COVID-19: Health - NextEnergy Foundation

Location: India

FromU2Them is a disaster relief project of the Gaia Conservation Foundation, a non-profit organisation which was founded six years ago to provide urban reforestation and sanitation in Maharashtra, India. Staring in March 2020, FromU2Them provided relief to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic across India, raising 1 million USD; supplying over 4.6 million meals to people facing hunger across the city of Mumbai; and, distributing over 500,000 USD worth of medical supplies.

The NextEnergy Foundation supported the distribution of 25 oxygen concentrators in India in response to the pandemic. The oxygen concentrators were directed towards hospitals and COVID-19 centres in proximity to NextEnergy Capital’s office in Hyderabad and NextPower III ESG’s solar assets in India as below:

10 in Hyderabad, Telangana, in proximity to the NEC office;
10 in Chitradurga, Karnataka, where NextPower III ESG has solar assets; and,
5 in Kalahandi, Odisha, where NextPower III ESG has solar assets.

In each of these locations, the oxygen concentrators provided essential support for those affected by the virus and boosted resilience against new waves.

September 2021 Update: This projected completed. The average daily cases fell significantly over the month of August and NextEnergy Foundation’s support was important to help to plug the gap in inadequate hospital facilities which India was facing.

Location: Nepal

GivePower’s mission is to provide solar energy solutions to developing regions that need them most. As such, their work is entirely aligned with NextEnergy Foundation’s Mission.

In March 2020, NextEnergy Foundation partnered with GivePower and collaborated with the National Innovation Centre in Nepal to locally design and fabricate solar powered portable medical ventilators for immediate deployment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With NextEnergy Foundation’s support, 15 ventilators were developed and distributed across the country in accordance with the needs identified by Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population.

Location: Zambia and Malawi

Solar Aid is an international charity founded by Jeremy Leggett in 2006 with over 10 years’ experience of working to deliver solar lighting to the developing world. It provides access to solar lights in Uganda, Malawi, and Zambia to help catalyse solar markets and eradicate the kerosene lamp. NextEnergy Foundation has partnered with SolarAid since 2017.

In April 2020, SolarAid launched the Moment of Sunshine Appeal, a fund established to respond to Covid-19 in Zambia and Malawi. Recognising that access to light was vital for healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients, the Malawian and Zambian Ministries of Health considered SolarAid an essential service provider. In partnership, SolarAid carried out three key areas of work through the fund:

Donated and distributed solar products to rural health clinics and quarantine sites;
Disseminated crucial health information to rural communities; and,
Developed further support initiatives for rural clinics.

NextEnergy Foundation donated £20,000 to SolarAid’s Moment of Sunshine Appeal. £7,000 were directed towards efforts in Zambia, and the remaining £13,000 were used to kick-off efforts in Malawi in April. So far in Zambia, our donation contributed to reaching rural clinics, and quarantine sites across 10 provinces with 3,726 solar products, including solar home systems, solar torches, and portable solar lights. Instead in Malawi, the donation helped SolarAid install 500 solar home systems across eight rural health facilities, and 200 solar light radios, which enabled healthcare workers to receive up-to-date information about the virus and the Ministry of Health’s guidelines.