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GAVI Working Group functions and operations

The Working Group acts as an advisory body to the GAVI Secretariat, and the Executive Secretary is the chair.

Its main roles relate to issue awareness, technical expertise, and coordination and communication among partners in the GAVI alliance. The central Working Group functions are the monitoring and identification of issues to be raised to the Board, communication and bridge-building between the Board and partners, and preparation of background documentation on selected topics.

The Working Group is also a forum for "extended" or "subsidiary" representation, allowing non-Board members to be updated and be active participants in the alliance.

Functions

The Working Group:

  • advises the GAVI Executive Secretary on policy and strategy issues;
  • communicates major Board decisions – such as new Vaccine Fund policies and country proposal decisions – to partner constituencies at the regional and national levels;
  • acts as a bridge between the Alliance and operations of individual organizations ensuring operations are consistent with GAVI objectives;
  • monitors progress to identify issues arising from Partners (including task forces, regional working groups, countries) that require Board decisions;
  • prepares background documentation for Board to make decisions – preferred practice is to provide more than one recommendation;
  • contributes to the functioning of GAVI structures, including involvement in the relevant teams and groups, and identifies important structural issues for Board decision;
  • performs any other functions entrusted to it by the Board or the GAVI Executive Secretary.

Operations

The Working Group meets as the need arises, in principle four times a year, and holds teleconferences almost weekly. Chaired by the Executive Secretary, who is responsible for drafting agendas for the meetings and teleconferences, the Working Group normally takes decisions taken by consensus.

If appropriate and for specific topics, the Executive Secretary, in consultation with the Working Group, may invite external persons to participate in deliberations.

Composition

The Working Group consists of 10 seats, largely mirroring the composition of the GAVI Board. However, the group is not representational: individuals are selected by the Executive Secretary based on skill.

GAVI Governance

  • The Board
  • The Executive Committee
  • The Working Group
  • The Secretariat
  • Task Forces

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) is a coalition of global leaders in immunization including UN organizations, national governments, foundations, NGOs, and the pharmaceutical industry, formed in response to stagnating global immunization rates and widening disparities in vaccine access among industrialized and developing countries. Since 1999 the alliance has provided a mechanism for partners to collaborate more closely, agree upon common goals and strategies, and share a commitment to do more for immunization – and to do it better.

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