GAIN recognized for its bold strategies to end malnutrition by the 2010 Helen Keller Visionary Award
Geneva, 18 May 2010, GAIN - the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is proud to have received yesterday in New York, NY, the 2010 Helen Keller Visionary Award for its bold strategies and innovative partnerships to reduce global malnutrition.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by one of our longest implementing partners to achieve our vision” said Marc Van Ameringen, Executive Director of GAIN. “The GAIN-HKI relationship is a good example of what partnerships can achieve on the ground. Together with HKI, we are implementing five projects in nine countries in Africa and Asia”. “GAIN is one of our most respected and valuable partners,” said Kathy Spahn, President and CEO of HKI. “We share their steadfast determination to combat malnutrition, and truly admire their bold and innovative vision.”
Steven Rothstein, President of Perkins School for the Blind, Kathy Spahn, President and CEO of Helen Keller International, Marc Van Ameringen, Executive Director GAIN, and Ann Curry, NBC News Correspondent and Anchor
GAIN works with HKI in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. For example, GAIN supports the multi-partner public/private initiative led by HKI to produce vitamin A-fortified cooking oil in eight countries in West Africa - the “Faire Tache d’Huile” initiative. This partnership brings together key private sector, public sector and not-for-profit stakeholders to ensure mandatory vitamin A fortification of industrially-produced cooking oil throughout the region. Currently more than 50 million people are consuming that fortified oil.
HKI is also a key partner in GAIN’s Infant and Young Child Nutrition Program (Cambodia and Côte d’Ivoire), which supports projects among public and private sectors in countries where the burden of malnutrition is high. These projects develop and market high quality, affordable fortified food products that complement breast milk from six months of age. In Côte d’Ivoire for instance, GAIN is collaborating with HKI to promote a locally produced fortified complementary cereal-based product for infants aged 6 to 24 months. There, a local company is developing and marketing the product in a truly innovative partnership. The project expects to reach one fifth of infants aged 6 to 24 months in the country, that is over 800,000 children.
Background information
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is an alliance driven by the vision of a world without malnutrition. GAIN was created in 2002 at a Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Children. GAIN is a Swiss foundation that mobilizes public-private partnerships and provides financial and technical support to deliver foods to those people most at risk of malnutrition. GAIN’s innovative partnerships in more than 25 countries are reaching over 200 million people. Its portfolio is growing and its target is to reach one billion people with innovative nutritious foods. GAIN is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Offices in Beijing, Cairo, Johannesburg, and New Delhi support programs where they are needed most. Media contact: Frédérique Tissandier. ftissandier@gainhealth.org
Founded in 1915, Helen Keller International’s mission is to save the sight and lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. HKI combats the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition by establishing programs based on evidence and research in vision, health and nutrition. The organization is known for sustainability, reliability, efficiency, and the highest level of technical expertise in preventing blindness and reducing malnutrition. HKI is headquartered in New York City, and has programs in 21 countries in Africa and Asia as well as in the United States, addressing malnutrition (including vitamin A deficiency), cataract, trachoma, onchocerciasis (river blindness) and refractive error. HKI receives support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and other national and local governments as well as from private and corporate foundations and individuals. Media contact: Jennifer S. Klopp. jklopp@hki.org
