C&A Foundation has made a 500,000 EUR grant to Save the Children Switzerland to help children and families affected by the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.
“We are deeply concerned by the unprecedented scale of the current outbreak of Ebola, ” said Leslie Johnston, C&A Foundation Executive Director. “Children are amongst the most vulnerable during such crises and in Sierra Leone alone, an estimated 1,100 children are unaccompanied or separated from their families because of this outbreak. This donation will contribute to Save the Children’s vital work to protect children affected by Ebola in Sierra Leone.”
“Save the Children was a natural choice of partner for C&A Foundation, having supported their work in other crises, including Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, ” adds Johnston. “They are leaders in child protection, an area of the Ebola response that is underfunded and which we feel strongly about.”
The grant will fund Save the Children’s work to protect unaccompanied and separated children in Sierra Leone, namely its efforts to trace children’s missing relatives and reunite families. These activities are critical to prevent long-term family separation, which can occur if children move in search of support when their carer is admitted for treatment or dies.
The funds will also help strengthen community-based protection systems, which play an essential role in protecting children. Extended family and community members have shown some reticence to take lone children into their care for fear of contracting the disease or being stigmatised by the community. Additionally, the donation will enable Save the Children to provide vital psychological and emotional support to children, many of whom are scared and confined to their homes, where they have witnessed the death of loved ones and may face significant trauma on a daily basis.
“Thanks to C&A Foundation’s grant, we can expand our child protection programmes in Sierra Leone, as part of our emergency response to the Ebola outbreak, ” explains Jérôme Strijbis, CEO of Save the Children Switzerland. “In the coming weeks, 60 additional staff will be deployed to Sierra Leone, including health, water and sanitation, logistics and child protection experts. We are hopeful that we can help protect children from the dramatic effects of this crisis.”
About C&A Foundation
C&A Foundation is a philanthropic foundation based in Switzerland that aspires to a fair and sustainable apparel industry in which everyone can thrive. The foundation addresses the deeply rooted challenges of the apparel industry by supporting and driving initiatives that help transform the way the industry works. Collaborating with leading global retailer C&A, enables the foundation to test, replicate and scale programmes that can help the apparel industry become a force for good. In addition, the organisation helps communities bounce back after natural disasters.
About Save the Children
Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children. We work in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is politically, ideologically, economically and religiously independent. Save the Children Switzerland is Zewo-certified.
