ESTEVE and Farmamundi have renewed their yearly agreement for collaboration whereby our laboratory, as a member of this NGO's Emergency Fund, participates as a provider of medicines. In 2015 this agreement allowed 13 emergency interventions to be undertaken in Syria, Kenya, Nepal, DR of Congo, Gaza, Uganda, Haiti, Serbia, Mali and Sahara, and medical and food care to the most vulnerable populations to be prioritized. Also, action is currently being taken through this fund in the Al Yarmouk camp in Syria, and curative and preventive care is being provided to refugees in Nairobi to fight the reactivation of the cholera outbreak. In addition, the Emergency Fund participated last week in the shipment of 700 kilos of medicines and medical supplies to help people affected by the Ecuador earthquake. This material is already being distributed to the worst affected areas.

This 2016, ESTEVE and Farmamundi have renewed their agreement for collaboration in two different ways. On the one hand and on a yearly basis, the laboratory contributes financially as a member of Farmamundi's Humanitarian and Emergency Aid Fund (FAHE). This allows immediate action to be taken in case of natural disaster, armed conflict, and chronic health imbalance situations. On the other hand, our entity donates medicines to meet current needs on the field. These medicines are distributed by Farmamundi's Humanitarian and Logistics Area (ALH) to hospitals, clinics and maternal and child health centers, where they are most needed.

In 2015 ESTEVE donated medicines that were distributed in the course of 22 expeditions performed in 13 countries. With the support of 15 organizations, these medicines were distributed to hospitals, clinics, health centers, welcome centers for sick people, refugee camps, orphanages and nursing homes in Ecuador, Peru, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Algeria, Malawi, Greece and Nigeria, among other countries.

Assistance and shelter for refugees in Syria, Serbia and Gaza

In addition to its collaboration as an in-kind donor, ESTEVE also participates as a member of the Emergency Fund whereby Farmamundi provides many families with medical care, basic foodstuffs, medicines and personal hygiene items. Also, awareness campaigns are conducted in countries affected by humanitarian crises or natural disasters.

Among all emergency interventions undertaken by this NGO in 2015, the assistance provided to the Al Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus (Syria) is prominent on account of an extremely serious situation and the violation of fundamental rights in this camp -the blockade to prevent the entrance of food, water and medicines leading to malnutrition, dehydration and related diseases among the population. In view of this situation, the Emergency Fund took action in March 2015 to guarantee food and medical care, and shelter, to this population. In September, together with NGO IDC-Serbia, Farmamundi approached the crisis of refugees in transit and intervened in Serbia to meet the basic needs of more than 1,000 people at the Croatia-Hungary border. These people were all provided with food, hygiene kits and material for protection against the cold and rain of the coming fall and winter seasons.

Also worth emphasizing is the assistance provided to more than 2,000 people -including 1,000 minors- in Gaza, where basic foodstuffs and essential non-food items for the refugees were sent through Palestinian NGO Labour Resources Center (LRC).

Other actions

The year 2015 also brought the dreaded natural disasters. Emergency (primarily medical care) interventions were undertaken in Nepal and Sahara due to the earthquake that occurred in Nepal on April 25th and the flooding caused by unrelenting, torrential rain during the month of October in the Sahrawi refugee camps.

On the other hand, the massive population displacement caused by a new outbreak of violence in North Kivu, in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, prompted Farmamundi to mobilize the Emergency Fund in June to assist more than 300 displaced families -some 1,500 people- by providing them with shelter materials through local NGO Communauté des Églises de Pentecôte en Afrique Centrale (CEPAC). Similar action was taken in Kenya, where the armed conflict in Somalia increased the number of refugees. In July, medical care was provided to more than 1,200 people, and hygiene and sanitation kits were distributed among another 2,500 people.

Also with ESTEVE's support, Farmamundi has undertaken interventions in Uganda and Haiti by implementing sex education programs in 30 primary and secondary school centers in the former country, and by educating and training more than 1,000 people in good water management practices to prevent cholera in the Caribbean country. In total, the Emergency Fund assisted 168,700 people in the year 2015 by means of emergency, immediate action, post-emergency or humanitarian interventions.


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