We’re thrilled to have received a grant of £568,000 in what has been one of the most challenging years for us as a charity in recent decades.
The innocent foundation’s grant is an incredible amount, but the long-term, strategic value to us is even greater.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, malnutrition levels were rising due to conflicts, climate change and growing inequality. The impacts of the pandemic now mean this trend is getting worse – 132 million more people around the world could face hunger as a result of the coronavirus.
Without access to life-saving treatment, 10,000 more children than was predicted before the pandemic could die of malnutrition each month. Support from the innocent foundation will enable us to continue our fight for a world free from hunger, and help us treat more children suffering from life-threatening hunger — children like Simbo.
Helping children like Simbo recover from malnutrition
Simbo lives in rural Mali. When he was two years old his mother Mamissa noticed he was underweight and unable to hold himself up. Mamissa tried desperately to give Simbo food, but he was too weak to eat.
Fortunately for Simbo, he lives in a village with an Action Against Hunger-trained community health worker, Hawa, who noticed Simbo’s symptoms. After diagnosing him with severe acute malnutrition (the most life-threatening form of hunger) Hawa prescribed him a course of ready-to-use therapeutic food for four weeks. With Hawa’s support, Mamissa was able to treat Simbo from her own home. Thankfully, Simbo responded well to treatment.
“He soon started sitting up, then began crawling and walking and before long he was back to normal eating and playing.”
How the innocent foundation’s support will help
In Mali, acute malnutrition rates for children under five years of age are shockingly high. Very often, children aren’t receiving the treatment they need as health centres are too far to travel to. In cases where children are brought to the centres, their condition has become critical.
Our vital work in Mali has been made possible thanks in part to our previous partnership with the innocent foundation. The foundation contributed £900,000 from 2014 -2018 to a unique research study, used to press for global change, and help reduce the number of children globally suffering from malnutrition.
“The innocent foundation has been proud to partner with Action Against Hunger since 2014. We’ve seen first hand their life saving work and really value how they share their knowledge and expertise with the world. We’re delighted to continue supporting Action Against Hunger’s search for more effective solutions to beat hunger. “
Thanks to partnerships like this, we can continue our innovative work training community health workers who treat children facing life-theatening hunger.
Through our strategic partnership with the innocent foundation, we’ll receive ‘unrestricted’ funds, meaning they don’t have to support a pre-defined project. This is rare, but vital for us this year.
It will give us the flexibility to be able to adapt our work rapidly where needs are greatest and in a constantly changing environment. We can respond immediately to emergencies and we will be able to continue to deliver sustainable, quality programmes.
“Not only have the innocent foundation understood our challenges, but their timely and strategic support is simply incredible. We have found a partner who not only rallies behind our vision, but who has the very same vision. We look forward to continuing our joint fight for a world free from hunger in partnership with the innocent foundation.”
Importantly, it will allow us to invest in our growth, so that we can reach more and more children like Simbo affected by hunger and malnutrition.
Together, we’ll work towards a world free from hunger.