The United Nations Foundation

Tanzania. Burundi refugee family living in UNHCR shelter.

Burundi refugee Jacqueline, her husband Joseph and children Dani (4.5months) and Alikeli (7 years) have found safety and shelter in Nduta refugee camp, Kibondo, Tanzania. Jacqueline was pregnant with baby Dani when she fled Burundi. The family arrived in Tanzania on 28 June 2015 and after nearly 4 months in a mass shelter in Nyarugusu camp were transferred to Nduta camp at the end of November 2015 and allocated a UNHCR family shelter. "After so much time in the mass shelter, getting this shelter was so nice. The whole time in the other camp I worried about the children catching diseases and illness. Here we are together as a family," says Jacqueline

“UNHCR’s work to protect people and families forced to flee their homes has always been indispensable, but as we confront unprecedented global crises and record levels of displacement its mission has taken on a renewed urgency. The UN Foundation is proud to support UNHCR as it provides critical protection and support to refugees across the world.”

Elizabeth Cousens, President and Chief Executive Officer, UN Foundation

About the partnership

Since: 2007

Locations: more than 25 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa

Since 2007, the UN Foundation has been a trusted UNHCR partner making a significant difference in the lives of refugees and forcibly displaced people with more than US$23 million in contributions from its Nothing But Nets, Girl Up and UNA-USA campaigns. The UN Foundation has long supported a range of UNHCR initiatives targeting SDG themes such as education, health, and energy, in addition to providing communications, advocacy, and technical expertise on displacement.

Nothing But Nets is the world’s largest grassroots campaign dedicated to saving lives by fighting malaria. Nothing But Nets has partnered with UNHCR since 2007 to protect refugees and internally displaced populations from malaria. The partnership has protected over 5 million vulnerable people of concern in 23 countries through the distribution of long-lasting bed nets, rapid diagnostic tests, and anti-malaria treatments. Nothing But Nets delivers crucial malaria interventions throughout the African region, and is currently supporting UNHCR’s malaria prevention work in South Sudan.

Girl Up gives girls the resources and platform to start a movement for social change wherever they are. Girl Up has worked with UNHCR since 2011 to connect refugee and displaced girls with educational opportunities and tools for empowerment. For several years, Girl Up has supported UNHCR’s education project for Somali refugee girls in Jijiga, Ethiopia and has contributed to UNHCR’s primary education programme ‘Educate A Child’ in Ethiopia and Uganda, helping to ensure that displaced girls are enrolled in school and have access to a quality education. The partnership currently supports UNHCR’s education and SGBV prevention work in Ethiopia.

In a recent partnership with USA for UNHCR, the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) hosted the Adopt-A-Future Campaign (AAFC). Launched in 2016, this campaign provided communities across the United States the opportunity to support refugee children and the efforts of UNHCR to provide quality education.

Impact at a glance

Between 2016 and 2021, the UN Foundation has helped UNHCR support over 2 million refugees across 10 countries through the distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets and other malaria commodities, health services, educational tools and capacity building, SGBV prevention and response, and clean energy.

Sustainable Development Goals in focus