To mobilize resources, build partnerships, and influence policy changes, the United Nations (UN) Foundation developed and sponsors 20 campaigns and initiatives. The Foundation is the bridge that connects the United Nations with local groups, corporations, development organizations and governments in solving global problems including poverty, climate change, gender inequality, and poor education and health. In partnership with a variety of organizations across the globe, the UN Foundation has championed programmes that have had far-reaching impact on some of the world’s most disadvantaged. Here’s a look at five of these campaigns and initiatives with a primary focus on Africa.
Digital Impact Alliance
Founded by the United Nations Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and United States Agency for International Development, Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) works to promote an inclusive digital society across the world. In championing digital development, DIAL unlocks markets to deliver digital services to the most vulnerable in society. DIAL is looking to partner with the Better Immunization Data Initiative in using data to ensure a smooth immunization process for children in Arusha, Tanzania. The focus of DIAL Initiative is to address the reach and capacity challenges, improve access to and use of data for development, provide insights and drive impact.
Every Woman Every Child
Launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit in 2010, Every Woman Every Child (EWEC) is a global movement that mobilizes and intensifies international and national action by governments, multilaterals, the private sector and civil society to address the major health challenges such as undernutrition, contraception, and diseases facing women, children and adolescents around the world. The health of this target group determines human development and progress, and directly impacts the achievement of the SDGs. During the launch in 2010, more than $40 billion was pledged. To find innovative healthcare solutions, the EWEC Innovation Marketplace was launched by the strategic alliance of development organizations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, the United States Agency for International Development, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and UBS Optimus Foundation.
Girl Up
In partnership with the United Nations Foundation, The Girl Up campaign was launched in 2010 to fund programmes that provide girls with education, health, social and economic opportunities, and a violence-free life. The campaign’s focuses on the following countries: Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, Uganda, Guatemala, and India. In Ethiopia and Uganda, Girl Up partners with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to ensure girls in refugee camps have equal access to quality primary and secondary education by providing school materials and improving school facilities. In Ethiopia and Malawi, the campaign facilitates health education programmes, and provides private toilets and access to water for girls, which has helped to sustain their attendance rates. In Liberia, the Girl Up-UN Foundation partnership is working with the Ministry of Health to develop a national strategy on adolescent reproductive health, and standardizing training curricula for health professionals. Overall, the campaign aims to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 5, quality education and gender equality, by 2030. To date, Girl Up has supported 34,095 girls in its campaign.
Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (Alliance), hosted by the UN Foundation, promotes the universal adoption of clean and efficient cooking solutions in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Bangladesh, India, China, and Guatemala. The Alliance was formed to address the hazards associated with the use of traditional cookstoves and open fires which are global health and environmental concerns that disproportionately affect women and girls. Launched in 2010 by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Alliance has a 10-year goal to foster the adoption of clean cookstoves and fuels in 100 million households by 2020. The strategy is to establish a thriving global market for clean cooking solutions by addressing the market barriers that impede the production, deployment, and use of clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels in developing countries. In 2014, the Alliance together with its 1,300 partners made significant progress as 28 million households had safe, affordable, and accessible clean cooking solutions.
Nothing But Nets
Nothing But Nets is a UN Foundation campaign to create awareness and raise funds to fight malaria, mainly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. The campaign kicked off in 2006 when American sports writer Rick Reilly wrote a column in a sports magazine calling on his readers to donate at least $10 to send mosquito nets to vulnerable families. The campaign raised $100,000 in its first week and since 2006, has raised over $60 million which translates to 10 million mosquito nets and other malaria interventions like diagnostics, treatment, and training of healthcare workers. Nothing But Nets collaborates with local partners and international organizations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Basketball Association’s NBA Cares. In the last decade, malaria deaths worldwide have declined by more than half as an estimated 6.8 million lives have been saved from malaria since 2000. Today, approximately 53 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa is protected by bed nets, compared to just 2 percent in 2000.
To learn more and support the United Nations Foundation’s campaigns and initiatives, visit their website.