Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has selected Accenture to support finance operations for its COVAX Facility, a multilateral initiative with the aim of accelerating equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world.
The goal of COVAX, which is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Health Organization (WHO), is to distribute two billion COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. With operational excellence critical to this ambition, Accenture will enhance the agility and rigor of Gavi’s operations with the support of its finance specialists.
“The scale and urgency of the COVAX mission calls for exceptional operational agility to manage what has become one of the largest and most complex undertakings ever in global health,” said Aurélia Nguyen, managing director of the Office of the COVAX Facility. “With our colleagues at Accenture, we will expand our capacity to allow COVAX participants and partners to plan and manage with greater efficiency and accountability, supporting our goal of global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.”
As part of the initiative, Accenture will work with Gavi to define the right operating model and standardized processes for working across alliance partners, manufacturers, governments and other organizations. Accenture will also support grant accounting, financial planning, budgeting and management reporting with its specialists enabling Gavi to adjust and scale capacity as demand changes.
“We are honored to bring our finance expertise and operational services in support of Gavi’s mission of delivering efficient and equitable access to vaccines,” said Manish Sharma, group chief executive of Accenture Operations. “No barrier should stand in the way of protecting as many people as possible from COVID-19, nor should it prolong the devastation that the pandemic has left in its wake. We are proud to support the growing needs of the COVAX mission.”
As the initiative progresses, Accenture and Gavi will also team to enhance operational rigor across service management and governance processes to improve transactional-level quality, performance monitoring and visibility across enterprise processes. Today’s announcement is the latest step in Accenture’s effort to help organizations pivot to future-ready operations, transforming how work gets done across technology, processes and people to boost efficiency and speed to value.
COVAX is a global, multilateral initiative with the aim of accelerating the development, production, and equitable access of COVID-19 vaccines. It is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Health Organization (WHO) and works in partnership with developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, the World Bank and civil society organizations
