Launched on 14th December 2012, the primary objective of The Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation is to save lives by putting an end to drowning.
The Foundation’s mission is threefold:
The World Health Organization estimated that 236,000 people die from drowning every year, with 2.5 million deaths happening over the last decade, with 90% of these deaths happening in low- and middle-income countries, thus making the work of the South African Foundation critically important.
This is made all the more tragic because drowning fatalities are preventable if people are educated about water safety and given basic training in how to swim and first aid.
The Foundation focuses on children and youth because they are particularly vulnerable: Globally, the highest drowning rates occur among children aged 1–4 years, followed by children aged 5–9 years. Additionally, even when a drowning is non-fatal, the victim can be left with severe after-effects, such as neurological deficits. Thus, working to prevent drowning incidents has a positive effect on the health and well-being of children and adults across the world. The human, social and economic toll of these losses is intolerably high, and entirely preventable.
