Vodafone Foundation finance with 1.5 million lei
the fourth stage of the program Life Fund for Newbornsthrough which wards and compartments of neonatology and neonatal intensive care in Romania they will be equipped with medical equipment and related equipment, including telemedicine systems. Public hospitals throughout the country can request funding of up to 300,000 lei by registering a project until February 25, 2026.
“The mission Life Fund for Newborns is to ensure access to quality medical services for as many children as possible in Romania, wherever they come in the world, so that each of them has a real chance at a healthy and safe start in life. In the first three editions of the program, which took place between 2021 and 2025, we equipped 19 neonatology and intensive care departments and compartments throughout the country. Separately from this endowment component, in 2023, the Vodafone Foundation financed the installation of telemedicine solutions in 17 level III neonatal intensive care units in the country, which were included in the national network. Following the endowment and equipping projects with telemedicine solutions, 30,000 children who are born annually in these units benefit from better conditions of care and treatment”, he declared Angela Galeța, director of the Vodafone Foundation in Romania.
To have access to the facilities offered through the program, they can apply wards or compartments of neonatology and neonatal intensive care level I and II in public hospitals of obstetrics, gynecology and neonatology from the whole country, who have not yet received equipment through the Life Fund for Newborns program. Along with the Vodafone Foundation, partners in the implementation of the projects will be the specialized public medical entities that apply together with the public institution under which the hospital unit is located (town hall or county council).
Applicants must complete the request form for provision of medical equipment and related equipment available here and send it to the address [email protected]until February 25, 8:00 p.m. The total value of the program is 1,500,000 leiand the maximum limit for the budget allocated to a project is 300,000 lei. The selected projects will be announced on April 17, 2026 and will be implemented by the Vodafone Foundation between April and December 2026.
Enrolled projects will be evaluated by members of the foundation’s board of directors and the NGO team, as well as external experts with experience in such initiatives. Criteria such as relevance, impact and sustainability will be taken into account in the evaluation process. The validation of the projects selected following the application will be done in a second stage, through visits to the qualified departments or compartments.
More details about the round schedule, eligibility criteria, financing and implementation conditions can be found in the regulations available on the Vodafone Foundation website.
The Vodafone Foundation started investing in neonatology 12 years ago, when in Romania the infant mortality rate was almost 10‰. Currently, thanks to the efforts made together with other organizations, infant mortality has decreased to 6.4* per 1,000 live births in 2024 (*source). These figures place us at an infant mortality rate almost double the European average. One of the causes is that only 9% of neonatology wards and compartments in our country have all the necessary equipment to care for premature newborns or those with serious health problems. It is about 25 departments, all located in 14 large cities in Romania. The rest of the wards are in dire need of new medical equipment.
About the Vodafone Foundation
For 28 years, we have been pooling our resources and those of our partners to build inclusive and sustainable projects together. We call on technology and social innovation and invest in the development of disadvantaged communities in Romania. We modernize neonatal intensive care units and support digital education programs that prepare children and young people for the jobs of the future and help the elderly not feel left out in an increasingly digitized world. We get involved in actions to combat domestic violence and the phenomenon of bullying. Since April 2016, together with other Vodafone foundations around the world, we have improved the lives of over 305 million people.
We are a Romanian non-governmental organization established in 1998, with charitable status, distinct and independent from the commercial operations of Vodafone Romania. More details about our programs can be found at www.fundatia-vodafone.ro, http://jurnaldebine.fundatia-vodafone.ro/ and www.facebook.com/fundatiavodafone.
