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20 July 2021 |

$1.5 million awarded in second round of grant funding for COVID-19 response

We are pleased to award $1.5 million in a second round of grant funding through our Emergency Response Program to four projects that are responding to COVID-19 by connecting vulnerable communities to the Internet.  

The selected projects include:

  • HELP. NGO’s Disaster Immediate Response Team which is expanding Internet connectivity for public health and emergency response facilities who are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Building on work that began last year through an Internet Society Foundation funded grant, this second round of funding will enable HELP.NGO to reduce the threat of Internet disruption to programs critical to the implementation of the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).  To date, 1,000 critical healthcare workers have received connectivity, enabling them to deliver care to over 10,000 COVID-19 patients. ($500,000)
  • United Way Netherlands which is using technology as a tool to address mental health issues such as isolation and loneliness that have been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Learn more in this video. ($250,000)
  • Syracuse University which is implementing the Internet Backpack as a solution to enhance Internet access in Costa Rica for rural healthcare practitioners, educators, and government professionals who are coordinating the COVID-19 response. ($416,664).
  • People Centered Internet which is addressing the digital divide that persists in Native American communities across North America ($332,366).

Through these grants, we aim to support communities without Internet access who bear the brunt of the economic and social impacts of the pandemic and risk being left behind. 

We will launch our next call for grant applications in July 2021. More information on future calls for applications can be found here:

See our grant programs
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20 July 2021