06. Apr. 2020
The Grundfos Foundation (Poul Due Jensen Foundation) allocates further 17.5m DKK to various emergency initiatives to limit the damages of the COVID-19 pandemic. More donations are in the pipeline.

EMERGENCY RELIEF: Further 17.5m DKK will be on their way to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. 15.7m DKK wil go to WASH-related activities, and 1.8m DKK to research.

15.7 m DKK for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)

Emergency funding is on its way to two existing and two new partners:

  • Water Mission receives 10,2m DKK (1.5m USD) for extra hygiene in all of our joint projects (primarily Tanzania, Kenya and Indonesia), i.e. by establishing handwashing facilities at all tap stands as they pose a significant risk of transferring virus from one user to the next.
  • Oxfam receives 2.2m DKK (265,000 GBP) to expand our joint project in Nepal with WASH-initiatives to reduce the spread of the virus. Nepal has, as many other countries, very limited resources to fight the pandemic.
  • NRC – Norwegian Refugee Council (and DRC) receive 3.1m DKK (450,000 USD) for 1) Kenya/Tanzania, water supply and WASH initiatives at Kakuma Refugee Camp2) 1600 hygiene kits in several settlements in Iran;  3) upgrading WASH-initiatives in Nigeria. NRC.no
  • SOSNPO, Save Our Schools receives 205,000 DKK (30,000 USD) for expanding Grundfos South Africa’s existing engagement in Bloekombos, Cape Town with WASH facilities, including access to soap and other disinfection methods. The COVID-19 problem is worsened by the fact that large parts of the population suffers from HIV and tuberculosis, making them even more vulnerable to the coronavirus.

Temporary water supply at Kasulu District Hospital, Western Tanzania. Photo: Water Mission

1.8m DKK for test production of emergency ventilators

The world’s refugee camps and other vulnerable communities are facing a regular health disaster.  Prof. Stephen Rees has been researching in mechanical ventilation for  20 years and is internationally recognised within his field. The COVID-19 outbreak led him to start working on an old design for en emergency ventilator which may be assembled by simple components for 10 % of the price of a normal hospital ventilator.

“We want to move from prototype to production. The project will make the emergency ventilator ready for production and make sure the necessary authorizations are done. Afterwards, 40 ventilators will be ready for use.“
Professor Stephen Rees, AAU

The design will be widely available as open source that everyone can access. All necessary medical advice and authorizations will be sought in the process. More about the project at aau.dk.

COVID-19 response

The grants above are the second in a series of COVID-19 related donations from the Grundfos Foundation. Find out more.