- The UN Foundation has sent 40,000 insecticide-treated bed nets to thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons in eastern Chad who have fled the crisis in western Sudan’s Darfur region. The gesture was provided under the support of the foundation's launched campaign - “Nothing But Nets”.
It is believed that 25% of the 200,000 refugees and internally displaced persons living in the camps along the borders of Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic borders are at the risk of malaria.
“We asked the tens of thousands of Nothing But Nets supporters to help us purchase and deliver nets to Chad – and they responded overwhelmingly in just three weeks,” the foundation’s Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Kathy Bushkin Calvin, appealed.
Created in 1998, the foundation's aim, among others, is to promote a more peaceful, prosperous, and just world through the support of the UN. It has since been acting to meet the most pressing health, humanitarian, socio-economic and environmental challenges of the 21st century through grant-making as well as building new innovative public-private partnerships.
Its support to refugees in Chad resulted following an emergency call by development partners operating in the region before the height of the rainy season when malaria becomes rampant. These partners included the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the UNICEF and MENTOR Initiative.
“Many lives will be saved through this emergency campaign,” the Chief Executive Officer of the MENTOR Initiative, Richard Allan, said. "With so many Chadians forced into temporary camps and living under poor conditions, the delivery of these nets is vital to protecting Chadian families from the spread of malaria.”
Nothing But Nets is a grassroots effort to prevent malaria through delivering long-lasting insecticide-treated nets. Through a network of more than 60,000 people, over $400,000 had been raised for the initiative, with the National Basketball Association’s Chicago Bulls, a local partners of the campaign, providing the first $10,000 for the emergency appeal.
“I want to thank my team and all those who answered this urgent appeal,” said Luol Deng, a forward of Chicago Bulls forward and Spokesperson of Nothing But Nets. “With your donations, you have prevented the unnecessary suffering of thousands.”
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