Vulnerable Children in Sub-Saharan Africa Program

Vulnerable Children in Sub-Saharan Africa Program is sponsored by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

The Helmsley Charitable Trust funds holistic programs to help ensure the well-being of children and families in remote communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Vulnerable Children in Sub-Saharan Africa - Helmsley Charitable Trust Helmsley Charitable Trust Vulnerable Children in Sub-Saharan Africa Helping Rural Communities Build Resilience The Helmsley Charitable Trust funds holistic programs to help ensure the well-being of children and families in remote communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Building resilience is at the core of our grantmaking, and we work with rural communities in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia so that villages and towns have the ability to bend without breaking when a crisis hits.

We learn from communities about what they need in order to thrive, and we support the changes that help improve healthcare, particularly for mothers and children, increase access to clean water and enhanced sanitation infrastructure, foster agricultural development, and boost education and economic growth.

We collaborate with our grantees, their local implementing partners, community leaders, and government agencies to ensure that the efforts we support have the endorsement of relevant ministries to help advance long-term success. To help people create pathways to better lives, leaders need access to the right information to make informed decisions.

Our funding of Digital Earth Africa marks our commitment to ensuring governments, entrepreneurs, NGOs, and citizens alike have critical data and up-to-date technology to both monitor and make smart plans related to water quality and management, land use, and agriculture for food security, climate resilience, and more.

Robust healthcare is vital for community resilience, and a cornerstone of our healthcare work in sub-Saharan Africa is eliminating neglected tropical diseases, which affect more than 1. 7 billion people around the globe, cause chronic disability, and contribute to poverty. We support the treatment and elimination of onchocerciasis (river blindness), lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, and trachoma.

Increasing Access to Quality Healthcare Improving maternal and infant health outcomes We support programs that improve prenatal, neonatal, and postpartum care , and improve quality of healthcare services for the whole community. This has included establishing primary healthcare sites for communities , funding diagnostic tools , and expanding training for medical professionals .

Fighting neglected tropical diseases We seek to eliminate onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis in East Africa, trachoma in Zambia, and schistosomiasis among children in Ethiopia . We support work to accelerate treatment of the diseases, which cause disability, decreased productivity, and caretaker burden.

Strengthening the healthcare ecosystem We support efforts to make essential medicines accessible, affordable, and high-quality , and we invest in the organizations and programs that train physicians and other clinicians .

Building Rural Infrastructure and Strengthening Economic Development Improving access to clean water and sanitation We support a variety of initiatives to ensure that individuals and families have the chance to thrive . S trengthening rural infrastructure is a key element of the strategy. We fund programs that increase access to safe and sustainable water supplies and sanitation services.

In the face of climate change, communities must plan for w ater management and flood mitigation in order to maintain long-term survival and growth. Meeting rural transport needs We fund trailbridges that connect rural communities to schools, jobs, healthcare, and markets.

Boosting agricultural growth We look for opportunities to help smallholder farmers increase their productivity and move from subsistence farming toward cash crop production and agricultural commercialization. Farmers Review Africa: Nuru, Helmsley Launch $7. 5M Cross-Border Initiative to Spur Agribusiness Growth in Burkina Faso and Ghana Fika and Helmsley Charitable Trust Announce $11.

9 Million Grant to Expand Rural Connectivity in Ethiopia Making Progress—and Facing Reality—in Maternal and Newborn Health Nuru Announces $7. 5 Million Grant from The Leona M. and Harry B.

Helmsley Charitable Trust to Strengthen Cooperative Agribusinesses in West Africa WASHINGTON, DC, April 3, 2026 — Nuru is pleased to announce a new $7. 5 million, three-year grant from The Leona M. and Harry B.

Helmsley Charitable Trust to launch a cross-border initiative designed to strengthen cooperative agribusinesses and unlock economic potential in marginalized rural communities in Burkina Faso and Ghana.

“We are deeply grateful for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s investment,… Helmsley Grantee Uptime Global’s Rural Water Project Featured in ZNBC About 70,000 students and patients in the Mumbwa District of Zambia now have access to reliable drinking water every day, following the successful piloting of a results-based contracting model to address long-standing water supply challenges in rural schools and health facilities.

As highlighted in a recent article for the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), following the success of this pilot,… A New Grant From The Helmsley Charitable Trust Provides Critical Support to East Africa’s Visceral Leishmaniasis Program The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust provided a two-year $1.

375 million emergency grant to the END Fund in support of a program for visceral leishmaniasis. Delivering Reliable Drinking Water to Rural Schools and Clinics in Zambia LUSAKA, Zambia, December 22, 2025 — In 2023, an estimated 447 million children lacked access to basic drinking water in schools. Africa remains the only region where fewer than half of all schools provide basic drinking water services.

The resulting impacts on education, health, and human development are severe but preventable.

In many cases, teachers lack the resources, training, and time… Geoscience Australia Appoints the Long-Term Owner of the Digital Earth Africa Program Geoscience Australia (GA) is pleased to announce that the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, has been appointed as the Long-Term Owner of the Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) Program.

Digital Earth Africa Secures Additional Funding from The Leona M. and Harry B.

Helmsley Charitable Trust to Deepen Real-World Impact JOHANNESBURG, April 22, 2025—When the ground-breaking Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) program was launched over five years ago, it was widely regarded as an innovative and revolutionary way for Africans to access and leverage Earth observation data to enhance decision-making around critical environmental and socio-economic challenges.

With support from trailblazing funders including The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable… Engineering Ministries International USA Clinton Health Access Initiative Inc Medicines for Humanity, Inc Engineering Ministries International USA Clinton Health Access Initiative Inc Medicines for Humanity, Inc