Deadline: 28-Sep-23
The Hear the World Foundation is currently accepting applications for funding from aid organizations benefiting children with hearing loss in low- and middle-income countries.
You can request support in the form of financial resources, hearing solutions, diagnostic equipment, and audiological expertise.
The Hear the Word Foundation supports collaborative efforts that will achieve significant and enduring improvements in hearing health for children in low- to middle-income countries.
Focus Areas
- Prevention of hearing loss
- Provision of hearing care to children
- Parents and families support
- Professional training
This focus area includes several aspects such as:
- Screening
- Diagnostics
- Hearing aid fitting
- Follow-up & Aftercare
- Speech Therapy / Communications Training
- Cochlear Implants
Types of Support
HTWF gives children with hearing loss new prospects for their future by offering:
- Hearing technology from the Sonova product portfolio (hearing instruments, Roger technology, cochlear implants)
- Audiological equipment
- Financial resources
- Professional support to build local capacity/know how through teaching, consulting and other onsite and remote support
Funding Principles
The Foundation exclusively supports projects for the benefit of children with hearing loss. In order for resources to be used as efficiently and effectively as possible, sustainability is their fundamental guiding principle when deciding which projects to fund. All projects supported by the Hear the World Foundation aim to have a lasting positive impact on the quality of life of children with hearing loss.
The implementation of individual measures is based on their funding principles:
- Quality treatment of hearing loss
- Providing children with audiological care is a challenge bringing great responsibility. They strive to ensure that children in low- and middle-income countries receive the same quality of audiological care as those in higher-income countries. They therefore work in accordance with an international protocol for pediatric care that has been established over the years. They also make sure that their project partners have the right training, access to the latest hearing technology and modern equipment for the diagnosis of hearing loss, as well as for the fitting and validation of hearing aids in compliance with international standards.
- Building local skills and expertise
- Their goal of establishing and cultivating the necessary expertise on site applies to all projects supported by them. This enables them to ensure the sustainability of the provided audiological care while also creating local jobs. Knowledge is shared by Sonova employees via online trainings, on volunteer missions and, wherever necessary, by other specialists.
- Ensuring professional follow-up-care
- They only donate hearing aids if their project partner can also guarantee regular check-ups on site after they have been fitted, including provision of batteries. Supplementary measures, such as communication therapy and the empowerment and support of parents, are also necessary for children to develop their hearing and speech to their full potential.
- Long-term support and monitoring success
- They work with their project partners over several years to establish sustainable care. Together, they determine the next logical project development steps to ensure ongoing professionalization of the provided audiological care. For the monitoring of success, each of their cooperation partners is obliged to submit a comprehensive report twice a year, containing precise details on the progress of the project and their use of donations.
The Foundation supports programs and initiatives that
- Work towards improving hearing healthcare for children in underserved communities.
- Have a holistic program framework and a strong emphasis on building local capacity
- Use evidence-based ways to achieve specified outcomes in hearing health and show willingness and capacities to participate in monitoring and evaluation
- Follow an inclusive approach
The Foundation partners with
- Locally-rooted organizations in low- to middle-income countries
- Professional, legally registered non-profit organizations including NGOs, community groups, hospitals and actors within the private sector, preferably working with local governments and in networks with other organizations
- Financially stable and transparent partners, working towards a self-reliant hearing health care model
How they support their program partners
- All work is led by program partners
- They provide long-term funding and technological support in the form of hearing technology and diagnostic equipment
- They augment funding with professional expertise and strategic consultancy support
For more information, visit Hear the World Foundation.