OLIVER-KAMLOOPS-BASED ORGANIZATION AWARDED $1 MILLION TO IMPROVE MATERNAL, NEWBORN AND CHILD HEALTH

An Oliver and Kamloops-based organization called World Neighbours Canada (WNC) is going to be able to ramp up their impact in several developing countries, thanks to a recent $1 million funding award to be used over the next five years, from the Government of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.

“With this extra money, we expect to be able to make a substantial difference in peoples’ lives,” said Bruce Petch, WNC president. “World Neighbours applied for this funding because it will allow us to reach six times as many as people in need, compared to what we can do with the money from private donations alone.”

WNC has been operating from Oliver since 1989, and for a number of years has operated out of Kamloops as well, where several board members reside. It is run entirely by volunteers, with no paid staff, no rented office space and no vehicles. Currently, they fund programs in Honduras, Burkina Faso, and Nepal – all designed to lead people to analyze and solve their own problems, and be reliant on their own powers and resources. It relies on a base of private funding from committed donors, and has a great track record for seeing results.

But this new project – which multiplies the impact of private donations – means those programs will get to see even more benefit.

“With this project, the overriding goal is to improve the health and nutrition of mothers, young children and newborns and all of our activities will work toward this goal,” said Petch.

This initiative will improve village and household water infrastructure, deliver health education for parents, and enhance nutrition and food security. It will also promote the increased participation of women in leadership roles on water and health committees.