programs & Project

The Foundation adopts a highly proactive approach to projects and programs.

 

The programmes implemented by the Foundation and other partners provide out of school children, half of whom are girls, with accelerated learning courses designed to get them to the educational level necessary to enrol in formal school. It also includes the “A Saving for Change” programme which targets the mothers of these children and gives them the opportunity to save and obtain loans that may be used for educational expenses, to generate income, for health care and to enhance food security.

 

The Foundation also runs a nonformal, community based, participatory education system designed especially for adolescent girls at risk of dropping out of school and being trafficked. The girls follow a course that includes life skills, functional literacy, building self-confidence and vocational skills. The Foundation is runs this program in Ghana and on a modest scale, in Nigeria, in a region where there is some of the highest rates of child marriage in the world.

Education

The Foundation believes that education is the key to a successful future both for individuals and for societies as a whole, and thus supports educational projects in West Africa.

 

The Foundation collaborates with partners to support work in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo and Burkina Faso and Niger, two of the world’s poorest and least developed nations, and on a modest scale has commenced operations in Nigeria. School attendance and literacy rates in these countries are low and female literacy rates are less than 20%. Without even a primary education, children lack the skills and knowledge required to improve their situation and are likely to remain impoverished for the remainder of their lives.

 

While acquiring experience in this field, the Foundation has taken advantage of the knowledge and advice offered by the Climate Leadership Initiative and other expert bodies.

Climate

The Foundation Trustees have become increasingly concerned by the effect of the changing climate on current and future generations and on global biodiversity. While acknowledging that they might have done so earlier, in 2019 they initiated what will become a third principal strand of projects, under the category heading ‘Climate’.

By flying, driving and so on the Trustees do not live a carbon-neutral life, and would not wish to imply that they do. Nevertheless, they believe it is better to do something than nothing. Accordingly, they expect their support in this area to grow substantially over the next one to two years, as they build a portfolio of beneficiaries who believe they believe will have significant and lasting impact.

 

BS Africa Foundation work hand-in-hand with communities to identify and solve their own challenges, engage with local and national governments to develop healthcare system improvements, address the social determinants of health, collaborate across other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, or grow only within one community.

BS Africa Foundation focuses its health programs on an integrated five global health priorities:   

  1. MATERNAL & NEONATAL HEALTH
  2. NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES
  3. NUTRITION
  4. INFECTIOUS DISEASES
  5. HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE

Health

Through our partnerships, BS Africa Foundation delivers projects and programs that help alleviate suffering and improve health and healthcare for children, families, and communities. With an emphasis on working in rural, remote, or under-served towns, villages and hamlets of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to address a myriad of health challenges: from diseases with high rates of mortality, to quality health systems, to conditions that cause severe suffering, disability, and economic burden. Many of these health challenges are preventable, solvable, and treatable when communities have access to primary healthcare, improved living conditions, and adequate nutrition.

BS Africa Foundation partners with other organizations to implement effective programs that sustain both the mother and child, recognizing that newborn and maternal health and survival are closely linked. By increasing pregnant women’s access to quality care before, during, and after childbirth, mothers and babies around the world can have a bright future. We believe keeping mothers healthy improves the health of the whole family.

Maternal and Neonatal Health

There has been much progress in the last two decades with significant improvements in maternal and child health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Maternal deaths have decreased significantly but there still remain a large number women who still die each day from preventable pregnancy and childbirth-related complications. Each year, 2.5 million infants die during the first month of life globally. The immediate causes of newborn death include complications related to premature birth, infection, birth defects, and delivery-related complications. Many of these conditions can be easily prevented or treated.

The suffering and disability caused by NTDs, as well as the social stigma, keep children out of school, impede an individual’s ability to work, and prevent families and communities from thriving.

Neglected Tropical Diseases

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) affect more than one billion people worldwide with a disproportionate high number of people in Sub-Saharan Africa. Found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions, these neglected diseases persist in under-resourced communities where people lack access to healthcare and adequate water, hygiene, and sanitation. Despite being prevented, diagnosed, or treated at very low cost, NTDs are also neglected because they command relatively little attention from healthcare systems and medical researchers.

BS Africa Foundation partners with organizations that address NTDs identified by the World Health Organization, with past programs targeting schistosomiasis, trachoma, intestinal worms, and many others. The majority of programs supported focus on morbidity management, disability prevention, active case finding, education, and mass drug administration.

IZUMI Foundation partners with organizations that provide local solutions to malnutrition, including agricultural development, nutrition education, and culturally-appropriate food fortification. Often, effective programs rely on simple interventions, the creative use of available resources, and an understanding for the realities of family and community life.

Nutrition

Well-nourished children and families are better equipped to reach their fullest potential. Proper nutrition is especially important for a child’s early development and physical and cognitive growth. Nutrition-related factors contribute to 45% of deaths for children under the age of five.

Families and communities that suffer from malnutrition often lack access to healthy food, healthcare services, and clean water and sanitation. Malnutrition perpetuates a cycle of poverty and poor health.

BS Africa Foundation partners with organizations with programs that address infectious diseases with high morbidity and mortality. These programs often work to build primary care cap

Infectious Diseases

Over the last several years, major strides have been made in fighting many infectious diseases around the world. Global malaria death rates have dropped by 60% since 2000, and 8 out of 10 mothers living with HIV receive treatment to prevent HIV transmission to their babies.

Many infectious diseases, however, still have a devastating effect on communities. Too often, the underlying problems include a lack of community-level healthcare delivery, basic supplies and medications, clean water, and a luate nutrition.

Healthcare System Infrastructure

A functioning health system builds the capacity of many essential healthcare components.

Health systems need infrastructure that facilitates effective care: quality service delivery; a professionally trained, sufficiently paid, and well-supported workforce; functioning health information systems; a reliable supply of pharmaceuticals and equipment; a fair and efficient distribution of resources to the people who need them; and a functioning administration with effective governance.

BS Africa Foundation partners with organizations that strengthen local healthcare systems. Our focal areas include constructing, renovating, and capacitating laboratories; improving medical supply chains; revamping medical training curricula; and introducing a variety of quality improvement programs.