Healthcare Pooled Fund
Maternal, Newborn, Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) are essential to giving all children a healthy start in life. Research has shown that interventions in these areas are among the most cost-effective and have outsized, lasting impacts on a child’s health, development and well-being. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed or even reversed decades of progress that had been achieved in MNCHN, putting marginalised women and children at increased risk of maternal and childhood morbidity and mortality. As such, there is a need to prioritise support for organisations that are working to address challenges in this area.
Quantedge Advancement Initiative joined three other organisations to fund the second round of the AVPN Healthcare Pooled Fund, which is focused on MNCHN.
Quantedge Advancement Initiative joined three other organisations to fund the second round of the AVPN Healthcare Pooled Fund, which is focused on MNCHN.
The selected impact partners for the pooled fund are:
AVPN launched the first Philanthropic Pooled Fund in Southeast Asia in December 2020, with the first round of the fund centred on strengthening primary healthcare systems in rural and hard-to-reach urban areas. Building on this, the second round deployed unrestricted grants to relevant non-profit organisations that are working to improve MNCHN outcomes in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
By participating in this pooled fund, Quantedge Advancement Initiative seeks to pool together our resources with other funders to support vulnerable women and children, and collectively achieve impact at scale.
- Angkor Hospital for Children – Cambodia: It aims to reduce childhood mortality through its Saving Babies’ Lives programme, which focuses on the continuum of neonatal healthcare across rural areas – from community care, to basic primary-level care, to hospital-level care.
- International Institute of Rural Reconstruction – Philippines: It works on reducing maternal mortality and neonatal mortality by strengthening the local healthcare system to deliver improved community health and nutrition services and interventions to women, infants, and young children.
- SPOON Foundation – Vietnam: It promotes inclusive and optimal development for children in home-based childcare centres by empowering their providers to make mealtime a place of learning and nourishment.
- Yayasan Kusuma Buana – Indonesia: It works on reducing maternal mortality and infant mortality, especially among factory workers, by improving factories’ provision of proper health education and health services for pregnant workers.
AVPN launched the first Philanthropic Pooled Fund in Southeast Asia in December 2020, with the first round of the fund centred on strengthening primary healthcare systems in rural and hard-to-reach urban areas. Building on this, the second round deployed unrestricted grants to relevant non-profit organisations that are working to improve MNCHN outcomes in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
By participating in this pooled fund, Quantedge Advancement Initiative seeks to pool together our resources with other funders to support vulnerable women and children, and collectively achieve impact at scale.
Outcomes:
An independent evaluation of the Healthcare Pooled Fund by Research for Impact highlighted the effectiveness of the unrestricted funding approach. The flexible funding led to significant impacts on the ground, within the organisations, and across the broader ecosystem. These include:
AVPN will continue to identify opportunities to support the four organisations beyond the Fund by amplifying the visibility of their work through AVPN’s platforms and facilitating connections with interested partners.
An independent evaluation of the Healthcare Pooled Fund by Research for Impact highlighted the effectiveness of the unrestricted funding approach. The flexible funding led to significant impacts on the ground, within the organisations, and across the broader ecosystem. These include:
- Broadening the reach and scope of MNCHN programmes through timely adaptations and innovative approaches
- Catalysing mindset shifts within organisational leadership, which has spurred a broader exploration of new possibilities for the organisations.
- Enhancing stakeholder engagement, a traditionally neglected aspect of their operations.
AVPN will continue to identify opportunities to support the four organisations beyond the Fund by amplifying the visibility of their work through AVPN’s platforms and facilitating connections with interested partners.