Acting together for a better future. IMA supports Antoniano and Médecins Sans Frontières

Once again, IMA has decided to celebrate the Festive Season by giving to those in need.

Our support, with projects of social integration and job placement, goes to Antoniano for its aid to families living below the poverty line and to asylum seekers and their families, as well as to Médecins Sans Frontières for their efforts to tackle malnutrition in Borno State, Nigeria.

Together to Help Families in need

At Christmas time, IMA will again be supporting the Antoniano’s “Progetto Famiglie” for the third consecutive year.

This project was set up to provide hospitality and support for families in need by means of social protection, integration and autonomy. It is made up of four parts:

• A meal at the Evening Canteen
• Listening at the Listening Centre
• Aid through the Family Fund
• Work and a home with traineeships and housing

Thanks to the contributions that IMA has made to this project over the years, meals, listening, financial aid and housing have been guaranteed for almost 70 families in need.

The continuity of this support has also allowed Antoniano to consolidate existing services and develop new ones, such as housing facilities, with the aim of creating a lasting impact on the local area in terms of integration and social cohesion.

Once again, in 2020, IMA’s contribution will be allocated to the canteen, the listening centre, the family fund and housing for families in need and will guarantee about 25% of the project’s annual budget.

IMA’s contribution will affect the lives of 11 families (for a total of around 42 persons, including 26 children):

• 10 families will have access to the evening canteen, the listening centre and the family fund for 1 year
• 1 family will benefit from the housing service in one of Antoniano’s apartments.

Maiduguri Project: Combating malnutrition in the state of Borno, Nigeria

IMA supports Medici Senza Frontiere in the work it performs in the Nigerian state of Borno, torn apart by years of clashes between armed militias and the Nigerian army, where children under the age of five have practically disappeared. Lack of food has led to unprecedented rates of malnutrition and mortality levels well beyond the emergency threshold.

Last year, the medical-humanitarian organisation called loudly for an urgent and massive increase in humanitarian interventions to guarantee the provision of food and medical assistance to the victims of the current crisis.

In fact, a survey carried out by MSF in various refugee camps in Maiduguri, the capital city of the federal state of Borno, has shown that up to 50% of children under the age of 5 suffer from acute malnutrition, leading to a very high infant mortality rate.

Through its contribution for Christmas 2019, IMA intends to support MSF’s action to provide medical and nutritional care in response to the malnutrition emergency at Maiduguri. The goal is to combat maternal and child mortality among the displaced population that has fled to Maiduguri to escape the ongoing violence in the country.