF UK which means that funds raised under the umbrella of the public appeal now total over £100,000 which is incredible. With the previous £85,000 donated by the Commission as an Emergency Aid Grant, the Bailiwick of Guernsey has now donated over £185,000 to VaccinAid which is equivalent to 140,000 vaccine doses for the developing world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported that by the end of 2021 only approximately 9% of the African population had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 so there is still a great deal of work to do".
The UNICEF UK and Crowdfunder's VaccinAid campaign, is helping to deliver the biggest vaccine drive in history to the poorer people of the world.
Islanders who wish to support the campaign can still make their donations and register their events at www.vaccinaid.org/guernsey . The money raised will be used by UNICEF, the only organisation present in all countries participating in COVAX and which has an established global supply chain network. COVAX is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
