TrustAfrica, a pan-African philanthropic organisation founded with a commitment to strengthening African agency in addressing the continent’s most pressing challenges, has issued a statement of solidarity with its grantees, who have been affected directly or indirectly by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the statement, the organisation said, ‘As we watch this crisis deepening every day, we are fully aware that our partners are constantly challenged to revise and innovate business continuity strategies – as we are doing within our own organisation. We also acknowledge and understand that restrictions to physical interaction and travel and the ever-increasing lockdowns, inevitably mean necessary changes must be made to standing plans and to how we work’.

TrustAfrica therefore said that they will allow their grantees to utilise current grants to respond to Covid-19 related challenges and that they will relax programming time-frames. The organisation also said that they will make new grants as unrestricted as possible so that funds can be directed where they are most needed. Furthermore, TrustAfrica said that they will create spaces for listening to and sharing with their grantees.

The TrustAfrica statement continued, ‘This crisis is an opportunity for us to reach deep and bring out the best of our humanity. As a contribution to strengthening the capacity of our countries and communities to respond, TrustAfrica has set-up the Covid-19 Africa Solidarity Fund to help raise resources to support emergency responses and community efforts to combat [Covid-19]. We set up the fund with an initial contribution earmarked to support emergency response in Senegal, where we have our headquarters. We are also supporting our partners in the informal sector in Zimbabwe to lead community efforts to respond to the crisis.  We intend to build on these initial efforts and expand the support’.

‘We see this crisis as a time for global humanity to activate resourcefulness toward new ideas and new ways of thinking and being, and to have the courage to make fundamental shifts toward a more inclusive, a more caring and a more equitable world’, they added.

Source: TrustAfrica

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