Visa Foundation, the philanthropic arm of US payment giant Visa Inc gets active with the 210 Million USD it had committed to development of covid-19 victims. The foundation first revealed the allocation of this fund in April at which time it expressed the intent to help individuals, businesses and communities suffering from covid-19 outbreak using this package. In its latest announcement which comes as follow up for this support package, the firm has named grantees for this support package and allocated nearly 10 Million USD to aid and support their activities. The grantees are humanitarian assistance providers and disaster relief organisations from across the globe. The first round of grantees has been selected from organisations which are acting in and supporting the frontline response to covid-19 pandemic such as Medecins Sans Frontieres, UNICEF and Red Cross.
These organisations have been identified to as parties which provide critical services for vulnerable households, vital medical supplied and support to at-risk individuals in Europe. And so they have received a total of USD 1.4 Million allocated for the European region from relief grant of the 10 Million USD which has been allocated to focus on emergency needs of similar organisations from across the globe. The remaining 200 Million USD from the multi-million dollar relief package is expected to be used to resolve long-term needs of small and micro business communities over the course of next five years. Some of the major challenges faced by European citizens during this ongoing covid-19 pandemic on their day-to-day lifestyle and activities include financial hardship and lack of proper access to basic goods, services and healthcare. The pandemic induced economic uncertainty has created a situation where many are unable to properly care for and provide for their families.
In this situation the above mentioned firms which have received the grant of 1.4 Million USD will now provide much needed support to help them continue providing critical support to people who have been victimized in the region. From the remaining 200 Million USD, aside from focus on supporting small and micro businesses, the foundation is also looking at fostering women’s economic advancement and has deemed both these causes to be critical facts in long term economic recovery from COVID-19 pandemic. This commitment can also be viewed as an expansion of already active long standing support from the payment giant to small and micro business across the globe. More details on grants from the foundation and investment strategy are expected to be made public in coming months.
Commenting on this move, Charlotte Hogg – CEO of Visa Europe said “Communities and families around the globe are facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The vital work of these humanitarian organisations becomes even more important during a crisis of this scale”.
Speaking on same note, Graham Macmilan – President of the Visa Foundation said “We’re grateful for the amazing work humanitarian assistance organisations are providing to communities around the world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Visa Foundation is proud to offer these grants to support these organisations’ mission-critical work during these perilous times”.
