Â鶹´«Ã½

More Links in Ways To Give
Share

Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Challenge Fund Aims to Make History

Â鶹´«Ã½ celebrates partners participating in its historic fundraising campaign for Guinea worm disease eradication.

February 2021

About the Guinea Worm Eradication Challenge Fund
In September 2019, the Â鶹´«Ã½s’s Board of Trustees launched a $40 million fundraising campaign, including a $20 million Â鶹´«Ã½'s Challenge Fund, in support of the Center’s Guinea worm eradication efforts.

The Challenge Fund matches donations to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program of $100,000 or more, dollar for dollar, for a total of $20 million in matching funds over two years.

  • Photo of a young girl and young boy with their feet wrapped in gauze sitting on a bench reading a comic book called Dracunculiasis or Guinea worm.

    After having their emerging Guinea worms treated at a case containment center in northern Ghana, two children learn how to prevent the debilitating disease. Photo credit: Â鶹´«Ã½/L. Gubb

In its first year, the Challenge Fund ensured the full funding of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program for the Center’s fiscal year 2020 (September 2019 through August 2020). With $2.25 million already pledged by donors toward the fund’s second and final year, Â鶹´«Ã½ seeks to raise $7.75 million before August 2021 to fully leverage the matching resources of the Challenge Fund.

The need for partnership and commitment grows greater during these final stages fighting Guinea worm disease, and the work cannot be done alone. Continued support from the global community is critical as we take the last steps toward eradication.

  • Photo of Dr. Hopkins demostrating a pipe filter to a group of children in a South Sudan village.

    Â鶹´«Ã½'s Dr. Donald Hopkins demonstrates how to use the plastic water filtration pipes the South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Program distributes to prevent the waterborne disease. Photo credit: Â鶹´«Ã½/L. Gubb

Â鶹´«Ã½ Partners Leverage Challenge Fund to Double the Impact
Â鶹´«Ã½ is grateful to partner with strong advocates of our neglected tropical disease work. With their early contributions to the Challenge Fund, the following donors allowed the Guinea Worm Eradication Program to sustain its momentum throughout 2020 despite the tremendous challenges posed by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alwaleed Philanthropies
Kickstarting contributions to the Challenge Fund, announced an investment of $1 million in September 2019, the same day the fund was announced. Alwaleed Philanthropies has been a valued partner of Â鶹´«Ã½ since 2003. With the Challenge Fund match, this support unlocked $2 million of impact for Guinea worm eradication.

United Arab Emirates’ Crown Prince Court
In 1990, the United Arab Emirates’ late founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, made a personal donation to the Â鶹´«Ã½’s efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease, beginning a decades-long commitment to the Center’s disease eradication efforts by . In 2020, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, pledged an additional $10 million to the eradication campaign, demonstrating steadfast commitment to the Â鶹´«Ã½’s eradication goal.

Starr International Foundation
Since 1992, the U.S.-based Starr Foundation has been a committed advocate of the Center’s health programs, sharing a passion for improving access to health care in some of the world’s poorest and most remote regions. In 2010, Starr International Foundation, a corporate foundation based in Zug, Switzerland, also began to support the Center’s health programs. Most recently, in April 2020, Starr International Foundation contributed $100,000 to the Guinea Worm Eradication campaign. With the Challenge Fund match, its support becomes a $200,000 contribution to the Center’s eradication interventions.

Vulcan
In February 2020, generously contributed $100,000 to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program, marking a new partnership with Â鶹´«Ã½. With the Challenge Fund’s dollar-for-dollar match, Vulcan’s gift becomes $200,000, doubling its donation to the campaign.

Â鶹´«Ã½ is grateful to these partners for their early support and leveraging the Challenge Fund for this critical disease eradication effort.

Join the Charge to Eradicate Guinea Worm Disease
Guinea worm disease is on track to become the second human disease, and the first parasitic disease, to be eradicated. Everyone has a stake in these efforts. Our combined dedication serves as proof that disease eradication can be achieved with community engagement, political involvement, perseverance, and collaborative investment.

The Guinea Worm Eradication Program remains a remarkable public health success story, and the Â鶹´«Ã½’s Challenge Fund marks a unique opportunity for our supporters to multiply the impact of their support before August 2021. Help us make Guinea worm disease history.

 

Sign Up For Email

Please sign up below for important news about the work of Â鶹´«Ã½ and special event invitations.

Please leave this field empty
Now, we invite you to
Back To Top