Delhi doctor wins global funding to deal with Covid-19
Partnering with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and United Way to launch Covid-19 Young Leaders Fund, the organisers said on Friday that the fund is supported by Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Emma Watson, among others.
Radhika Batra, a Delhi-based doctor engaged in manufacturing personal protection equipment to deal with coronavirus in India, Kenya and Nigeria, is one of five recipients of funding by a global forum of young leaders called One Young World.
Partnering with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and United Way to launch Covid-19 Young Leaders Fund, the organisers said on Friday that the fund is supported by Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Emma Watson, among others.
Batra founded non-profit organisation Every Infant Matters, which in response to the pandemic is leveraging its network of partners to provide resources to at-risk people in India and Kenya, with plans to expand operations to Nigeria, the fund organisers said.
In India, the organisation provides protective materials (e.g. hand sanitisers, face shields, gloves, N-95 masks) to frontline personnel, including doctors, nurses, and hospital workers such as housekeeping and sanitary staff, ambulance drivers, and security guards.
Each project is allocated between £5,000 and £10,000 dependent on what is enough to ensure they are able to carry out their services, the organisers said, adding that the fund currently stands at £175,000.
Besides Batra, the four recipients are Rinesh Sharma (Fiji), Heidy Quah (Malaysia), Achaleke Christian (Cameroon) and Jolyon Layard Horsfall (UK).
Ella Robertson of One Young World said: “Young leaders are part of the most connected, informed and resourceful generation in human history…We now need to ensure they have the funds needed to tackle some of the largest issues created by Covid-19”.
The fund organisers said statistics from 1,000 young leaders globally show that 72% have volunteered to help others during this pandemic. The fund has been established to provide the immediate distribution of finance to young leaders on the frontlines of the Covid–19 response, with donations distributed across countries and sectors.
Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN special envoy for youth, added: “The Covid-19 Young Leaders Fund is exactly the bold action that is required to champion young people who are so bravely combatting the coronavirus on the frontlines”.
