Today, on World Refugee Day, the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign announced a new commitment to fight malaria with Sumitomo Chemical Co., a global leader in innovative vector control and long-standing partner in the fight to end malaria. Sumitomo Chemical has issued a second matching grant challenge to Nothing But Nets supporters: For every life-saving bed net donated by a supporter (up to 350,000 nets), Sumitomo Chemical will match it, for a total of 700,000 nets. Sumitomo Chemical’s commitment to help Nothing But Nets and its UN partners working across sub-Saharan Africa is part of Nothing But Nets’ new “P.L.E.D.G.E. to Protect” two million refugees and displaced individuals from malaria by the end of 2017.
Today, there a record 65.6 million refugees and families living displaced by violence around the world – and 60 percent of them live in areas where malaria is transmitted. Malaria is a major threat to refugees – it is a leading cause of illness and death in many African countries, including those where Nothing But Nets and its UN partners work.
“Refugees are people like you and me, with hopes for their futures and their families,” said Margaret Reilly McDonnell, Director of Nothing But Nets. “But they have had to face unspeakable odds. We are doing our part to ensure no child dies from a preventable disease like malaria. We are grateful to Sumitomo for its significant commitment to help families stay healthy, rebuild, and thrive.”
Sumitomo Chemical’s commitment to Nothing But Nets and refugee families also supports Every Woman Every Child, an unprecedented global movement launched by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit in September 2010. Every Woman Every Child mobilizes and intensifies international and national action by governments, multilaterals, the private sector, and civil society to address the major health challenges facing women and children around the world. In April 2017, UN Secretary-General António Guterres joined the High-Level Steering Committee for Every Woman Every Child as its third and senior Co-chair, joining Co-chairs President Michele Bachelet of Chile and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia in the leadership of the global, multi-stakeholder partnership.
“It is heartbreaking to see the difficulties refugees face when they are forced to flee their homes,” said Ray Nishimoto, Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer, and President of the Health & Crop Sciences Sector, Sumitomo Chemical. “We know that malaria hits the most vulnerable people the hardest, and that’s why we have renewed our initiative with Nothing But Nets. We commit to continuous innovation of new vector control tools until the world is free of malaria.”
The new initiative follows the successful completion of an earlier shared commitment to Every Woman Every Child: In 2015, Nothing But Nets and Sumitomo announced a new partnership to protect refugees through The Millions Nets Pledge, the campaign’s two-year commitment to deliver one million life-saving bed nets to displaced families across sub-Saharan Africa. That commitment was fulfilled in 2016, and helped to protect over two million refugees and vulnerable people, including children, adolescents, and pregnant women from malaria. It raised $3.8 million, inspired 13,304 grassroots donors to send nets and save lives, inspired countless major donors to join and amplify the partnership, and reached the significant milestone of distributing the Nothing But Nets 10 millionth bed net on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.
Every two minutes, a child dies from malaria. Nothing But Nets is the world’s largest grassroots campaign fighting this disease caused by a single mosquito bite. Since 2000, there has been incredible progress made to defeat the disease – more than 6.8 million lives have been saved, and child mortality rates have decreased 71% in sub-Saharan Africa. Anyone can send a net and help save a life – visit www.NothingButNets.net to learn more.
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Contacts
Rachel Henderson
Communications Manager, Nothing But Nets
570.259.2205
Adam Flynn
Strategic Communications and Marketing Manager, Sumitomo Chemical
+44 (0) 7738 981712
About Nothing But Nets
Nothing But Nets is the world’s largest grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a disease which claims the life of a child every two minutes. Inspired by sports columnist Rick Reilly, hundreds of thousands of people have joined the campaign that was created by the United Nations Foundation in 2006. Nothing But Nets has raised over $60 million to help deliver ten million bed nets to families in need, along with other crucial malaria interventions. In addition to raising funds for its UN partners, Nothing But Nets raises awareness and voices to advocate for critical malaria funding for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. It only costs $10 to help save lives from this deadly disease. Visit www.NothingButNets.net to defeat malaria.
About The United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual donors. Learn more at: www.unfoundation.org.
About Sumitomo Chemical
Founded in 1913, Sumitomo Chemical Company has grown to be one of the world’s leading multinational chemical companies with annual sales amounting to US $20.8 billion and 30,000 employees. Sumitomo Chemical is proud to supply a full range of insecticide active ingredients with the best and most comprehensive technical and regulatory support, from discovery and development of new active ingredients, through technical and regulatory support to supply of the highest quality products. As an expanding global business which pursues leading-edge research and development – over 2,000 employees work in R&D – Sumitomo Chemical continually strives to contribute to the sustainable development of society throughout the world. In line with this approach, Sumitomo has been manufacturing its life-saving Olyset LLIN in Africa since 2003. In 2008 it opened a purpose-built factory with its joint venture partner A to Z Textiles in Arusha, Tanzania where up to 30 million nets are manufactured per year and at peak 7,000 local people are employed. It has also established an R&D facility at Arusha – the only facility of its size in East and Central Africa to be owned by a private company. For more information about Sumitomo Chemical’s Vector Control Dept. and pipeline of innovation helping to #endmalaria, visit www.sumivector.com.
© United to Beat Malaria. 2024 • Save Lives, Beat Malaria
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