New Delhi: At the power-packed virtual event in New Delhi, American India Foundation recognized as one of the best CSR projects conceptualised and executed during COVID pandemic, was accorded The CSRUniverse COVID Response Impact Award 2021.
Following a rigorous 3-month screening process, AIF’s efforts were lauded for its COVID Response initiative and for creating significant impact in the Health category. Selected from amongst 100 shortlisted entries, AIF was facilitated by the luminary jury comprising of Dr Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bangalore; Dr Himanshu Rai, Director, Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Indore; Dr Umakant Dash, Director, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA); and Prof Shalini Bharat, Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. In addition to the top academicians, the renowned social sector experts in the jury panel included Mr Joseph Nixon, Ex-President & Chief Operating Officer, SBI Foundation; and Mr Sanjay Sinha, Managing Director, M-CRIL.
The Awards announced recently, brought insights from thought leaders, NGOs, Civil society organizations, sectoral experts and development sector peers, towards creating sustainable models for social challenges that emerged after the COVID 19 outbreak.
Humbly receiving the award Mathew Joseph, Country Director, AIF said, “We dedicate the award to the frontline workers and the dedicated AIF staff who have braved the pandemic and its challenges, and stood resolute to bring relief to people who had lost all hope. We are deeply grateful to our donors, partners, board members, and volunteers for their sustained unwavering support to AIF’S timely COVID-19 response. With your support, we will resolutely continue to rebuild the lives of India’s disenfranchised.”
The award recognized AIF for its contribution in the humanitarian crisis of COVID-19. Providing support to over 793,758 people from vulnerable communities across 17 states in Phase 1, AIF quickly realigned its efforts to bring immediate relief when the virulent COVID-19 wave returned in 2021. Among the first non-profits to ramp up efforts to build resilience and surge capacity in the state medical infrastructure succumbing to the overwhelming demands, AIF provided 30,000 ventilators, 5000 oxygen concentrators, 51 oxygen generation plants and 2600 portable hospital beds across 35 cities, reaching out to 1.2 million beneficiaries and 169,000+ medical personnel through almost 60000 equipment across 30 states and union territories in India, since April 2021.
And lastly, to ensure that the last line of defence and the only way to curb future morbidities, COVID–19 vaccination drive is inclusive and equitable, AIF, in a concerted effort with state governments, district administration, implementation partners as well as local NGOs rolled out, ‘The First Million’ – an initiative to provide priority vaccination for a million most vulnerable Indians across 6 states and 6 urban cities.
With help from supporters like Adobe, BlackRock, Mastercard, Bank of America, EXL, Goldman Sachs, Micron, Sony Pictures, CHUBB and Amazon Cares among others, AIF will continue to address the increasing health, education, and livelihoods risks faced by migrating communities and vulnerable populations around the country.
About the American India Foundation (AIF): The American India Foundation is committed to improving the lives of India’s underprivileged, with a special focus on women, children, and youth. AIF does this through high impact interventions in education, health, and livelihoods, because poverty is multidimensional. AIF’s unique value proposition is its broad engagement between communities, civil society, and expertise, thereby building a lasting bridge between the United States and India. With offices in New York and California, twelve chapters across the U.S., and India operations headquartered in Delhi NCR, AIF has impacted 8.4 million lives across 26 states of India. Learn more at www.aif.org
