German government, Gates Foundation sign agreement to provide funding for GAVI Alliance

The German government on Wednesday said it would provide an extra 14 million euros or about $19.9 million "for child immunization in the developing world as part of an agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation," the Associated Press reports (4/6).

The Gates Foundation said in a press release that it would "match this amount through multilateral contributions to GAVI" (4/6). The foundation also "said it will match any further increases in German foreign aid [for GAVI] for 2012 and 2013, provided Germany announces the commitments ahead of a June 'pledging conference'" for the organization, the Puget Sound Business Journal's "BizTalk" blog reports (Holtzman, 4/6). 

As part of his trip, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, met with German Development Minister Dirk Niebel on Wednesday in Berlin, according to the press release. "During this meeting, they signed an agreement for close cooperation between the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Gates Foundation. This agreement encompasses the areas of global health policy, agriculture and rural development, water and sanitation, urban development, as well as microfinance" (4/6).

Gates discussed Europe's contribution to international aid and polio eradication in an interview with the BBC (4/6).