$137,519.00!! That is the exciting total that FAWCO has collected in the
past three years for malaria prevention and the FAWCO initiative called
Networks.
How it began
At the 2005 FAWCO Conference in Birmingham, the delegates committed to take
on one of the world’s great problems and unanimously agreed to: “take up the
global challenge for reducing poverty and improving lives by promoting and
supporting the Millennium Development Goals. More specifically, they resolved
to address the tragedy of malaria by encouraging FAWCO's members to make a
significant commitment to worldwide malaria prevention." Over $100,000 was
raised the first year for the purchase of insecticide treated bed nets and the
fundraising efforts have successfully continued.
With the enthusiastic support of our members and the FAWCO Foundation, FAWCO's
Global Concerns Fund, 2006 to 2007, continued this focus on malaria eradication
in support of integrated malaria prevention.
Again, at the FAWCO biennial Conference in Lyon
in 2007, the delegates re-affirmed this commitment to malaria eradication by
unanimous vote of FAWCO’s Resolutions and Recommendations, resolving to
"encourage our members to focus on malaria, the single largest killer of
children". With this resolution, fund raising and awareness-raising will
continue at least up until the 2009 FAWCO Conference.
Partnerships
From the start, FAWCO has been partnering with the
Swiss Foundation BioVision in support of their integrated approach to malaria
prevention. The two supported pilot projects in Nyabondo and Malindi Kenya use a
combination of various environmentally friendly methods for reducing the number
of mosquitoes. These use water management and the elimination and treatment of
breeding areas with the natural pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis
(Bti) which has resulted in a reduction in mosquitoes of over 90%. The
distribution of insecticide treated bed nets and the education of the local
population are an integral part of the projects adding to their success and
ensuring secure sustainable malaria control for the future.
The lessons leaned in the two Kenyan projects will now be applied to
BioVision’s newest malaria eradication project in the Gurage/Tolay area of Ethiopia where
there is a population of about 9,000 people. The area is a high malaria risk
zone and the goal of the control project is to improve the human health
situation and contribute to the economic growth of the rural poor communities.
Education
At the heart of all BioVision projects is education.
The lack of practical information in the fields of agriculture and health is a
principle factor restraining progress in Kenya and many other African
countries. The Organic Farmer (TOF) is a free newspaper that reaches
over 90,000 people every month and has become an important source of
information for many African families in rural areas. This year TOF will start
to print supplements with special issues on subjects such as healthcare. The
first supplement will be on malaria and FAWCO is honored to be able to sponsor
this important first edition with 4 pages on malaria prevention. Extra copies
will be printed specifically for schools and the contents will be spread
further through Kenyan radio stations and other media channels. The soon to be
published edition on malaria will soon be available for downloading on this
website or at www.biovision.ch.
Thanks
FAWCO,
the FAWCO Foundation and all our member organizations can be very proud of
their significant contribution to malaria eradication. As of this moment our
grand total raised is $137,524. We should also not forget FAWCO's valuable
contribution to education and awareness-raising on the issue of malaria
eradication and prevention.
The break
down of funds donated for malaria prevention (World Swim and BioVision) is as
follows: 2006
$82,000. 2007
$42,269. 2008
$12,755. (to date)
This is the first time
that all of FAWCO has joined together on a global issue of this kind with
organization support of a Millennium Development Goal and we can certainly
claim great success. For further information visit the FAWCO website
at www.ngo.fawco.org/malaria.
