#OnlyTogether campaigns for equal access to COVID-19 vaccines—and hope
March 11, 2021
For families around the world, we want 2021 to be a year that restores health, incomes and hope for the future. This is why the IKEA Foundation is supporting the United Nations’ call for equitable global vaccine access through the #OnlyTogether campaign.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused irreversible heartbreak and devastation, we are now seeing signs that confirm what scientists have said: vaccination offers the best hope for the world to emerge from this crisis.
Still, the pandemic only ends when threats of the disease end for everyone everywhere. And so all countries—not just the wealthier, but also those struggling with poverty—must provide their entire populations with access to COVID-19 vaccines.
As Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, says: “Viruses don’t respect borders. Leaving parts of the world unvaccinated could lead to even deadlier variants of COVID-19 emerging, prolonging the pandemic and delaying the global economy from recovering.”
The #OnlyTogether campaigns calls on governments, businesses philanthropies and the world at large to support global vaccine equity.
Fair and effective recovery
In follow-up to last year’s donation to our partner Purpose, we are giving $3 million to the social mobilisation organisation. This support is intended to amplify Purpose’s joint campaign with the UN in promoting a fair, effective pandemic recovery worldwide. It also aims to help cement public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines.
#OnlyTogether is part of the Verified platform that Purpose and the UN launched in 2020 to share accurate, live-saving COVID-19 information and to tackle misinformation. Verified has already reached over 1 billion people around the world through communication in over 50 languages.
Per Heggenes, CEO of the IKEA Foundation, says: “Through supporting this campaign, we are calling on the global community to make COVID-19 vaccines available to the many people in the poorest parts of the world. The pandemic has shown us possible pathways to a future in which we work together to build a different kind of society and find ways to protect, not harm, our planet. We can only do this if our collective efforts to recover ensure we leave no one behind.”
What can you do?
To help turn this global issue into a global recovery, raise your voice. Share an image on Instagram showing what you will do again once the pandemic ends. Tag it with #OnlyTogether and mention @unitednations and @ikea_foundation.
