Anne Fransen Fund 2017 projects announced
Seven Consumers International members from India, Fiji, Malaysia, Ecuador, Chile and Senegal will promote the protection of consumers around the globe through funding provided by the Anne Fransen Fund 2017.
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe 2016 project: School children participating in financial literacy exercise
Each of the projects focus on improving consumers’ day-to-day lives by helping them lead healthier lifestyles, take better care of their environment and have better access to safer, higher-quality products and services.
Participating members will receive grants of up to €10,000 to fund their projects, which are all linked to at least one of the eight basic consumer rights.
Grants are made available due to the generosity of Consumers International’s Dutch member Consumentenbond, whose former director established the Anne Fransen Fund in 1988. The fund is supported by contributions from Consumentenbond’s individual members, who since 1981 have invested over €700,000 in sister organisations across the world.
For over three decades, Consumentenbond’s commitment to building the consumer movement has strengthened and empowered thousands of consumers in developing and transitional economies across the regions.
2017 Projects
Read more about the selected projects for 2017 below:
ADEC will work to improve the management of solid household waste in the Rufisique region of Senegal. They will partner with the local authority to carry out a behaviour change campaign amongst consumers in order to ensure safer and cleaner public spaces and in turn enhance consumers’ quality of life.
CERS will raise awareness about antibiotic resistance in humans caused by the overuse of antibiotics in livestock farming. They will conduct research into antibiotic usage in farming and the legal and regulatory framework around veterinary drug residues in food, and in turn use their findings to alert consumers and regulatory stakeholders to this issue.
CCF will campaign to inform consumers of the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent non-communicable diseases. This project aims at empowering rural, low-income consumers to make informed choices and move towards healthier consumption trends through education, campaigns and advocacy activities.
SCA will develop a blog entitled ‘Safety Insider’ designed to help consumers find products and services that are safe and of good quality. They will also mobilise consumers to demand better measures for ensuring product safety and quality. SCA will partner with Standards Users, an expert end-user organisation, who will research and test products.
TECU will promote healthy diets by assessing and strengthening Ecuador’s nutritional labelling system. They will monitor producers’ compliance with and consumers’ understanding of the current food labelling system, using the results to advocate for better citizen monitoring mechanisms in food products.
Consumer VOICE will create and train a group of digital consumer activists on consumer issues in the digital economy. This group will then run digital literacy camps, where vulnerable consumers will learn how to access digital products and services, how to be safe online and how to uphold their consumer rights in the digital marketplace.
ODECU will carry out research on the use of antibiotics in the Chilean food industry. This will include a survey of antibiotic use amongst producers and laboratory analysis of meat and fish products. The findings will be used to raise public awareness and lobby key stakeholders for a technical standard on antibiotic use based on WHO recommendations.