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May 2022 - General Assembly
On May 3, 2022, the 18th General Assembly and Round Table of the International NoNoma Federation (FINN) took place at the Geneva Health Forum. The members of the federation met for the first time in two years.
October 2021 - Noma Research Day
On October 28, 2021, the Noma Research Day was held, organized by Claire Jeantet, MSF Noma Campaign manager and Marianne Comparet, Director of the ISNTD. The purpose of the day was to provide a platform for noma researchers to meet, present their work and discuss their future vision. Winds of Hope thanks the organizers for their invitation and commitment. On this occasion, the SNIS team, supported by the foundation, was able to present their preliminary results, to learn more : www.nomaproject.com.
October 2021 - Swiss British Cars Meeting
On october 2nd, 2021, the Swiss Classic British Car Meeting took place, gathering more than 1600 classic British cars and motorcycles, open to all models as long as they are 20 years old. On this occasion, Winds of Hope was invited to have a stand, thanks to the generous invitation of M. Reto Defrancesco, director of the event. In the midst of these magnificent cars, the atmosphere was warm and everyone was delighted to be able to participate in this festive and sunny event.
February 2021 - Noma conference
On February 11th, 2021, an international conference on noma was held online bringing together people from all over the world who are involved in this fight. Led by Claire Jeantet, Noma Campaign manager for MSF and Marianne Comparet, Director of the International Society for Negelected Tropical Diseases (ISNTD), we followed several presentations and lectures throughout the day. In particular, the presentation of the preliminary results of the Noma Project team (www. nomaproject.com).
January 2021 - "Restoring Dignity"
On January 20 2001, the film "Restoring dignity" was launched in Canada. This film, produced and directed by Claire Jeantet and Fabrice Catérini's company Indediz, describes with great humanity the experience they had with noma in Niger. This event was organized by Dr Joel Rosenbloom who initiated a donation campaign for this occasion. Winds of Hope was chosen as the beneficiary and the foundation would like to warmly thank all the donors and speakers as well as Dr Rosenbloom and the Inediz team. The film is available on the Viméo platform.
December 2020 - Sun Store donation
Since 2001, SUN STORE Pharmacies-Parfumeries have been offering their customers the opportunity to purchase small items every year to rais funds of the fight against noma let by Winds of Hope. From 2018 to 2020, SUN STORE has raised an amount of CHF 50'000.- and donated it to the foundation on December 12th, 2020. Winds of Hope would like to thank all SUN STORE custommers, its General Manager Ramim Mohadjeri and the entire staff for their loyal support. We were delighted to meed M. Gérald Ménétré, his successor, with whom we will continue to collaborate.
July 2020 - NoNoma Federation
Our next General Assembly and Round Table has been postponed to November ! It will therefore take place on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, and will still take place within the Geneva Health Forum, which also moved to these dates. On this occasion, not only will we have the pleasure to proceed to our traditional General Assembly and Round Table, but we also organize a screening of the film "A visage découvert" by Marie-Lou Dumauthioz and Hervé Pfister. We look forward to seeing you there !
March 2018 - A tribute to Patrick Joly
Winds of Hope would like to express her deep and profound gratitude to Patrick Joly who has been directing Sentinelles' program related to medical treatement of noma children in Switzerland and has recently retired (last february). His engagement, his generosity and the energy that he has put in our common combat against noma have been a great source of inspiration. We greet his constant commitment and enthusiasm as well as his absolute rigor during all his career at Sentinelles. Moreover we wish him all the best for this new begining.
February 2018 - Sunstore donation
Every Easter since 2001, Sun Store pharmacies & perfume stores have been encouraging their customers to buy little toys to raise money for Winds of Hope's fight against noma. From 2013 to 2015, Sun Store SA collected 70'752 CHF, which it donated to the Foundation on 7 February 2018. Winds of Hope hereby wishes to thank all Sun Store customers, CEO Ramin Mohadjeri and the entire staff for their faithful support.
January 2018 - NOMA Program = STOP Program
After we published our july 2017 newsletter, Mr Dieumo had to close down STOP NOMA but he has now created a new organisation called NOMA PROGRAM that is as suspicious as the prior one. Please keep being vigilant and spread the information around you!
July 2017 - Attention Stop Noma
In october 2016, we informed our donors and supporters that we had serious doubts about the use of the funds collected by the association STOP NOMA beheaded by Mr Dieumo (www.stopnoma.org). A group of belgian students in communication did a year-end work on on STOP NOMA. An important belgian french speaking newspaper, Le Vif/ Express published the results of this study in july (access here). We also invite you to read the articles concerning Stop Noma published on fundraisers forum's website. Please keep being vigilant and spread the information around you!
April 2017 - noma posters
The working group composed of Sentinelles, Gesnoma, Winds of Hope and MSF is happy to present the result of their work: two posters mentionning the attitude to adopt and the noma treatement specified as per stage concerned. The « impatient poster » is a little more scientific, addressed to the medical staff, it aims at facilitating the therapeutic management of noma. The « outpatient poster » is simpler and addressed to health care workers in the field that might be confronted to noma cases in ambulatory or during a medical consultation with a first clear objective of detecting gingivitis and noma at early stages. We hope that these new tools will help you in your professionnal practice and will facilitate a better management and treatment of the disease at earlier stages, key point for a future eradication of the disease. We invite you to disseminate, share largely these documents, explain them bringing thus an additional stone to the fight against this terrible disease. The posters can be downloaded from our website under the chapter understanding noma / documentation.
March - 2017 The Federation's website in english
The federation's website is now available in english. We invite all those whose mother tongue is english, members of the federation, friends, supporters and donors of the cause to discover the engliish version of the site @ www.nonoma.org. it will give you an overview of the disease, how to prevent it and treat it, what are the main activities of the federation's members, the minutes of our annual roundtables and many more information.
Mach 2017 - A solar maternity
Persis’ medical, surgical and pediatric Center at Ouahigouya has become a quite important complex. The two actual solar power stations are unable to cover the Center's full electricity needs. With the support of Winds of Hope, a third solar power station (composed of 42 panels of 260 Watts) was installed on the maternity's roof.This project stands at the intersection between providing medical and social care to children suffering from noma and and promoting renewable energies combining objectives which our founder, Bertrand Piccard, holds dear.
Feb 2017 - Fight for the recognition of noma as an NTD
Noma stands at the intersection between malnutrition, childhood diseases and human rights, and remains a serious disease, the remedies for which extend far beyond the medical world. Dr Marck, Dr Srour and Dr Baratti-Mayer have joined forces to write an article advocating that noma should be officially recognised at World Health Organization's level as a neglected tropical disease (NTD). Click here to read this article, which reinforces the campaigns led by Winds of Hope and Sentinelles aimed at transferring the problem from the medical field to the political domain. In endemic countries, the fight against noma should be framed in the strengthening of health systems and in their orientation to universal health coverage, that is, for ensuring that the poorest and most marginalized populations can obtain essential health services at high quality without suffering financial hardship.
January 2017 – Strength in unity
Winds of Hope welcomes the renewed collaboration between the field agencies combating noma, and supports their action. From 28 January to 5 February 2017, the following worked together under the leadership of Prof. Dr Pittet (HUG – AEMV) on a surgical mission at the Schiphra center in Ouagadougou: Sentinelles staff; Ensemble pour Eux’s nurses and facilitators; PhysioNoma’s physiotherapists; and the associations New Face and Au Fil de la Vie. Another mission, for rehabilitation and training, is currently under way, organized by PhysioNoma.
Best wishes for the New Year
May the New Year bring you new hope, projects, dreams and desires, but above all plenty of energy, so that you can achieve all that you aspire to in 2017. Thank you for your faithful support and collaboration in support of children suffering from noma.
December 2016 - 2nd NoNoma Newsletter
Winds of Hope kindly invite its partners, donors, members of the International NoNoma Federation and all those committed to fighting noma to read the second edition of the NoNoma newsletter. This aims to inform readers about the campaigns supported by the foundation as well as the highlights of the Federation’s annual round table. It is also a living tool for strengthening communication and the links between us all. So do not hesitate to send your ideas, suggestions, and proposals for topics to be addressed to: info@windsofhope.org
November 2016 - Synergies against noma
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Sentinelles, GESNOMA and Winds of Hope cooperated to write an article aimed at making noma better known, and distributing posters depicting the stages of noma to medical & paramedical healthcare staff active in the fields of nutrition and food security. A good example of how synergy can help tackle the roots of this affliction, since noma originates in malnutrition. Here you can read this article, "Noma, a neglected disease!" published in Issue n° 53 (Nov 2016) of the ENN Field Exchange journal, which was devoted to the topic of nutrition in states of emergency.
October 2016 - STOP NOMA - Alert
To all donors and friends who are sensitive to the cause of noma : we would like to inform you that the association STOP NOMA, headed by Mr Dieumo (www.nonoma.org), is not part of the International Federation for the fight against Noma and is not known to any of the members of this Federation working in the field. We invite you to read this report from the non-profit association Give Wisely following their meeting with Mr Dieumo, as well as this letter addressed to the same gentleman by the Winds of Hope Foundation. Please be vigilant, because there are serious doubts about the use of the funds collected by this association. Some texts and photos on their website have also been taken without authorization from the Winds of Hope Foundation’s site and repeated requests to remove them ignored.
September 2016 - GA/RT NoNoma Federation
The 14th General Assembly and 15th Round Table of the International NoNoma Federation, organized, funded and chaired by Winds of Hope, were held in Ferney-Voltaire on 23 and 24 September. Winds of Hope President, Bertrand Piccard, who had recently returned from his round-the-world flight in Solar Impulse, reminded everyone how closely energy and food problems are correlated, thereby establishing a direct link between the objectives pursued by the Solar Impulse Foundation and those of Winds of Hope. Two new associations, Avec Mali/Jura and New Face had joined the Federation, bringing the total number of members to 34. The highlights of the meeting were: the presentation of the Terre des Hommes mobile health kit, designed to improve the management of noma in the field; Médecins Sans Frontières’ review of their experience and perspectives for the fight against noma; the current situation in Niger, described by the field manager for Sentinelles Niger; the laying of the first bricks of the new maternity hospital on the edge of the Sahel; and the key role played by traditional healers in the management of noma in Mali, as highlighted by Dr. Daou’s thesis.
June - 2016 Federation’s New Website
The new website of the International NoNoma Federation (FINN) is now online! It should make the disease of noma better known, and offer greater visibility to the Foundation's "joining forces" campaign. Finally, it sets out to showcase the campaigns of action undertaken by the members of the Federation to combat this terrible scourge. Wait no longer – click here to visit the site : www.nonoma.org
May - 2016 Our site now available in German
The foundation's website is now available in German, with the exception of the latest news, which has yet to be translated. A re-reading of the site in German is currently underway. If you identify errors in the current version, please do not hesitate to pass them on to :
info@windsohope.org.
April - 2016 WoH gives presentation at the GHF 16
The Winds of Hope Foundation will be present at the Geneva Health Forum (GHF 2016), which, as its name suggests, takes place in Geneva, from 19 to 21 April 2016. The Foundation wishes to raise the awareness of the visitors expected from the medical world and international NGOs about the fight against noma. La Voix du Paysan (a member of the International NoNoma Federation), which is the guest of honor of this forum, is supported by Winds of Hope as part of the "Noma Encounters" projects organized jointly with Persis Burkina. We hope many of you will come to this forum.
February 2016 - Rehabilitation and Training
In February 2016, PhysioNoma carried out a rehabilitation and training mission at Sentinelles’ base in Ouagadougou. This enabled them to give treatment during the period following the surgical mission of Prof. Brigitte Pittet (cf Jan 2016 news), who has supported their action for several years. Immediate postoperative rehabilitation work was carried out; those in charge of the children who had had surgery were made aware of the reeducational follow-up out in the field; and they were giving training jointly by the Sentinelles, New Face and Avec Mali teams. From this mission a partnership was born between Sentinelles, PhysioNoma, and Beatrice Derra (a Burkina Faso physiotherapist trained by PhysioNoma since 2012), enabling her to intervene once or twice a week at the Sentinelles Center in Ouagadougou to ensure continuation of the very specific postoperative patient management program, and to guide the center's healthcare team in the follow-up and rehabilitative management of the most complex cases. Winds of Hope is proud to have participated in this great project which once again reinforces the links between the agencies fighting noma.
January - 2016 The mission of hope
In January 2016, thanks to the perseverance and dedication of the teams from Sentinelles, AEMV, Ensemble pour Eux, Au Fil de la Vie and Avec Mali / Jura, a magnificent surgical mission was organized in Ouagadougou, despite the adverse circumstances there. Thirty patients from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal were able to undergo surgery, 25 of whom were noma victims. Warm congratulations to all of you who never gave up, and who instil the courage in us to continue the struggle, notwithstanding the increasingly adverse geopolitical situation in Africa.
December - 2015 Christmas present from Sun Store
Every Easter since 2001, Sun Store pharmacies & perfume stores have been encouraging their customers to buy little stuffed toy chicks to raise money for Winds of Hope's fight against noma. From 2013 to 2015, Sun Store SA collected 38,401 CHF, which it donated to the Foundation on 24 December 2015. Winds of Hope hereby wishes to thank all Sun Store customers, CEO Ramin Mohadjeri and the entire staff for their faithful support.
September 2015 - GA/RT NoNoma Federation
The 13th General Assembly and 14th Roundtable of the International NoNoma Federation were held in Ferney-Voltaire on the 25th and 26th September 2015. They are organized, financed and chaired by Winds of Hope. The Red Cross was present for the first time and "la Chaîne de l' Espoir" is now a new partner-member of the Federation. The highlights of this meeting were: Sentinelles'surgical mission (hosted by Persis Burkina in Ouahigouya), observed by Ensemble pour Eux's nurses and PhysioNoma's physiotherapists; Sentinelles' activities in Burkina Faso; the maternity project on the edge of the Sahel; evaluation of the impact of traditional healers in the treatment of noma in Mali; prioritisation and implementation of noma treatment within MSF; and the definitions of stages of noma, proposed by the working group comprising MSF, Gesnoma, Winds of Hope and Sentinelles.
To know more about this topic please read our 1st newsletter (available only in french) NoNoma News.
June 2015 - 35 years of Sentinelles' action
On this special occasion, Sentinelles organized a magnificent retrospective exhibition of photographs in the Lausanne Hotel de Ville. Our founder, Bertrand Piccard, paid a heartfelt tribute to the founder of Sentinelles, Edmond Kaiser and to the work of his successors. The encounter between Edmond Kaiser and Bertrand Piccard had had a decisive impact on the Winds of Hope foundation's choice of first battleground: the fight against noma. To know more on this topic please read the article (available only in French) "Des personalités disent leur soutien à Sentinelles..." with testimonies of Jean Ziegler and Bertrand Piccard, published in Sentinelles' September 2015 newsletter.
May 2015 - Noma to be listed at WHO
Dr. Srour, Dr. Marck and Dr. Baratti-Mayer co-wrote together a very important publication entitled: "Noma: neglected, forgotten and a human rights issue." This is a major contribution to promoting the inclusion of noma in the World Health Organization (WHO)'s list of 17 neglected tropical diseases. All the countries from the African region, supported by Switzerland have just submitted a motion for a resolution to the WHO General Assembly, requesting the inclusion of noma in this list. The battle for international recognition of noma continues and is an integral part of the fight pursued by Winds of Hope during the last 15 years to bring this scourge out of the shadows.
April 2015 - PhysioNoma at Persis Burkina
Following Sentinelles' surgical mission conducted by Professor Brigitte Pittet (AEMV), PhysioNoma traveled to Ouahigouya and was hosted at Dr. Lassara Zala's center (Persis Burkina) to provide post-operative physiotherapy care to the victims who had undergone surgery and to train the local personnel in rehabilitation techniques for noma sequellae. This mission enabled PhysioNoma to have a clear view on the center's reception capacity in terms of maxilo-facial rehabilitation and to undertake the first steps towards a long-term partnership for transfer of competences between the teams of PhysioNoma and Persis Burkina, both supported by Winds of Hope.
March 2015 - Sentinelles at Persis Burkina
15 children suffering from noma sequelae were operated on by Professor Brigitte Pittet (AEMV) and her team from the Geneva University Hospital and Dr Moussa Daou from Bamako, Mali. The children were hosted in the "Persis Burkina" medical center of Dr Lassara Zala in Ouhigouya. This was made possible through the active involvement of Sentinelles, which organized the mission. A team of nurses from Ensemble Pour Eux took charge of the pre- and postoperative care of the children. This collaboration between the 3 organizations supported annually by Winds of Hope is a wonderful example of the synergies developed between the members of the International NoNoma Federation, created in 2003 and driven forward since then by our foundation.
February 2015 - Edwards Lifesciences found.
The Edwards Lifesciences Foundation supports many health- and community-focused programs through grants to non-profit organizations. The fight against noma initiated in 2000 by Winds of Hope is being reinforced by their grant of 25'000 USD allocated to our prevention program implemented by Sentinelles' Reception Centre in Zinder, Niger. This support contributes to sustaining our Foundation's actions but also enables it to receive grants from US donors, since it is now recognized as eligible by the Charities Aid Foundation America (CAF America).
January 2015 - Collaboration with Ustinov
The Peter Ustinov and Winds of Hope Foundations have always kept a close relationship because of Bertrand Piccard's and Igor Ustinov's friendship. The two foundations, actively involved in defending children's fundamental rights, have decided to unite their efforts to fight noma, whose first victims are children. A long-term partnership agreement entering into force in 2015 was agreed between the parties. Winds of Hope is looking forward to this new collaboration with Sir Peter Ustinov's foundation, with which it shares the same values and ideals.
November 2014 – Policy dialogue next steps
The director went to Burkina Faso for his second mission from the 10th to the 14th of november to pursue the on-going national policy dialogue on noma. Under the agreed assumption that noma is the symptom of total destituation, an encounter has been organized in between public and private stakeholders, at the doorstep of the Sahel, in Ouahigouya at Dr.Lassara Zala’s Center Persis. This deliberative forum took the following political decisions: develop income-generating activities for malnourished families; strenghen early detection (gengivites) and first line treatments that can halt the disease (through community health actions); reinforce the capacities of social rehabilitation services. Taking actions reducing human rights violations of the poorest populations are effective prevention actions in the fight against the noma.
September 2014 - GA/RT NoNoma Federation
The 12th General Assembly and 13th Roundtable of the international NoNoma Federation where held in Ferney-Voltaire on 26 and 27 September 2014. They are organized, financed and chaired by Winds of Hope. The pilot project of national policy dialogue in Burkina Faso, the discussions around the noma poster presented by MSF and the collaboration in between Sentinelles, Ensemble Pour Eux and Physionoma during the surgical mission of Dr. Brigitte Pittet-Cuenod from the Geneva University hospitals held in Ouagadougou in december 2013 were the highligths of this meeting.
May 2014 - Policy dialogue on noma
The director of Winds of Hope went to Burkina Faso from the 12th to the 16th of may 2014, to launch under the aegis of the Minister of Health a pilot project of national policy dialogue. The purpose of this policy dialogue is to put back noma in the context of the resolution adopted in March 2012 by the Human Rights Council that considers noma as a symptom of serious breaches in the functioning of a country in terms of non-access to food, to drinking water, to health care and to education. Any action aiming at improving these dysfunctions affecting mostly the poorest populations will be an effective action of prevention in the fight against the noma. This mission realized in conjunction with the EVIPNet (Evidence Informed Policy Network) responsible at WHO and the person from the Ministry of Health in charge of the project was a first stepping stone to an encounter in between the stakeholdres involved in the field more specifically the burkinabes partners of Winds of Hope: Sentinelles, Persis and Hymne aux Enfants. The detailed mission report made by WHO is available in french under the link : Policy Note in Burkina Faso
March 2014 - American International Club
Each year, the American International Club of Geneva organises fundraising events for charities. Following the thanksgiving dinner in November, and a lunchtime lecture given by our President Bertrand Piccard in December 2013, various actions have been undertaken by the club to raise donations. On March 21, 2014, during one of AIC’s monthly meetings at the Collège du Léman, our Director Philippe Rathle received a cheque for CHF 11'000 from Robert Race, AIC Vice President. This amount will cover part of the operating costs of the Sentinelles reception Centre in Zinder, Niger, where a team of 25 people provides appropriate care to an average of 80 children in residence, and monitors 350 other children and their families following their treatment at the centre.
Novembre 2013 - Fidexaudit's Jubilee
Fidexaudit, trust company and expert approved auditor, brings for many year its expertise to Bertrand Piccard and Winds of Hope in a spirit of partnership and trust. For its 20th anniversary, Fidexaudit wanted to share this commitment with its customers, partners and employees. Yves Marguerat, its leader, invited Bertrand Piccard, President of Winds of Hope, on November 21, 2013 to host a conference focusing on common humanitarian values to both institutions. Fidexaudit, which has always been involved in humanitarian actions, carried out on this occasion a very generous donation of CHF 25'000 dedicated to the fight against noma led by Winds of Hope.
October 2013 - Inter-country Workshop
The 4th International Workshop inter-country on noma was held in Dakar (Senegal) from 17 to 19 October 2013 with the participation of Winds of Hope’s Director, the WHO noma Regional Coordinator and delegations from eight countries. This meeting is organised by WHO and funded by Winds of Hope. It was marked by the enlargement of the workshop joined by the Hilfsaktion Noma’s representatives and the coordinators of the Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea Bissau.
September 2013 - GA/RT NoNoma Federation
The 11th General Assembly and 12th Roundtable of the international NoNoma Federation where held in Ferney-Voltaire on 27 and 28 September 2013. They are organisied, financed and chaired by Winds of Hope. The attendance of Doctors Without Borders and Mercy Ships, the recorded noma cases increase in Niger and the surgical treatment of noma by the Association des Enfants Mutilés du visage (Geneva University Hospital) where the highlights of this meeting.
June 2013 - Humanitarian Award
Bertrand Piccard and the Winds of Hope Foundation received the Humanitarian Award of the newly FOR foundation (Foundation for Oral Rehabilitation) created by Nobel Biocare at the opening of their major symposium in New York. The fight against noma, initiated by Bertrand Piccard since the Winds of Hope’s creation in 1999, is well rewarded and gets a strong support of $ 100,000 per year for future actions and joint projects between the two foundations.
January 2013 - New website
After more than a year of work, Winds of Hope launches its renovated website. It was originally created in 1999 and underwent an update in 2007. This new site has updated all existing content and reports all present activities of the Foundation in concern to its three missions: Prevent, Join forces, Persuade.
December 2012 - Inter-country Workshop
The 3rd International Workshop inter-country on noma was held in Brazzaville (Congo Republic) from 11 to 12 December 2013 with the participation of Winds of Hope’s Director, the WHO noma Regional Coordinator and delegations from six countries. This meeting is organised by WHO and funded by Winds of Hope.
It has provided an opportunity for an update on on-going 2012 national programs and to analyse the causes of the delay in their implementation. In addition to this meeting, which was held at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, some bilateral discussions have allowed the director of the Foundation to review the collaboration between WHO and Winds of Hope.
September 2012 - Sun Store's Jubilee
Since 2001, for easter celebrations, Sun Store's drugstores give their clients the possibility to buy stuffed little chicks. The funds collected through those sales are generously offered to Winds of Hope to help the foundation in her fight against noma. On the 24th of September 2012, at the occasion of the opening of the new admnistrative site in St-Suplice and the 4th anniversary of Sun Store, Ramin Mohadjeri, the General Director, handed over a cheque of 40'000 CHF to Bertrand Piccard to support Winds of Hope ‘s actions thus perpetuating the support to the Foundation initiated by Marcel Séverin (the founder of Sun Store) 12 years ago. Winds of Hope took this opportunity to thank Sun Store customers and employees for their generosity and their dedication to the cause.
September 2012 - GA/TR NoNoma Federation
The 10th General Assembly and 11th Roundtable of the international NoNoma Federation where held in Ferney-Voltaire on 28 and 29 September 2013. They are organisied, financed and chaired by Winds of Hope. With the accession of two new members, the participation of Doctors Without Borders and a focus on exemplary or unifying projects, the meeting was marked by a discussion on insecurity hampering missions organized in Africa as well as the presentation on issues related to Human Rights in connection with noma with Mr. Jean Ziegler and H.E. Prosper Vokouma.
March 2012 - Collaboration WHO Africa
Winds of Hope’s Director has made a mission of coordination from 21 to 23 March at the WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO/Afro) in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. The objective was to establish an overview of the collaboration between the two institutions, to discuss issues on the fight against noma and share expectations of two parties in terms of continued collaboration.
March 2012 - Human Rights
By adopting, in March 2012, a resolution that adopts noma as an emblematic illness and establishes a link between severe malnutrition and childhood diseases, the Human Rights Council has recognized noma as a marker of extreme poverty. This is the first official international recognition for this neglected disease. It will help reinforce the credibility of the case which the Winds of Hope Foundation and the International NoNoma Fedeartion are laying before the highest national and international authorities, so as to give better protection to the human rights of malnourished children, and improve the effectiveness of action taken to combat the appalling affliction of noma.