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GENEVA, Switzerland – The World Health Organization said Monday that a fund it launched a year ago to obtain donations from ordinary individuals and businesses to combat the pandemic had raised nearly $ 250 million.
Countries have contributed billions of dollars to help in the global fight against COVID-19, which has killed more than 2.6 million people since the first cases were detected in China in late 2019.
But noting the general public’s enthusiasm to help, the UN health agency decided to create the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for individual donations, which it launched on March 15, 2020.
As of Monday, he said, more than 661,000 individuals, businesses and other organizations had contributed a total of $ 242 million, in what the WHO described as an “unprecedented show of support.”
The fund, which is unique within the UN system, had helped provide millions of frontline workers with critical personal protective equipment, medical supplies and test kits, and combat misinformation about COVID-19, said the WHO.
It has also supported vulnerable populations such as refugees and helped accelerate research on vaccines, tests and treatments, he added.
The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, praised the generosity shown by all those who had contributed and insisted in a statement that the success of the fund demonstrated “what we can achieve together in times of need”.
The organization said the fund had been a “critical source of funding” for its overall response to the pandemic, but stressed that more was needed.
The fund, which is backed by the newly created United Nations Foundation and the Swiss Foundation for Philanthropy, is now requesting contributions for the $ 1.96 billion that the WHO says it needs to continue its work in responding to the pandemic through the end of 2021. .
“We have accomplished a lot over the past year,” Tedros said.
“Unfortunately, the pandemic is far from over and we cannot give up the fight yet,” he said, thanking those who had contributed and seeking “continued support to defeat COVID-19.” – French Media Agency
