To fly? To be invisible? To read minds? There is one superpower without which no other makes sense. The superpower of survival.
When we think of superpowers, images of people who can fly, read minds, or become invisible often come to mind. But there is one essential superpower without which none of the others would make sense — a superpower that more than 4.8 million children under the age of five around the world still do not have: the superpower of survival.
This superpower is built from a set of basic capabilities that make life possible, such as immunization, nutrition, access to clean water, and the safety of shelter. At a time when millions of children are affected by humanitarian crises, conflicts, and extreme poverty, ensuring child survival is more crucial than ever.
At the ”la Caixa” Foundation, we firmly believe that real change is possible — a world where every child can enjoy their own superpower: the right to survive and to have a future.
What do we do?
Through the International Department and in collaboration with strategic partners and allies, the ”la Caixa” Foundation works to address the root causes of child malnutrition, preventable diseases, and lack of access to essential resources. We respond to emergency situations and promote prevention measures by training healthcare professionals.
All the initiatives carried out in this area share the goal of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #3: reducing the mortality of children under five in all countries around the world by 2030.
Key Initiatives
Alliance for Child Vaccination
More than 14.5 million children lack access to vital vaccines that protect against preventable diseases such as pneumonia and malaria. Through this alliance, and in partnership with the Gates Foundation and IsGlobal as scientific partner, we provide financial donations to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, to help enable vaccination for millions of children worldwide.
Since 2008, the alliance has raised over 100 million euros, helping to vaccinate more than 11 million children.
MOM Project
Today, 120 million people are displaced or refugees worldwide, and many children in this situation are deprived of basic healthcare services. In 2024, Ethiopia received over 1 million refugees and displaced persons, becoming the third largest host country in Africa.
In this country, the MOM program, run in partnership with UNHCR, works to provide shelter, medical and food assistance to pregnant women and refugee children under the age of five, as well as awareness and training campaigns aimed at reducing malnutrition and maternal and child mortality.
Since 2017, around 1.8 million people have benefited from this program, including over 1 million children under the age of 5 and more than 200,000 mothers and pregnant or breastfeeding women.
Child Survival Program
The Child Survival program aims to improve life expectancy for millions of people living in extreme poverty, with a focus on women and children in Sub-Saharan Africa — the region that accounts for 56.7 % of all under-five child deaths.
In 2024, the Child Survival call for proposals was launched to support projects from social organizations that help increase child survival rates in this part of the African continent.
With four selected projects in Tanzania, Uganda, Mali, and Sierra Leone, the program is expected to reach more than 62,600 target beneficiaries.
Accelerating Child Survival in Sierra Leone
In 2022 alone, 72 children under the age of five died every day in Sierra Leone from preventable causes such as pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, or malnutrition - a total of 26,300 child deaths that year.
Together with UNICEF, we are working in Sierra Leone’s Kenema district to help reduce child mortality by supplying essential child healthcare items, and by providing training and support to health centers and professionals, among other actions.
The main objective of this alliance is to ensure dignified and quality access to healthcare services for over 80,000 children under the age of five (60 % of the under-five population) within the Kenema district.