The Carter Center celebrates partners participating in its historic fundraising campaign for Guinea worm disease eradication.
February 2021
About the Guinea Worm Eradication Challenge Fund
In September 2019, the Carter Centers’s Board of Trustees launched a $40 million fundraising campaign, including a $20 million Carter Center's Challenge Fund, in support of the Center’s Guinea worm eradication efforts.
The Challenge Fund matches donations to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program of $100,000 or more, dollar for dollar, for a total of $20 million in matching funds over two years.
After having their emerging Guinea worms treated at a case containment center in northern Ghana, two children learn how to prevent the debilitating disease. Photo credit: The Carter Center/L. Gubb
In its first year, the Challenge Fund ensured the full funding of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program for the Center’s fiscal year 2020 (September 2019 through August 2020). With $2.25 million already pledged by donors toward the fund’s second and final year, The Carter Center seeks to raise $7.75 million before August 2021 to fully leverage the matching resources of the Challenge Fund.
The need for partnership and commitment grows greater during these final stages fighting Guinea worm disease, and the work cannot be done alone. Continued support from the global community is critical as we take the last steps toward eradication.
The Carter Center's Dr. Donald Hopkins demonstrates how to use the plastic water filtration pipes the South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Program distributes to prevent the waterborne disease. Photo credit: The Carter Center/L. Gubb
Carter Center Partners Leverage Challenge Fund to Double the Impact
The Carter Center is grateful to partner with strong advocates of our neglected tropical disease work. With their early contributions to the Challenge Fund, the following donors allowed the Guinea Worm Eradication Program to sustain its momentum throughout 2020 despite the tremendous challenges posed by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alwaleed Philanthropies
Kickstarting contributions to the Challenge Fund, Alwaleed Philanthropies announced an investment of $1 million in September 2019, the same day the fund was announced. Alwaleed Philanthropies has been a valued partner of The Carter Center since 2003. With the Challenge Fund match, this support unlocked $2 million of impact for Guinea worm eradication.
United Arab Emirates’ Crown Prince Court
In 1990, the United Arab Emirates’ late founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, made a personal donation to the Carter Center’s efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease, beginning a decades-long commitment to the Center’s disease eradication efforts by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family. In 2020, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, pledged an additional $10 million to the eradication campaign, demonstrating steadfast commitment to the Carter Center’s eradication goal.
Starr International Foundation
Since 1992, the U.S.-based Starr Foundation has been a committed advocate of the Center’s health programs, sharing a passion for improving access to health care in some of the world’s poorest and most remote regions. In 2010, Starr International Foundation, a corporate foundation based in Zug, Switzerland, also began to support the Center’s health programs. Most recently, in April 2020, Starr International Foundation contributed $100,000 to the Guinea Worm Eradication campaign. With the Challenge Fund match, its support becomes a $200,000 contribution to the Center’s eradication interventions.
Vulcan
In February 2020, Vulcan generously contributed $100,000 to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program, marking a new partnership with The Carter Center. With the Challenge Fund’s dollar-for-dollar match, Vulcan’s gift becomes $200,000, doubling its donation to the campaign.
The Carter Center is grateful to these partners for their early support and leveraging the Challenge Fund for this critical disease eradication effort.
Join the Charge to Eradicate Guinea Worm Disease
Guinea worm disease is on track to become the second human disease, and the first parasitic disease, to be eradicated. Everyone has a stake in these efforts. Our combined dedication serves as proof that disease eradication can be achieved with community engagement, political involvement, perseverance, and collaborative investment.
The Guinea Worm Eradication Program remains a remarkable public health success story, and the Carter Center’s Challenge Fund marks a unique opportunity for our supporters to multiply the impact of their support before August 2021. Help us make Guinea worm disease history.
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