2020 was the year of COVID-19
No one will soon forget how disruptive a pandemic can be down to the very minutiae of everyone’s life.
As we draw up this annual report, the coronavirus still poses a threat and everyone around the world is faced with more or less freedom-restricting measures. Almost without exception, the projects supported by the Achmea Foundation in Africa have experienced delays and forced adjustments of activities. In many countries, a long- or short-term lockdown was imposed, which meant that there were no more transport possibilities.
The measures varied in intensity from country to country, due to the fact that the spread of the coronavirus was different in each country. Fortunately, only one project had to be completely shut down for some time. Visiting projects was not possible at all during the year. The ImpactPlus programme in the Netherlands – aimed at professionalising social entrepreneurs in care and welfare – took place entirely online. Following the programme, participants indicated that they considered the participation to be very valuable, despite the adjustments.
The Achmea Foundation has immediately responded to the changed circumstances brought about by COVID-19
In a number of ways, the foundation has already sought in the first quarter of 2020 to mitigate the negative impact on our work and provide support where possible. Through a quick survey of the parties we work with, we looked for innovative initiatives aimed at strengthening the COVID-19 fight in Africa.
For example, we were able to financially support PharmAccess in the development of a Coronavirus Checklist (how to recognise symptoms, which masks are suitable, patient information) for health clinics with which they work.
PharmAccess also helps healthcare providers to build and improve their testing capacity. By doing so, the Achmea Foundation contributes to the fight against the pandemic in Africa and worldwide. In collaboration with Luscii, an app has been introduced in Ghana and Kenya that enables COVID-19 patients to be monitored remotely. And in Kisumu (Kenya), in cooperation with the local government, private health clinics were urgently connected to a diagnostic test method appropriate to the limited local laboratory capacity.
We are pleased that cooperation with Achmea in the Netherlands has been intensified
Many employees wanted to do something for vulnerable people who were more than proportionally affected by the pandemic. Through the Achmea Foundation’s Voor Elkaar platform, employees were able to work for the Red Cross, among other organisations. A crowdfunding campaign was used to raise money for the Voedselbank (Food Bank). The amount raised was doubled by the foundation. Money was donated by Achmea employees, who waived their travel and expense allowance for play sets and colouring kits so that small children could get craft materials for home.
These proceeds were also doubled by the Achmea Foundation. In addition, the foundation offered free postcards through Omapost, a social entrepreneur who had attended ImpactPlus’ programme in 2019. This allowed Achmea employees to send a card to colleagues with a warm greeting.
Call for Proposals 2021 was conducted this year in an Agile manner
Due in part to the special situation in which we find ourselves with COVID-19, we have decided to organise the Call for Proposals for initiatives in Africa differently. We have approached organisations ourselves to ask whether they have any innovative projects that fit in with what the Achmea Foundation stands for. These are mostly organisations with which we have worked previously and with whom we have had good experiences. But also new organisations. In previous years, we always put out a broad Call for Proposals. There were many responses, all of which had to be evaluated. In the end, only a few organisations remained which could meet the conditions set by the Achmea Foundation. This was not only very time-consuming, but we also had to disappoint many organisations. The new way of working suits us very well. For this reason, from now on, the Call for Proposals will be handled in the Agile way.