THE De Beers Group announced their donation of $200,000 split equally to four of their partner countries Botswana, Canada and Namibia and South Africa in aid of women’s shelters and to support organisations linked to gender-based violence from the quarantine lifestyle induced by Covid-19.
This donation will contribute to the company’s overall donation to these four countries since the start of the pandemic, now exceeding an overall economic aid of $5 million. The money has gone towards initiatives such as providing medical supplies, logistics, food for households in needs and clean water supply to certain areas.
De Beers Group is supporting women’s shelters
Lockdown and social distancing has led to a heartbreaking increase in cases of gender-based violence. Some support services that deal with the consequences and prevention have had to temporarily close, so De Beers Group is supporting women’s shelters and other organisations in their partner countries to support those effected by violence.
Bruce Cleaver, the CEO of De Beers Group and UN Women HeForShe Thematic Champion stated, “many women and children are also being exposed to a significantly increased risk of gender-based violence, while having limited ability to access support services and finding those services are under extreme pressure”. In addition to this generous contribution from the business, Mr Cleaver will be donating 30 per cent of his salary over the next three months to charities that deal with supporting the vulnerable in southern Africa.
UN Women Representative and South Africa Multi-Country Office explained, the “deeply concerning surge in domestic violence throughout the world, what UN Women has termed the ‘Shadow Pandemic’, that is already being felt in Southern Africa with calls of distress from women more than doubling”.
The De Beers Group and UN Women are working together to identify the key areas that need priority funding to ensure safety and escape of abuse can be put into immediate effect. In Canada, the funding will be donated to four shelters that are within radius of the communities by De Beers Gahcho Kué and Victor establishments.
by Imogen Clark