Brussels (Belgium) January 28, 2021 – 7:00 CET – Launched in June 2020, the UCB Community Health Fund directs funds to 50 impact-driven organizations and projects aiming to understand and reduce the medium- and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of vulnerable young people.
The UCB Community Health Fund closed its first call for projects end of September 2020. A total of 170 applications for support projects and 43 applications for research projects were received from several countries where UCB operates.
The management committee of the Fund (managed by the King Baudouin Foundation) appointed independent selection committees with a broad geographical representation to assist in the selection of projects and award of funding. In total 44 support projects and 6 research projects were awarded for an amount of 2.440.000 EUR.
In the category of support projects, not-for-profit organizations and foundations in 5 continents will be able to start initiatives supporting homeless youth and preventing suicide and self-harm. Another group of awarded organizations will be mitigating health and psychosocial risks of COVID-19 to the most vulnerable and isolated youth. In Belgium, 22 not-for-profit organizations and foundations have been selected. A list of the projects is available on UCB’s corporate website.
The grants for research projects are made available to hospitals and universities, studying the impact of COVID-19 on the health and wellbeing of young people in Belgium (4 projects) and the UK (2 projects).
The high amount of applications confirmed there is a big need for support of vulnerable populations. While the selection committee was impressed with the good quality of proposed projects, we particularly focused on inspiring projects with a lasting positive impact, particularly on young people between 15-24 years old.
Impressive work
“The high amount of applications confirmed there is a big need for support of vulnerable populations. While the selection committee was impressed with the good quality of proposed projects, we particularly focused on inspiring projects with a lasting positive impact, particularly on young people between 15-24 years old,” said Xavier Hormaechea, secretary-general of the UCB Community Health Fund. “We hope the funding will enable all the awarded organizations to continue the impressive work they are doing in their communities.”
The Community Health Fund is already liaising with the different supported organizations. Communication on the results of the projects and the research funded will follow.
New call for projects
While the first projects are being implemented, the management committee is already preparing the next call for projects. The targeted group of organizations and vulnerable people will be announced in spring when the new call for projects is expected to be launched.
About the UCB Community Health Fund
The UCB Community Health Fund was launched in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation, aims to address health disparities among vulnerable populations, starting by contributing to understand and reduce the medium- and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their physical, mental and social well-being. More specifically, the Fund wants to support vulnerable people, such as racial and ethnic minorities, children, older people, socio-economically disadvantaged persons, un(der)insures or those with certain medical conditions (not related to therapeutic areas nor assets) in the communities where UCB is active.
