The following information comes from the Church Newsroom.
Latter-day Saint Charities, the humanitarian arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced it will give a $20 million grant to UNICEF’s global efforts with the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and the vaccines arm of the ACT Accelerator called the COVAX Facility.
The grant follows a donation made by the Church last year (in the amount of $3 million) that helped facilitate UNICEF’s urgent COVID-19 response efforts. This included providing water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
This additional grant will help in UNICEF’s historic endeavor to procure and supply 2 billion COVID-19 vaccines to the approximately 196 participating nations and economies by the end of this year. The initial doses are intended to be given to frontline healthcare workers as well as those in high risk and vulnerable categories.
Additionally, the donation will help support UNICEF’s efforts to work with countries on strengthening supply chains, training health workers, addressing misinformation, and building trust in vaccines and in the health system distributing them.
“COVID-19 is the first truly global crisis we have seen in our lives. No matter where we live, the pandemic affects every person, including children. There has never been a more urgent need to work together. This grant for our important role in COVAX, from Latter-day Saint Charities, is the single biggest donation from a private sector partner that we’ve received to date,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF executive director. “We hope that their generosity inspires other organizations, businesses and individuals to help us ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.”
To read the full report on the Church Newsroom, CLICK HERE.
