Simon-Kucher helps Unicef with Covid-19-vaccines for 40,000 children

Simon-Kucher & Partners has donated around €170,000 to Unicef – a grant that will help the global charity provide Covid-19 vaccines to 40,000 underserved people around the world.

The global vaccination campaign against Covid-19 has seen a huge acceleration in 2021. According to the latest data from Our World in Data, more than 10.2 billion vaccination shots have been dispensed to date, and around 4.2 billion can now call themselves fully vaccinated.

Yet the vaccination campaign is at the same time also one of inequality. While Africa for instance accounts for 17% of the world’s population, less than 3% of all vaccine doses administered have been realised in the continent. In other underprivileged countries, the picture is no different.

The United Nations Children’s Fund – one of the welfare organisations that falls under the Unicef mantle – has as one of its missions to tackle vaccination inequality, with a focus on children.

Caroline Steimle, Head of Corporate Partnerships of Unicef in Germany, said: “The impact of the pandemic threatens children and their families around the world. We must do everything to ensure that Covid-19 vaccines are available to all, including people in the poorest countries. This is a matter of justice and essential to end the pandemic.”

The vaccination efforts of Unicef are made possible by the generous donations and expertise of hundreds of companies who support the mission. “We cannot meet this challenge alone, we need partners at our side. Therefore, we are truly grateful for the generous support by Simon-Kucher & Partners.”

The global consulting firm (which specialises in strategy, sales & marketing and pricing) has, as part of its corporate social responsibility strategy, raised an amount of €169,000. “We decided to donate €100 on behalf of each employee,” explained Anne Rupp, Global Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Director at Simon-Kucher.

The roughly 1,600 consultants and staff of the consultancy operate from 42 offices worldwide.

She added: “In some countries vaccination rates are as low as just seven percent and we wanted to align with an organisation that is helping to tackle this ongoing battle.”

Other areas the United Nations Children’s Fund focuses on include education, nutrition, safety and emergency relief.