Skoll Foundation has awarded a one-million-dollar grant to the COVID-19 Action Fund for Africa (CAF-Africa) to protect Community Health Workers (CHWs) providing routine health services at the last mile in 20+ Africa countries.
The grant will support in-country supply chain infrastructure to distribute PPE–gloves, surgical masks, gowns, and face shields that CHWs need to maintain essential health services and fight COVID-19. CAF-Africa is the only effort dedicated to mobilizing PPE for one million CHWs serving 400 million citizens on the continent.
“This generous support provided by the Skoll Foundation will enable CAF-Africa to continue to assist the next round of countries in the supply planning, procurement and last mile distribution of personal protective equipment for community health workers,” said Emily Bancroft, President, VillageReach.
“In addition, Skoll’s support allows us to work more closely with country and regional partners to ensure that community health workers are recognized and included in future supply planning. We never want community health workers to have to choose between providing essential health services to their communities, or protecting themselves and their families.”
“CHWs play a critical role in healthcare delivery,” said Ben Pyne, Associate Principal, Skoll Foundation. “The Skoll Foundation is pleased to support CAF-Africa, a collaborative effort to ensure CHWs are protected in the short-term and are counted in as a core part of functioning health systems in the long-term.”
Spearheaded by over 30 organizations dedicated to protecting CHWs on the frontlines of Africa’s COVID-19 response, CAF-Africa is a radically collaborative effort. CAF-Africa matches donated PPE with government-identified gaps and conducts end-use verification processes with in-country partners to document the arrival and distribution of the supplies. Integrated with national responses, this is the only known effort that pools resources for PPE items specifically for community health workers in Africa.
Recognizing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on marginalized and vulnerable communities, the Skoll Foundation is focused on immediate public health responses to stop or slow the pandemic, while also building towards stronger and more resilient African health systems for the long-term.