Sustainability & CSR

IBSA donations for children: a contribution to take care of the Future

Children represent the future, they are tomorrow’s generation, to which we must pay special attention today. IBSA has always placed the Person at the centre of its mission, believing that, in order to build a bright future, it is necessary to take care of children and invest in their dreams.

Poverty, wars and violence, poor access to drugs and treatments, lack of education and training pathways all represent a normality that in some countries affects especially the youngest, thus limiting the potential of their future. 
For this reason, IBSA has long been committed to supporting organisations active in various fields, with the aim of offering concrete support and creating the conditions for a positive change. 

Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash

Last Christmas, IBSA’s most recent commitment took the shape of a series of donations for the benefit of organisations dealing with children in hardship: Save the Children, Welcome to Aschiana, Cardiosuisse, Casa Dos Curumins and Fondazione Francesca Rava NPH Italia Onlus. 

Arturo Licenziati, President and CEO of the IBSA Group, stated: “As a pharmaceutical company, we have a duty to improve people’s lives. Through our contribution to Save the Children and all the other organisations, we aim not only to do something concrete, but also to sensitise everyone to the extent and gravity of certain situations, which no child in the world should ever experience”.

IBSA’S SUPPORT IN AFGHANISTAN: SAVE THE CHILDREN AND WELCOME TO ASCHIANA

IBSA supports Save the Children in Afghanistan, a country where poverty, malnutrition and precarious health are commonplace – and worsen in the winter, when temperatures can reach –12°. Save the Children could count on IBSA’s support to provide essential healthcare, prevent and treat malnutrition and promote nutritional practices for children under the age of 2, by training psychological-social consultants and obstetricians. 

War is another serious plague affecting Afghanistan. Afghan children often do not have the opportunity to go to school; they lose their homes and families, and with them all kinds of reference and help. In Afghanistan, IBSA has also chosen to support the Welcome to Aschiana organisation, active in promoting activities that allow children to access basic education and experience the languages of art, theatre, music and dance. In fact, the development of self-expression can turn out to be very effective in being able to deal with the often traumatic experiences they had. 

FROM SWITZERLAND TO INDIA AND BRAZIL: CARDIOSUISSE AND CASA DOS CURUMINS

Active in India, thanks to volunteers who work for free, the Swiss association Cardiosuisse is supported by IBSA within a project to back the Auroville Health Centre, in Tamil Nadu. This region of South India is among the poorest in the world, and recently Cardiosuisse has committed to building a pharmacy that distributes essential medicines for children with heart disease. 

Since a historic collaboration born on the initiative of a person who has always been close to the company, IBSA has also been supporting Casa Dos Curumins and its numerous projects, that promote the sheltering and training in Brazil of about 500 children and adolescents in situations of social risk. Through the distribution of food baskets, hot meals, hygiene products and masks, the Casa also takes care of helping the families where these children live. 

ON THE FRONT LINE IN ITALY TOO: IBSA AND FONDAZIONE FRANCESCA RAVA

Being attentive to people’s needs, providing a relevant contribution in the field of healthcare and education, to restore value to the most vulnerable, is what guides and unites IBSA and Fondazione Francesca Rava – N.P.H. Italia Onlus, which helps children in difficult conditions in Italy and around the world, through awareness-raising projects on children’s rights. An example, which sees IBSA active at the forefront, is the support for the In farmacia per i bambini (“In Pharmacy for Children”) project, an initiative dedicated to raising awareness of the rights of children and the collection of over-the-counter medicines, baby food and paediatric products for minors in health poverty, a condition that – especially with the worsening of the pandemic crisis – also affects a developed country like Italy, where many families are forced to save on drugs in order to cope with their financial hardship. 

Photo credits:
Rene Bernal on Unsplash
Artem Kniaz on Unsplash