ENI – Pope Benedict XVI and leaders of five other leading faiths in Britain have subscribed to an inaugural $1.15-billion bond issued by the British Treasury that will pay for immunizing half a billion children in developing countries over the next 10 years.
When it was launched in November, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, praised the initiative masterminded by Britain's Finance Minister, Gordon Brown. The Anglican leader noted: “By buying a bond I make a small contribution to a much bigger effort to mobilise resources to relieve poverty and suffering and build hope for a better future.”
Long term binding commitments by donors will be used to borrow money directly from institutional and private investors for immediate expenditure on programs undertaken by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization that were slated for the end of 2006 on tetanus and measles prevention.
