Open Society Foundations – Saudi Mirror http://www.saudimirror.com News On-line Tue, 27 Feb 2024 17:41:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.3.2 Open Society Foundations’ Soros Economic Development Fund Commits $25 Million to Allied Climate Partners’ Climate Finance Partnership http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=218314/ Tue, 27 Feb 2024 17:41:57 +0000 http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=218314 New York, Feb. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF), the impact investment arm of the Open Society Foundations, is committing $25 million to Allied Climate Partners (ACP)—a new and innovative public–private partnership focused on increasing the number of bankable climate projects in emerging markets and developing economies around the world.

ACP aims to address a critical financing gap at the early, risk–oriented stages of the development process. Without this support, many projects and businesses struggle to attract the necessary capital to achieve their climate–related goals. While early–stage project development represents the smallest portion of the overall funding needed for a project (approximately 5 percent), relatively few early–stage projects get financed due to risk. Even though 5 percent of the capital can unlock 95 percent, this early–stage capital is the hardest to raise for critical activities like technical and environmental assessments, modeling, permitting, and land acquisition.

Using funds from SEDF and other philanthropic investors, ACP will anchor a number of regional funds in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and India with $235 million first–loss junior equity. These regional funds will in turn seek to raise an additional $600+ million in senior equity from multilateral development banks (MDBs), development finance institutions (DFIs), and private investors.

ACP has strategic partnerships with a number of leading MDBs and DFIs, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), British International Investment (BII), the U.K.'s DFI and impact investor, the African Development Bank (AfDB), Proparco, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement Group, FMO, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, and IDB Invest, a member of the Inter–American Development Bank Group.

Philanthropic investments in ACP are expected to mobilize a significant level of third–party capital into regional investment managers and climate–related projects—potentially as much as $11 billion in additional investment.

SEDF has partnered with the Three Cairns Group, Bezos Earth Fund, Sea Change Foundation International, and several other philanthropic and investment partners in making this commitment.

Georgia Levenson Keohane, CEO of the Soros Economic Development Fund, said: “This innovative SEDF investment builds on Open Society’s broader work to support the mobilization of development finance and commercial capital critical for financing a just climate transition in the Global South.”

ACP recently announced the anchoring of its first regional fund—the Southeast Asia Clean Energy Fund II. Managed by Clime Capital, the fund is targeting at least $135 million to invest in projects in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines—countries that account for about 75 percent of the region’s population and 60 percent of current regional greenhouse gas emissions.

Mark Malloch–Brown, president of the Open Society Foundations, said, “The scale of investment needed to drive climate transition and adaptation in Global South economies clearly goes far beyond the capacities of private philanthropic funding. We are excited about this model which seeks to use catalytic funding to remove barriers, and help kick start the broader systemic shifts the world urgently needs.”

“We urgently need innovative blended finance solutions that can operate at scale,” said Ahmed Saeed, CEO of Allied Climate Partners. “ACP welcomes SEDF’s commitment to join this exciting endeavor to leverage the power of philanthropic funding.”

Estimates of how much additional capital countries will need to invest annually to address the costs of climate transition and adaptation vary—one recent study puts the need for external capital at $1.1 trillion per annum. However, investment in transition and adaptation projects globally has been overwhelmingly focused on the industrialized economies, where project risks are lower.

About the Soros Economic Development Fund

The Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF) is the impact investment arm of the Open Society Foundations (OSF). SEDF deploys patient, risk–tolerant and catalytic capital to advance OSF’s commitment to sustaining vibrant and inclusive democracies across the globe. Founded in 1997, SEDF has committed over $520M in debt, equity and guarantee investments into businesses, funds, platforms and nonprofits across geographies and sectors that advance the mission of the Foundations. SEDF’s current investment portfolio includes $395M in committed capital across 38 investments.

About Allied Climate Partners

Allied Climate Partners (ACP) is a philanthropic investment organization with a mission to accelerate the climate transition and improve livelihoods in emerging economies by increasing the flow of capital to bankable, climate–related projects and businesses. ACP selects regional investment managers in emerging economies and supports them with first–loss capital, expertise, and the mandate to address a critical financing gap at the early, risk–oriented stages of the development process for climate–related projects and asset–oriented businesses. Without this support, many projects and businesses struggle to attract the necessary capital to achieve their climate–related goals. By proving this model, ACP aims to induce commercially–oriented public and private sector investors to invest where they likely would not otherwise.


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Open Society Foundations Announce 2023 Soros Justice Fellows http://www.saudimirror.com/open-society-foundations-announce-2023-soros-justice-fellows/ Fri, 03 Nov 2023 20:52:28 +0000 http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=217463 New York, Nov. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Open Society Foundations is pleased to announce the 2023 cohort of Soros Justice Fellows, which includes a mix of emerging and established leaders in the field of criminal justice reform, including public educators, artists, lawyers, activists, non–profit innovators, journalists, and filmmakers from across the United States.

"Over the more than a decade that I have worked with the Soros Justice Fellowships, I've seen a great number of fellows go on and continue to serve as changemakers in their local communities, and nationally," said Adam Culbreath, Senior Team Manager at Open Society""U.S. "This is an incredibly unique program to advance justice in the U.S., which supports the notion that change often happens from the ground up.

"Mass incarceration has an enormous and disastrous toll on our communities and represents one of the most glaring injustices of our nation. Today, nearly 10 million Americans""including millions of children""have an immediate family member in jail or prison," said Christina Voight, program manager at Open Society""U.S. "Each Soros Justice Fellow can play a role in changing this broken system."

Each fellow will receive stipends ranging from $100,000 to $140,000 for projects lasting between 12 and 18 months to ensure accountability in the U.S. criminal justice system by developing new ways to combat mass incarceration, youth criminalization, surveillance, immigration policies, racial disparities, and police violence. The Soros Justice Fellowships were founded in 1997 and have funded over 400 individuals working to curb mass incarceration and ensure a fair and equitable system of justice.

2023 Soros Justice Fellows

Ashley Rojas will educate movement leaders and cultivate power between the movement for #PoliceFreeSchools and the broader culture of abolitionist organizing efforts to end harm and punishment.

Avalon Betts–Gaston and Lloyd Gaston will research the scope and impact of Illinois Worker Rights amendment on incarcerated workers.

Betty Washingtonwill create OASIS (Our Aging Seniors Incarcerated Society), a project focusing on advocating for the needs of justice–impacted seniors.

Bridgette Simpson will educate the public and create The Protected Class Network, seeking to make justice–impacted people a protected class.

Cheryl Fairbanks will educate native Indigenous people and strengthen concepts of justice through an Indigenous peacemaking lens.

Dominique Branson will educate, document, and destabilize anti–Black ideologies that legitimize pretrial dangerousness predictions and harm Black communities.

Jenani Srijeyanthan will educate and establish a counter–narrative to carceral child sexual abuse prevention approaches through the amplification, technical resourcing, and proliferation of a nationwide prevention movement that does not prioritize policing, criminalization, or surveillance.

Jordan Martinez–Mazurek will educate the public and start local and regional dialogues around fighting the expansion of mass incarceration in the South and in Appalachia.

Mary Baxter will, through an art piece entitled Reimagining Dignity: A Love Letter to Ourselves, educate the public to reimagine racially–charged and gender–oppressive historical events. The piece will reckon with the fallacies of first– and second–wave feminism.

Omisade Burney–Scott will curate a multidisciplinary initiative and educate the public on reproductive justice, radical Black feminism, gender liberation, and pathways to normalizing menopause and aging for the marginalized Black population.

Rachel Gilmer will educate the public and build a united front of survivors and healthcare providers with the goal of creating non–carceral solutions that address the root causes of violence in our communities.

Talila Lewis will educate and create media and art that highlights how ableism informs and drives racism, anti–Blackness, capitalism, and other forms of oppression, violence, and inequity.

Toshio Meronek will educate the public and justice advocates about the expansion of involuntary medical conservatorship in Arkansas, with a focus on its potential human and financial consequences.

Wendi Cooper and Matt Nadel will organize a statewide screening tour of the documentary film CANS Can't Stand to educate the public about the archaic 1805 Crimes Against Nature by Solicitation statute and the harsh punishments it imposed.


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New Study: Failing Global Debt System Costs Lives http://www.saudimirror.com/new-study-failing-global-debt-system-costs-lives/ Thu, 22 Jun 2023 13:41:27 +0000 http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=216407 New York, June 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — New research supported by the Open Society Foundations shows that increasing delays in resolving sovereign debt crises in some of the world's poorest countries are significantly adding to the human cost of defaults""cutting economic growth, reducing life–expectancy, and worsening child mortality rates.

The analysis, The Human Costs of the Failing Global Debt System, builds on research published last year that showed how going into default leads to economic and human damage that worsens over subsequent years.

Sovereign debt defaults occur when countries fail to pay their debts on time. This can be interest or principal payments to domestic or international creditors. This typically forces a renegotiation of lending terms. The research looked at data from 131 sovereign debt defaults around the world since 1900.

The new paper's authors, economists Clemens Graf von Luckner and Juan P. Farah–Yacoub, conclude that, in addition, the longer it takes a country to reach a new agreement with its creditors, the greater the increase in human costs:

  • When a country's debt crisis is resolved in less than three years, infant mortality ten years after a default is declared as 2.2 percentage points higher than would have been expected. But when the default continues for more than three years, the difference rises to a staggering 11.4 percentage points higher.
  • For the countries studied, on average, life expectancy ten years after default drops by more than one year relative to where it would have been without the default.
  • In addition, the shortfall in the rate of increase in real economic output per capita (against what it could have been without default), jumps by 2.5 percentage points in the first year of default, against what it would have been had there been no default. It then continues to grow by 1.5 percentage point on average each year thereafter. Over a decade the gap grows to roughly 14.5 percentage points.

The findings underline the grave damage being caused by the failure of the existing global financial system to deliver prompt resolution to countries in default due in part to the involvement of an increasingly complex mix of creditors""including international financial institutions such as development banks, commercial banks, sovereign lenders including China, and private commercial creditors.

The report also highlights the case of Zambia, which defaulted on its external debt in November 2020 under the economic strains of the Covid pandemic. It has yet to secure a comprehensive debt agreement among all of its public and private creditors and the International Monetary Fund, with its total debt now estimated at over $18 billion.

The authors of this new report calculated that, based on a calculation using Zambia's birth rates in 2016, the country's current debt default would result in an additional 3,079 annual deaths of infants before their first birthdays by the year 2030, if the default is prolonged further.

Mark Malloch–Brown, president of the Open Society Foundations, said: "The findings here starkly illustrate how a dysfunctional global financial system is causing tragic but entirely avoidable human suffering. The leaders meeting in Paris need to commit to the urgent reforms the world needs to face both deepening poverty and the worsening climate crisis."

The Open Society Foundations, together with a broad range of civil society groups, are pushing for the leaders gathered at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris to commit to policies that will significantly reform the international debt restructuring process to allow for a just and sustainable resolution to a country's default delivered in a timely manner. These steps include:

  1. States establishing a clear process with firm timetables for getting agreement to "cure" defaults""no more three years in limbo like Zambia.
  2. The IMF must more aggressively use its authority to "lend into arrears"""which means they can launch their funding support program to indebted countries even if some creditors refuse to accept new debt relief terms. These hold out creditors loans would not get paid, but everyone else participating does.
  3. Private creditors (including sovereign bond holders) should not be allowed to refuse to accept debt settlements that creditor countries agree to, and then expect to be paid with the benefits of that relief, or to use the courts to get full repayment. In the United States, the New York State legislature has before it legislation that would end this practice.
  4. The International Financial Institutions need significantly more funding from the Global North to give them the resources needed to properly fund recovery from defaults and allow the economic growth needed to avoid defaults in the future.


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Open Society Announces $1.7 Million to Support Middle East and North Africa Debt Swap for Sustainable Development http://www.saudimirror.com/open-society-announces-1-7-million-to-support-middle-east-and-north-africa-debt-swap-for-sustainable-development/ Wed, 15 Mar 2023 14:02:38 +0000 http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=215561 Amman, March 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Open Society Foundations today announced that they are giving $1.7 million to a United Nations initiative in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) that seeks to catalyze increased public spending on achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals by negotiating reduced national debt service payments. Importantly, the initiative provides a channel for MENA civil society organizations to have a voice about where such kinds of innovative financing is needed most.

The two–and–a–half–year project partnership, which will last from April 2023 through September 2025, will support work by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) with interested member states and civil society to identify investment projects that prioritize the most urgent needs of MENA societies. ESCWA will support member states in reaching agreements with their creditors to redirect scheduled debt service payments into sustainable local investments.

An emphasis on robust project monitoring and evaluation provides an incentive to creditors who are ready to deliver on their own commitments to climate and sustainable development goals financing in MENA. The initiative is further strengthened by the role of ESCWA's Advisory Committee, made up of experts with experience implementing debt swaps and providing economic policy advice on inclusive growth in other parts of the world.

Heavily indebted MENA countries have pressing financing needs to address climate adaptation and sustainable development goals, while struggling to recover from fallouts of the COVID–19 pandemic and repercussions of the war in Ukraine, including growing food insecurity. As middle–income countries, they are both excluded from debt relief frameworks and find it difficult to access the financing they need.

The combined public debt burden of Arab countries was $1.5 trillion, equivalent to about 54 percent of the region's GDP in 2021. In addition, the Arab region continues to suffer disproportionately from climate change and 90 percent of the population resides in water–scarce countries. Conflicts in the region have devastated institutions and infrastructure and some 66 million persons in Arab countries affected by conflict are dependent on humanitarian aid.

"The ESCWA initiative is a win–win strategy for all stakeholders involved," said Issandr Amrani, executive director for Open Society""Middle East and North Africa. "As a multilateral institution with a commitment to human rights and civil society engagements, ESCWA provides a new opportunity for civil society to engage with governments on borrowing, spending, and development priorities. Open Society is committed to backing innovative projects that can help deliver economic justice."

Yamide Dagnet, Open Society's director for Climate Justice, added: "Climate disruption poses exponential risks to MENA's economic and political challenges. Open Society's pro–climate and fiscal–forward support can pave the way for catalytic investment in a just and inclusive climate transformation. From spurring dynamic and higher quality, green new employment opportunities that spark optimism among youth, women, and other marginalized communities, to addressing adaptation issues such as water scarcity that risks amplifying conflict. The fiscal space and just opportunities this pledge creates expands how we must put climate justice into action."

Open Society's president announced the launch of the grant during a high–level plenary session of the Arab Forum on Sustainable Development in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 15, 2023.


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CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS URGE ACTION ON DEBT, INFLATION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE, RENEW CALLS FOR RUSSIA TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR WAR CRIMES http://www.saudimirror.com/civil-society-leaders-urge-action-on-debt-inflation-and-climate-change-renew-calls-for-russia-to-be-held-accountable-for-war-crimes/ Thu, 08 Sep 2022 18:55:32 +0000 http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=213354 New York, Sept. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As world leaders gather for the United Nations General Assembly, the Open Society Foundations is calling for bold steps to address critical worldwide crises, including:

  • A global rescue plan that sees higher–income countries committing 2% of their GDP to tackle spiraling living costs and embracing solutions such as pricing regulations, IP waivers, and windfall taxes;
  • Immediate debt relief and financial assistance to lower–income countries, including by suspending IMF/World Bank surcharges and issuing a new round of Special Drawing Rights;
  • Creation of a Loss and Damage mechanism to support countries that have already experienced irreparable or severe harm due to climate change;
  • Russian accountability for war crimes in Ukraine and an end to the war there; and
  • More open, inclusive, and effective global institutions that reflect the make–up of the world.

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow isn't just a line from Macbeth," said Mark Malloch–Brown, President of the Open Society Foundations. "For too long, it has also been at the heart of world leaders' plan to tackle these mounting global challenges. That has to change."

Malloch–Brown and other Open Society Foundations representatives will be in New York in September and are available to comment on the above:

  • Mark Malloch–Brown, President, formerly served as UN Deputy Secretary–General to Kofi Annan, led the UN Development Programme and was vice–president at the World Bank and Minister with responsibility for Africa, Asia, and the UN under UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He can speak about the global fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, debt relief, development assistance, and reform of international institutions.
  • Laura Carvalho, Director for Equity, is a leading Brazilian economist and co–founder and Director of the Research Center on Macroeconomics of Inequality at the University of So Paulo and has written extensively on development economics and inequality. She can speak about the global economy and the need to reduce inflationary and debt pressures in the Global South.
  • Yamide Dagnet, Director for Climate Justice, previously served as the Director of Climate Negotiations at the World Resources Institute, focusing on the equitable implementation of international climate agreements. She can speak about the need for climate action that is fair and equitable for all countries and communities.
  • Natalie Samarasinghe, Global Director of Advocacy, formerly served as CEO of the United Nations Association–UK and Speechwriter for the President of the UN General Assembly. She can speak about global crises and the need for international action, as well as UN reform.
  • Oleksandr Sushko, Executive Director, International Renaissance Foundation in Ukraine (not in New York during UNGA), was Director of the Centre for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine. He can speak about the work and needs of civil society in Ukraine and the Ukraine Democracy Fund.

The Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, is the world's leading funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights.


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Open Society Condemns Travesty of Justice in Kavala Verdict http://www.saudimirror.com/open-society-condemns-travesty-of-justice-in-kavala-verdict/ Mon, 25 Apr 2022 17:37:23 +0000 http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=214372 New York, April 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Open Society Foundations are appalled by today's Turkish court decision to sentence Osman Kavala""the business leader and philanthropist""to life in prison, even though no credible evidence was ever presented to substantiate the baseless charges against him.

"Today a Turkish judge ruled against Osman Kavala even though there is not a shred of legitimate evidence against him," said Mark Malloch–Brown, the president of the Open Society Foundations. "This bogus trial has utterly failed to meet the most basic standards for fairness and procedural justice."

The court in Istanbul also sentenced seven other defendants to 18 years in prison each. The cases against these defendants were also without any merit.

Osman Kavala was first arrested and detained in October 2017. The government has held him, without conviction prior to today, for more than four years.

During that time, Turkish prosecutors have bent over backwards to try to keep Kavala in prison, even having him re–arrested in February 2020, after a previous trial ended with him being briefly released.

"This is not about justice," added Malloch–Brown. "It is about trying to intimidate and silence anyone who might speak up in defense of human rights in Turkey, including all independent civil society groups."

In December 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Kavala's detention was unjustified, and that the case against him was designed to silence him and to dissuade other human rights defenders from speaking out.

Turkey has so far defied the ECHR ruling.

Kavala is an established businessman and philanthropist, known for his support of human rights, the arts, and culture in Turkey. He also served as a board member with Open Society's foundation in Turkey. (Open Society Turkey shut its doors in 2018 due to harassment from the Turkish government.)

Kavala is expected to appeal the court ruling.

"It is long past time to end this legal farce," added Malloch–Brown. "Osman Kavala should be released and his name cleared immediately."


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New Gavi Risk Sharing Partnership with MedAccess and the Open Society Foundations to help meet country demand for COVID-19 vaccines http://www.saudimirror.com/new-gavi-risk-sharing-partnership-with-medaccess-and-the-open-society-foundations-to-help-meet-country-demand-for-covid-19-vaccines/ Thu, 07 Apr 2022 06:00:00 +0000 http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=214350 New York, April 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

  • Gavi, MedAccess, and the Open Society Foundations announce a new partnership to create an innovative Risk Sharing Facility to support the COVAX Cost–Sharing Mechanism.
  • The partnership aims to build on intensive efforts by Gavi to extend its suite of innovative financing instruments to help donors and countries stretch their available resources as the pandemic shifts and to protect against future shocks. The Facility's instruments also represent a pathway and toolkit to address future global health crises.
  • This new partnership comes as Gavi seeks to raise additional funds to support COVAX. April 8 will see Germany co–host the 2022 Gavi COVAX AMC Summit, where governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector will come together to renew their commitment to global vaccination.

MedAccess, the Open Society Foundations, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance today announced a new partnership to create a Risk Sharing Facility to help countries procure additional COVID–19 vaccine doses, including variant–adapted doses in response to risks and shocks. The $200 million facility is designed to enable countries to protect more of their people and support COVAX's ambitions to make COVID vaccine procurement more sustainable and more tailored to country needs.

The Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (Gavi COVAX AMC) provides COVID–19 vaccines free of charge for 92 of the world's lowest–income countries, helping them to meet the objectives set out in their national vaccination strategies""with more than 1.2 billion doses already shipped to AMC countries. In addition, AMC countries can also use the COVAX Cost–Sharing Mechanism to order more doses using domestic resources or low–cost financing from their multilateral development bank (MDB) partners, enabling them to protect more people, more quickly.

The new guarantees are aimed at increasing take–up of the Cost–Sharing Mechanism by facilitating the financing of orders. MedAccess will provide a $100 million procurement guarantee to enable COVAX to order more doses from manufacturers on behalf of AMC countries choosing to participate in cost–sharing. By purchasing through COVAX, countries benefit from lower prices per dose negotiated for a range of COVID–19 vaccines.

The Open Society Foundations will provide a further procurement guarantee of up to $100 million alongside MedAccess, through the Soros Economic Development Fund. This will help COVAX to respond to country requests for additional doses in the event of a future shock or demand spike.

"COVID–19 has wreaked havoc on health and financial systems in every country," said MedAccess CEO Michael Anderson. "Donors have stepped up with huge sums of money to drive COVAX's initial dose allocations, but innovative finance can unlock even greater value. Our support for Gavi will enable COVAX to work with countries to speed up access to these essential vaccines and put their programmes on a more sustainable footing."

"Innovative financing solutions are crucial to the success of global vaccination in 2022," added Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. "Our partnership with MedAccess, thanks to the support of the Open Society Foundations, will allow countries to access additional resources through COVAX cost–sharing, helping them to meet the goals set out in their national vaccination strategies and respond to uncertainty and risks such as new variants. Together, we can break COVID–19."

"The inequities in access to vaccines in poor countries is one of the biggest, collective global failings of our time," said Mark Malloch–Brown, President of the Open Society Foundations. "Since the beginning of the pandemic, Open Society has responded in diverse ways to ensure that the most vulnerable have equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics""just like those in rich countries. COVAX's Cost–Sharing Mechanism is an additional and important way to ensure governments have the agency, on their terms, to determine if, how, and when they acquire low–cost doses for their populations."

The COVAX Cost–Sharing Mechanism was launched in partnership between Gavi, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank in July 2021. Since then, the European Investment Bank has also joined and committed 300 million in financing for countries wishing to access additional doses through the mechanism. Countries with MDB–approved vaccination programmes can make requests to COVAX for additional vaccine doses. To date, Gavi has already ordered 140 million additional vaccine doses through cost sharing on behalf of 15 AMC countries, at a total value of $800 million.

Countries specify the preferred type of vaccine, number of doses and their desired delivery window, enabling COVAX to aggregate demand and exercise its options under agreements with vaccine manufacturers. The MDB provides a payment confirmation, which enables COVAX to confirm its order. Subject to finalisation of the legal agreement, MedAccess and Open Society's support aims to provide a backstop for Gavi during the period from exercising its option to country payment being confirmed; without the guarantees Gavi would be required to hold donor funds in reserve. This guarantee provides financial independence to Gavi for the benefit of COVAX AMC country partners.

On April 8, 2022, Gavi will hold the 2022 Gavi COVAX AMC Summit, co–hosted by Germany. Gavi aims to raise at least $5.2 billion in urgent financial support for COVAX, including $3.8 billion in donor funding for lower–income countries supported by the Gavi COVAX AMC. At least $1 billion of the $5.2 billion is intended to come from cost–sharing.

To date, COVAX has shipped more than 1.4 billion COVID–19 vaccine doses to 145 countries and territories.

Media contacts

Rob Kelly, Head of External Relations at MedAccess
+44 7867 132038
rkelly@medaccess.org

Evan O'Connell, Senior Media Relations Manager at Gavi
+41 79 682 18 95
eoconnell@gavi.org

Erin Greenberg, Senior Communications Officer, Open Society Foundations
erin.greenberg@opensocietyfoundations.org

About MedAccess

MedAccess is a U.K.–based social finance company with a mission to make global healthcare markets work for everyone. Its core purpose is to make medical supplies more widely available at lower prices in under–served markets. By applying the rigour and skills of business finance, it provides a novel solution to the challenge. MedAccess offers financial guarantees and debt products that reduce commercial risk and allow medical manufacturers to accelerate supplies into new markets at affordable and sustainable prices. In this way, vaccines, medicines, diagnostic tests and medical devices can reach patients far sooner than existing market forces would allow.

For more information see www.medaccess.org and follow MedAccess on Twitter @MedAccessUK.

About COVAX

COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID–19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is co–led by CEPI, Gavi and WHO "" working in partnership with developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, PAHO, the World Bank, and others. It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID–19 vaccines are available worldwide to both high–income and lower–income countries.

Gavi's role in COVAX

Gavi leads on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX: designing and managing the COVAX Facility and the Gavi COVAX AMC and working with its traditional Alliance partners UNICEF and WHO, along with governments, on country readiness and delivery.

As part of this role, Gavi hosts the Office of the COVAX Facility to coordinate the operation and governance of the mechanism as a whole, holds financial and legal relationships with 193 Facility participants, and manages the COVAX Facility deals portfolio: negotiating advance purchase agreements with manufacturers of promising vaccine candidates to secure doses on behalf of all COVAX Facility participants. Gavi also coordinates design, operationalisation and fundraising for the Gavi COVAX AMC, the mechanism that provides access to donor–funded doses of vaccine to 92 lower–income economies. As part of this work, Gavi provides funding and oversight for UNICEF procurement and delivery of vaccines to all AMC participants""operationalising the advance purchase agreements between Gavi and manufacturers""as well as support for partners' and governments work on readiness and delivery. This includes tailored support to governments, UNICEF, WHO and other partners for cold chain equipment, technical assistance, syringes, vehicles, and other aspects of the vastly complex logistical operation for delivery. Gavi also co–designed, raises funds for and supports the operationalisation of the AMC's no–fault compensation mechanism as well as the COVAX Humanitarian Buffer.

About Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public–private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world's children against some of the world's deadliest diseases. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation""over 888 million children""and prevented more than 15 million future deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 lower–income countries. Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningitis and yellow fever vaccines. After two decades of progress, Gavi is now focused on protecting the next generation and reaching zero dose children remaining deprived of even a single vaccine shot still being left behind, employing innovative finance and the latest technology""from drones to biometrics""to save millions more lives, prevent outbreaks before they can spread and help countries on the road to self–sufficiency. Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Gavi is a co–convener of COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID–19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, together with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO). In its role Gavi is focused on procurement and delivery for COVAX: coordinating the design, implementation and administration of the COVAX Facility and the Gavi COVAX AMC and working with its Alliance partners UNICEF and WHO, along with governments, on country readiness and delivery.

The Vaccine Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. View the full list of donor governments and other leading organizations that fund Gavi's work here.

About Open Society Foundations

The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and inclusive democracies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people. We are active in more than 120 countries, making us the world's largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights. The Soros Economic Development Fund supports Open Society's mission through investments that advance the Foundations' enduring commitments of equity, expression, and justice.

For more information, see www.opensocietyfoundations.org and www.soroseconomicdevelopmentfund.org


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Open Society Launches Fund for a Free and Democratic Ukraine http://www.saudimirror.com/open-society-launches-fund-for-a-free-and-democratic-ukraine/ Fri, 04 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000 http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=214071 New York/Berlin/Kyiv, March 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Open Society Foundations today are pledging an initial $25 million to launch the Ukraine Democracy Fund and urge other funders to join us in supporting civil society in Ukraine in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's assault on democracy.

This initiative builds on Open Society's more than three decades of work in Eastern Europe to support human rights organizations, independent journalists, and other civil society groups. The aim of this fund is to join with private foundations, philanthropists big and small, and the private sector to raise $100 million over the duration of the crisis and its inevitably protracted aftermath.

"We have one simple message: we will never abandon Ukraine," said Alex Soros, deputy chair of the Open Society Foundations. "As Putin tries to wipe the country off the map, we will do all we can for the people of Ukraine. We urge others to step forward and join us."

"This is a defining moment for open societies," said Mark Malloch–Brown, president of the Foundations. "Whatever the Kremlin might say, it is clear that what Putin is really afraid of is neither NATO nor nuclear weapons, but a free and flourishing democracy on his doorstep."

The fund will advance three goals:

  • Support for Ukrainian civil society: Since 1990, independent Ukrainian organizations have played a vital role in the country's democratic development""from fighting corruption to defending independent media and the rights of citizens. These groups are the sinew of any healthy democracy. During the current conflict and its aftermath, the fund will continue to support this work""now more critical than ever.
  • International solidarity with Ukraine: The fund will advance international efforts to defend Ukraine's freedom and independence, to battle authoritarianism, and to enhance international accountability efforts through credible documentation of war crimes. This will include resources for investigative journalists, artists, and scholars, as well as for research and advocacy groups who speak out for human rights and the rule of law across the region.
  • Protecting human dignity: As of today, more than one million people have been forced to flee Ukraine, and many more are displaced within the country. Additional unforeseen threats to civilians lie ahead. The fund will support humanitarian aid for those beyond the reach of other relief efforts, as well as bolstering public health work, protecting and welcoming refugees, and eventually post–conflict reconstruction.

"This has been a time of horror in Ukraine," said Oleksandr Sushko, executive director of our Kyiv–based International Renaissance Foundation. "At the same time, I feel great pride in seeing how Ukraine, Europe, and much of the world are standing against Putin's aggression. We will keep defending freedom and the pillars of democracy here and across the globe."

Founded by George Soros, the Open Society Foundations are the world's largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights. Open Society has been working in Ukraine through the International Renaissance Foundation since 1990.


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Open Society Foundations Call for Release of Wrongfully Imprisoned Kavala http://www.saudimirror.com/open-society-foundations-call-for-release-of-wrongfully-imprisoned-kavala/ Mon, 01 Nov 2021 14:33:07 +0000 http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=214084 New York, Nov. 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Open Society Foundations join today with thousands of voices inside and outside Turkey, calling on the Turkish government to comply with the rule of law and end the imprisonment of Osman Kavala, the philanthropist and businessman who today marks his fourth year behind bars.

"The continued prosecution of this case shines a spotlight on the erosion of the rule of law in Turkey," said Open Society Foundations President Mark Malloch–Brown. "Kavala has now spent more than 1,400 days in prison, even though he has never been convicted of a crime and top European and Turkish courts have ruled he should be freed."

"The prosecution of this case is not about the law," Malloch–Brown added. "It is an effort to silence independent voices like Kavala's within Turkey."

Kavala was originally arrested in 2017. He remains behind bars even though the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2019 that he should be freed, citing the lack of evidence against him. Kavala was subsequently acquitted by a top Turkish court in 2020, and then immediately rearrested on additional bogus charges.

Before his arrest, Kavala ran a local foundation he had established to support the arts, culture, and human rights. He also served on the boards of a number of organizations including Open Society's now–closed Turkish foundation. President Erdogan's campaign of slander against Kavala has included distorting and misrepresenting his entirely open and legitimate contacts with Open Society and its founder George Soros.

"We call for justice to prevail and an end to the cruel imprisonment of Osman Kavala, who for decades has fought for basic, fundamental rights for all," Malloch–Brown said.

Read more about Open Society's work in Turkey.


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In First Summit with International Business & Government Leaders, Essential Workers to Discuss Framework for Just COVID-19 Recovery http://www.saudimirror.com/in-first-summit-with-international-business-government-leaders-essential-workers-to-discuss-framework-for-just-covid-19-recovery/ Thu, 09 Sep 2021 08:00:00 +0000 http://www.saudimirror.com/?p=214474 London, UK, Sept. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wednesday, Sept. 8 marked the opening day of the first–ever global summit of essential workers. Participants from around the world tuned in to a powerful conversation about an economic recovery that prioritizes essential workers, especially women in the informal economy.

"Universal social protections for essential workers are no longer a choice for governments; it is a very necessary move for governments to take," Lorraine Sibanda, president of StreetNet International, an international alliance of street vendors, told the crowd.

The Essential for Recovery summit, which runs from September 8 through September 10, brings together essential workers from North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia with global business and government leaders to discuss a framework for a just economic recovery from the Covid–19 pandemic. The event centers the demands of care workers and the 61% of workers worldwide who labor in the informal economy, including domestic workers, agricultural workers, street vendors, and home–based workers.

"Home–based workers contribute around $300 billion to the economy, but they don't get any benefit out of it. We are part of supply chains but we are not recognized as contributors to the supply chains," said Saira Feroze of the Home–Based Women Workers Federation, on Day 1 of the summit.

The first day of the innovative summit brought together diverse voices from across the globe. Martha Chen, a lecturer at Harvard and senior advisor to Women in Informal Employement: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), interviewed Rosheda Muller, president of the South African Informal Traders Alliance, on how street vendors are organizing globally. Legendary South African labor leader Myrtle Witbooi spoke with Maina Kiai, senior official at Human Rights Watch and former United Nations Special Rapporteur. And actor and activist Martin Sheen and actress Yalitza Aparicio made special appearances.

"COVID–19 taught us the importance of all workers in different sectors, recognizing that they deserve decent work and are important in the global economy. Governments know about this issue, but what are they doing about it?" asked Aparicio, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the 2019 movie Roma.

Day 2 of the event on Thursday will focus on the fight against inequality, sexual harassment, and abuse in the workplace. Guests include: Rosa Pavanelli, the General Secretary of Public Services International, interviewing "Mama Union" Rose Omamo, leader of the Kenyan metal workers union; journalist Xanthe Scharff interviewing Mercedes D'Alessandro, feminist economist and Argentine government official; and journalist Reena Ninan interviewing business leader Brid Gould of Sodexo.

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About Essential For Recovery:

The Essential for Recovery Summit is led by non–profit labor organizations "" including HomeNet International, International Domestic Workers' Federation, International Trade Union Confederation, Solidarity Center, StreetNet International, UNI Global Union, and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing "" and supported by the Open Society Foundations.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8322708)

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