Partnering in six life-changing programmes across eight countries since 2009, the MSC Foundation has helped UNICEF to support education for 8,000 children in 126 vulnerable communities in Brazil, fight malaria in Africa, assist China's food supplement programme preventing child malnutrition, and deliver lifesaving ready-to-use therapeutic food treatments to more than 115,000 children with severe acute malnutrition in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia and Malawi.
In 2019, the MSC Foundation stepped in as the first partner in the programme ‘Plastic Waste Goes to School’ in Ivory Coast. This three-pronged initiative is simultaneously supporting marginalised women waste collectors, recycling the plastic waste collected into innovative bricks, and using these bricks to build eco-friendly modern classrooms.
The Foundation’s support has enabled the programme to make a significant impact on the lives of thousands of children already, providing them with access to education and a brighter future. But its impact also spreads further, having removed many tons of plastic waste from refuse tips and empowered vulnerable women, training them as waste collectors. MSC was even instrumental in establishing the UNICEF-supported factory where the plastic waste is recycled into these durable modern bricks.
Plastic Waste Goes to School
To date, ‘Plastic Waste Goes to School’ has trained 188 women who are now organised in a formal association, recycled around 616,000 kg of plastic waste and completed 112 modern classrooms, enabling 6,224 children to gain access to a quality education.
The MSC Foundation’s broad support for UNICEF extends from the Get On Board for Children fundraising campaign on MSC Cruises ships to partnering in education, community support and emergency relief initiatives.
Alongside this, the MSC Foundation provides public visibility, having included UNICEF in over 20 international events with a global audience and extensive media exposure.
MSC Foundation executive director Daniela Picco observed: ‘We are very grateful for the generous donations of the millions of MSC Cruises guests who have been moved to assist UNICEF’s wonderful work over these years.
’The Foundation's wide-ranging support for UNICEF emergency response initiatives has most recently included assistance to communities devastated by flooding in Malawi, by Cyclone Idai in Mozambi
que and Zimbabwe, by Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and by the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited.
Add Seatrade Cruise News to your Google News feed.  |
