The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary International and Global Poverty Project unite in the call for the End of Polio

WHAT'S THE ISSUE?

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is the international partnership that coordinates eradication efforts. GPEI needs more than $1b a year to help achieve the end of Polio, with funding coming from a wide range of people, non-profits, philanthropists and governments, including the United Kingdom.

It’s the sustained efforts of the GPEI that has brought the world to the brink of stamping out polio for good. GPEI and other global initiatives have reduced polio prevalence by 99.9% since 1988.

We know that polio anywhere is a threat anywhere – and the cost of not committing to the full eradication of polio is more costly than ignoring it because this disease is so endemic. Tackling polio will also help address other indicators of polio, like encouraging efforts to end open defecation by improving access to clean water and sanitation. Another example is how by successfully reaching children in countries like India – now declared polio free, lessons can be transferred to other routine vaccinations programs so they too can reach some of the hardest to access children in the world.

HOW DID GLOBAL CITIZENS RESPOND?

Our UK team invested their efforts in achieving a multi-year commitment from the UK government towards The End of Polio. We mobilized the public and thousands of global citizens signed our petition.

We were able to put the full support of our Global Poverty Ambassadors behind the campaign. Funded by the Co-operative and Concern Worldwide, the Ambassadors took the petition into their communities and raised awareness by delivering the 1.4 Billion Reasons presentation that included information on the campaign.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

By targeting diplomatic missions in Britain with direct advocacy, we won! We combined our efforts with Rotary International and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to achieve our goal and we’re thrilled that in April 2013 the UK government announced their commitment of £300 million in six annual contributions of £50 million.

The government of The Isle of Man (independent from the United Kingdom) also made a commitment of £90,000 over three years. Importantly, the Isle of Man is not a traditional aid donor. We are proud of the efforts of global citizens, through our Global Poverty Ambassador program, for securing this smaller but significant victory towards The End of Polio.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Despite the large commitment the UK government have recently pledged to polio, we recognise that there is still much to do. That’s why we’re continuing to champion the UK Government’s commitment and make sure the sworn funds get to the right places when they need to, and also making sure that wider vaccination support - such as GAVI - is treated as a priority by policymakers and public alike.