Blog

This month, our Area Manager Alexander traveled for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As with many countries in Africa, COVID-19 restrictions are still in place, meaning that travelling has become more complex, for example with additional testing to cross borders. Nonetheless, these visits are important and very valuable to both parties to enhance our relationships, exchange knowledge and expertise, and visit health (storage) facilities.

On the 25th of September, Dutch organisations, municipalities, the Dutch ministries and embassies together take part in the flag day, an event through which they show their support for the United Nations’ Global Goals / SDGs. More than 850 Global Goals-flags will be raised on this day!

This week, our colleague Rheinhard Hein hosted two training sessions for all IDA employees on Diversity and Inclusion. As we set out our strategic roadmap, IDA prioritised key Sustainable Development Goals that we can make an impact on, including SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). We asked Rheinhard to provide some key insights to the subject, and why this training is so valuable for a future-proof workforce.

At IDA Foundation we believe learning lies at the basis of both professional- and personal development. In one of our previous blogs we shared some information on how we address learning and make sure all our colleagues have the opportunity to develop themselves. We mentioned our HR initiative of Social Learning courses, the access our colleagues have to the LinkedIn Learning platform, and how we create a learning environment where we hire and train interns.

Did you know IDA has already been active for almost 50 years? As we move nearer to this special 50th anniversary in 2022, we are reflecting on some key facts and figures. Keep an eye on our blog to see how you could become a part of IDA’s 50 year celebrations and impact.

Today, August 19, is World Humanitarian Day. On this day we honour the people who have dedicated their lives to humanitarian causes and sacrificed their lives for the betterment of humanity. Whether it's supporting refugees fleeing from political conflict, or by providing help to victims of natural disasters, they are in the field to help others.

As an employer, IDA Foundation aims to create an open learning environment for all of our people. We achieve this by stimulating learning on the job. This includes (online) courses and workshops for our employees, to develop their professional knowledge as well as social skills, which help them to develop and grow within the organisation.

Earlier this year, IDA Foundation was invited to participate in the video series ‘Phases of the Global Goals’ created by the UN Global Compact Netherlands. IDA is a participant of UN Global Compact since 2018 and since then we have been redefining and shaping our strategy and short- and long-term goals to better align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In March this year, IT updated the IDA laptops, thereby allowing all IDA colleagues to work efficiently from home during lockdown. As the old IDA laptops were still fit for use, we looked for a sustainable way to give them a new life.

IDA Foundation has a large global network of over thirty agents and distributors. We work closely together with our agents and distributors, as they provide essential local knowledge and expertise. Strengthened Local Capacity is one of our newly formulated long-term goals, as part of our sustainable strategy, which helps us to build and strengthen local health systems.

Over the past year, IDA Foundation has shipped a large number of PED/SAM (pediatric severe acute malnutrition) kits to multiple countries in Africa and to Yemen.  The PED/SAM kit consists of seven different modules each containing either essential medicines, renewables and other medical equipment suitable for the treatment of children who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and associated medical complications. With these much-needed kits we have helped our customers treat around 40.000 children in the last year.

With most organisations working from home for over a year now, many of us at IDA will say that we have managed to keep our organisation running quite smoothly. But a big aspect of working life are our colleagues and the office culture. So how are we staying connected to our colleagues and holding on to the IDA team spirit?

Access to good quality healthcare is a challenge for many people in Sudan - a country with a population of almost 43 million people. In the last quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, IDA assembled over 600 Rapid Response Kits (RRKs) for one of our main customers, to specifically support primary healthcare needs in eight different remote locations in Sudan.

Within the context of upcoming International Women's Day (IWD) on March 8, we approached a few of our female agents and distributors with some questions regarding gender equality.

This month, IDA supplied 500 oxygen concentrators to Dubai and Ghana for one our largest customers to be distributed to various end destinations in Africa and Asia.

IDA Foundation has published its annual Product Indicator. This booklet provides an overview of the products we supply. The sections on diagnostics and medical supplies are also available in French in addition to English. All medicines and supplies in the Product Indicator are grouped according to the WHO classification of Essential Medicines as listed in the Essential Medicines List (EML).

In 2020, we were all challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the crisis also provided an opportunity to reflect on what's important, whether we are in a crisis or not. More than ever, it has become clear that solid health systems are indispensable when fighting both pandemics and endemics. If we want to overcome any global health crises, we all need to work together.

World AIDS Day, held on December 1 since 1988, is an international day dedicated to creating awareness of the HIV/AIDS burden worldwide. Thus far, of the approximately 38 million people with HIV worldwide, around 26 million are on retroviral therapy, which is triple the number in 2010 (UN Report, 2020). Furthermore, AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 56% since 2005 (UNAIDS, 2019). Despite these achievements, significant challenges remain, with increasing rates of infections in key communities.

Today marks the beginning of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week. This week aims to create awareness around the accelerated threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and stop responding to medicines, increasing the risk of diseases and severe illnesses.

Today, October 6, we celebrate Diversity Day at IDA Foundation. For this occasion we asked a few team members, among which our Director HR, to tell us what diversity means to them and how IDA is addressing this.

As part of IDA Foundation’s sustainability journey, our headquarters in Amsterdam were renovated in 2018 according to the highest green standards. As the area around our office is currently undergoing many changes, requiring our parking lot to be moved, IDA is taking the opportunity to also turn our office terrain into a climate-adaptive green zone that will benefit the local environment.

After months of working from home due to the major impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can say our staff does not take this as an excuse to stop exercising. The past few weeks our employees were challenged to share their ways of staying fit during this global crisis, with the very first IDA Fit Challenge. We asked colleagues to share how they are staying fit during lockdown.

The global supply chain is heavily impacted by the pandemic spread of the corona virus. Transport options are scarce due to export restrictions and due to countries being in lockdown to prevent the corona virus from further spreading. These regulations pose challenges for us as a supplier of medical goods.

As the Corona virus pandemic spreads around the globe, and all health care systems and governments seem to be engulfed with battling COVID-19, we realise it is more important than ever that we don’t lose sight of other existing health issues.

This week (20-27 September) is Global Climate Strike week; also an opportunity for IDA Foundation to step up to support young climate strikers all over the world. Following earlier climate strikes these past years, this week has broken records with millions of people on the streets to take action for our climate. Today, our employees joined the climate strike by ‘striking’ outside our Amsterdam office.

Every year, it is estimated that 250.000 new cases of cancer affect children.

On 16 June, IDA employees joined thousands of others to walk during the 'Night of the Refugee' in Amsterdam.

In January 2018, Dutch media reported that the training programme of global health doctors in the Nederlands is at risk of coming to an end because of lack of funding by the Dutch government.

On March 26th, 2018, IDA Foundation’s application for membership in the UN Global Compact was successfully accepted. Participation demonstrates our commitment to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

The November 7 conference explored challenges around access to medicines in Haiti.

Meet Kesney Auguste of Haiti Medicine, IDA's local partner in Haiti.

Applying for a job at IDA? Read this blog first for some inside knowledge on working at IDA.