Gucci continues in its commitment to fight the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by making a donation of US$500,000 to UNICEF USA on behalf of the #GucciCommunity, to ensure the future COVID-19 vaccine is equitably procured and distributed in the most vulnerable communities around the world.

To encourage global solidarity for this work and further calling on its community, Gucci will also match funds raised for UNICEF's work, dollar for dollar, up to an additional USD $100,000 through the “21-day challenge”. Contributions made through https://gucci.benevity.org/community from Dec 5 until Dec 26, 2020, are eligible for this match.

“As the pandemic threatens the hard-won gains to protect and advance child’s rights around the world, UNICEF is working on the equitable global supply and distribution of a safe COVID-19 vaccine when available,” said Michael J. Nyenhuis, President & CEO, UNICEF USA. “UNICEF USA is incredibly grateful for Gucci’s support to help rally global solidarity on this work and their commitment to help every child survive and thrive.”

 

“No one is truly free unless we are all free: this also includes being free from sickness – said Marco Bizzarri, President and CEO, Gucci. Now that a COVID-19 vaccine appears to be ready for use, the true challenge is ensuring that it is procured and distributed fairly. This is why,  under the “We Are All In This Together” call to action we launched in March, we are today announcing a donation of $500,000 to UNICEF USA, to help in securing COVID-19 vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable communities. Over the next 21 days, everyone is invited to give their donations, large or small, which Gucci will match, up to a maximum of an additional $100,000.

This is a global battle, a global effort – continued Bizzarri  – and the commitment also needs to be global.”

Gucci is answering UNICEF’s global call for support for COVAX, the vaccine pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, an innovative global collaboration organised to accelerate the development and production of, and equitable access to, COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines.

The global pandemic is not simply a health emergency, it is also a child rights crisis, which threatens to have lasting effects for the progress of an entire generation. 

Global equitable access to a vaccine, through which healthcare workers and those most at risk can be protected, is the only way to mitigate the public health and economic impact of the pandemic, and this is what COVAX is designed to deliver.

Gucci’s donation will support UNICEF’s work in preparing for the roll-out of a safe vaccine, including logistics to forecast demand, the preparation of cold chains (temperature-controlled supply chains) and the advance purchasing of supplies. Furthermore, UNICEF will receive Gucci’s help to fund immunisation programming to build the capacity of local healthcare systems, and to ensure community awareness and mobilisation to make certain there is demand for vaccines when they arrive.

Gucci has a long history of partnering with UNICEF on many projects, however in choosing to work with the organisation in this instance the House is allying itself to an expert in the area of vaccine procurement and distribution. UNICEF is uniquely positioned to prepare for what could be the largest, most rapid vaccination programme the world has seen to date.

Already, UNICEF procures more than two billion doses of vaccines annually for routine immunisation and outbreak response on behalf of nearly 100 countries, making it the largest single vaccine buyer in the world; it has also been working on health systems-strengthening for the past 70 years and understands and supports the role of a grassroots approach to help positive health outcomes at community level. 

Currently, UNICEF is leading efforts to procure and supply COVID-19 vaccines for more than 180 countries on behalf of the COVAX Facility. The COVAX Facility is open to all countries to ensure that no country is left without access to a future COVID-19 vaccine.

Gucci’s contribution to UNICEF will go towards activities such as: test kits helping to stop community transmission; cold chain equipment to keep doses of vaccines effective as UNICEF delivers them to low- and middle-income countries; the cost of transport of vaccines; oxygen concentrators with accessories to deliver oxygen therapy and monitoring to patients; and face masks to keep protecting personnel on the ground.

#GucciCommunity

#UNICEFWontStop

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