Gucci Is Supporting UNICEF USA To Help Fund The Supply And Equal Distribution Of A Safe COVID-19 Vaccine With A $500,000 Donation And A 21-Day Matching Challenge

NEW YORK (December 4, 2020) – Gucci continues in its commitment to fight the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by making a donation of $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 $100,000 through the “21-day challenge”. Contributions made through gucci.benevity.org/community from December 5 until December 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 organized 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 immunization programming to build the capacity of local healthcare systems, and to ensure community awareness and mobilization 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 organization 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 program the world has seen to date.

Already, UNICEF procures more than two billion doses of vaccines annually for routine immunization 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.

 

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About the partnership

• During the decade 2005-2015, Gucci’s contribution to UNICEF’s work has focused on Schools for Africa, an initiative that expands access to quality education to girls, orphaned children and those living in extreme poverty. Through the partnership, Gucci has supported UNICEF’s efforts to increase primary school enrolment and influence national education policy by working with governments and partners in several countries including in Mozambique and Malawi, training more than 8,700 teachers and educators, so that children receive a quality education and gain the skills and knowledge they need for their future, constructing nearly 300 school classrooms, offering a safe and protective environment in which children can learn and play, supplying 14,600 school desks, so children have a proper place to concentrate and learn, constructing more than 1,800 water and sanitation facilities in schools, ensuring clean water for drinking and hygiene, working alongside governments to influence changes in education policy and advocate for improvements in the school curriculum.
• From January 2018 to August 2019, as a founding partner of BEYGOOD4BURUNDI, in partnership with UNICEF USA, Gucci and CHIME FOR CHANGE supported the construction and rehabilitation of Water Access, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure in targeted areas across Burundi, the development and strengthening of Water Management Communities, and hygiene awareness campaigns for water safety. This investment enabled 4,850 additional people to gain sustainable access to safe drinking water, benefitting 36,000+ people total since January 2018. Additionally, community members received information to help them improve their knowledge of household water treatment and storage, safe hygiene practices in communities, schools and health centers, and menstrual health and hygiene.
• In 2018 and 2019, 50 Gucci employees from around the world have participated as proud members of the UNICEF team running the NYC Marathon raising funds for the BEYGOOD4BURUND Initiative.
• Gucci is also founding member of UNICEF’s Girls’ Empowerment Initiative. This work focuses on innovative solutions to advance measurable progress in girls’ rights and well-being across thematic program areas, such as health, education, social protection, water and sanitation. Empowering adolescent young women and supporting them to reach their full potential is not only the right thing to do, it is critical to sustainable, peaceful economic development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the globally agreed timetable for peace and prosperity.

 

 

About 2020 Gucci commitment in support of COVID 19
Gucci’s long-term partnership with UNICEF is our latest commitment in a series of “We Are All In This Together” initiatives to convene the global community in the fight against COVID-19. In March 2020, Gucci donated 2 million euros to crowdfunding campaigns for the Italian National Civil Protection Department and the United Nations Foundation COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

In May 2020, Gucci’s CHIME FOR CHANGE initiative launched the #StandWithWomen campaign, in partnership with Kering Foundation, to fund nonprofit organizations working to address increased gender-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

 

About Gucci Equilibrium
Gucci Equilibrium is our commitment to generate positive change for people and our planet.  Powered by creativity and collaboration, we are reducing our environmental impact and protecting nature, while also prioritizing inclusivity and respect, so that everyone in our global Gucci community is free to express their authentic, diverse selves. As we approach our 100th anniversary, we are moving forward into the coming decades with an ongoing commitment to reinforce our culture of purpose, demonstrating our values through innovative pathways towards social and environmental sustainability. Gucci Equilibrium unifies the principles we uphold and the actions we pursue to treat our world and each other better, for our collective future. For more information visit equilibrium.gucci.com and discover Gucci’s instagram dedicated to social and environmental sustainability at Instagram.com/GucciEquilibrium.

 

 

About UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to pursue a more equitable world for every child. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. 

UNICEF USA advances the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world’s most vulnerable children. Together, we are working toward a world that upholds the rights of all children and helps every child thrive. For more information visit unicefusa.org. Find out more about UNICEF’s work on the COVID-19 vaccines here.

 

 

For more information, contact
Ann Reinking Whitener, UNICEF USA, areinking@unicefusa.org