Who we still support
As a fair fashion brand, it's important to us at paigh to contribute to greater sustainability and fairness, and not just through our clothing. We also want to support organizations that sustainably and long-term improve the lives of children and adults living in challenging circumstances. We are particularly passionate about projects that support development aid. Good development cooperation involves industrialized and less developed countries working together to enable people to improve their living conditions as much as possible through their own efforts. This leads to lasting and truly sustainable changes in the lives of many people.
At the end of each year, we will now donate a small portion of our sales to selected charities. This way, with your purchase at paigh, you too can contribute a small part to a fairer world and ensure that many people in this world can have a better life in the long term!
“Health is not everything, but without health everything is nothing.”
Our health is particularly fundamental to our well-being, just as it is to all people. When it is compromised, it impacts almost every other area of life. For example, someone who is seriously ill cannot go to school or work and is often dependent on assistance. It becomes even more dramatic when we are chronically ill or are permanently exposed to an increased risk of illness. In addition to securing essential living conditions, our health essentially forms the foundation of our lives and determines our everyday lives.
How often we get sick and how quickly we recover is strongly influenced by the medical care available in the country we live in. We've all learned over the last year at the latest that this care can vary greatly from country to country. Especially in particularly poor countries, the resources needed to contain disease or cure sick people are often lacking. Therefore, health programs in these countries have a particularly positive impact on many areas of life.
It is important to us to support projects that have a proven impact and are cost-effective and transparent. In selecting the programs we want to support, we have therefore been guided by the findings of effective donations or GiveWell oriented.
Ultimately, we decided on three wonderful aid projects, each of which we would like to briefly introduce to you below.
Malaria Consortium
Malaria causes considerable suffering. More than 200 million people are still infected each year through a mosquito bite, the majority of whom live on the African continent. The disease is fatal for almost 450,000 people, and over two-thirds of the fatalities are children under the age of five. Even in non-fatal cases, those affected suffer enormously: in addition to initial flu-like symptoms, malaria can lead to permanent visual impairment, hearing impairment, or epilepsy.
The risk of contracting malaria in many countries depends on the season. During the four-month rainy season, there are significantly more mosquitoes, making it the peak season for malaria infections. Malaria Consortium provides children with the preventative medications sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine during this time. These medications are recommended by the WHO because they have proven effective over the years and are also inexpensive. It costs less than seven dollars to protect a child throughout the entire rainy season.The Malaria Consortium also supports the training of staff who administer the necessary medication to the children. These staff members visit the children in their homes a total of four times during the prevention period.
The Malaria Consortium doesn't just help in African countries. The disease still poses a serious threat in Thailand and Southeast Asia, too, which is why the organization is committed to reducing malaria infections there as well. Since the majority of our products are manufactured in Thailand, this aspect of the project is naturally particularly important to us.
What are the benefits of preventive medications?
The effect of such “chemoprevention” by the drugs is several randomized studies It has been proven that approximately 75% of all clinical malaria cases could be prevented through chemoprevention programs. If malaria does occur, the disease is less severe thanks to prevention. Fortunately, the decline in malaria infections not only has benefits for individuals, but also has economic benefits: According to effective-spenden.org Every dollar spent on anti-malaria activities in African countries increases the gross domestic product by $6.75, which is an extraordinarily high value.
To date, the Malaria Consortium has prevented more than 10 million cases of malaria.
Deworm the World Initiative
Over 1.5 billion people worldwide are infected with worms. Yes, you heard right. 1.5 billion. The most common worm diseases are schistosomiasis and helminthiasis. The worm larvae enter the human body via contaminated soil, plants, or water. Worm infestation can have serious health consequences, especially in children, and can even be fatal. For example, helminthiasis can lead to long-term growth disorders and anemia. Worm infestation also puts children's futures at risk: Due to missed school days due to illness, they cannot receive a sufficient education and earn significantly less in adulthood than healthy children – the risk of spending their entire lives in poverty increases enormously.
Effective worm treatment is very inexpensive. However, people living in extreme poverty lack the money even for this. With the cost-effective, school-based deworming programs that the Deworm the World Initiative promotes, a child can be dewormed for a whole year with just one dollar.
Children take deworming pills under supervision twice a year, which reliably rid them of the parasites. Deworm The World focuses primarily on Kenya and India. The average total cost per treatment here is between $0.35 and $0.66. The organization works with government agencies and supports not only the preparation and implementation of the programs but also their subsequent evaluation.
How deworming programs help children in the long term
Since 2014, the Deworm the World Initiative has administered over 1 billion treatments, resulting in positive effects on nutrition, cognitive abilities, school attendance, and long-term economic prospects. The effectiveness of deworming programs has been demonstrated by several scientifically recognized studies. The number of infected children is drastically reduced; the effect is greater the longer the pills are administered.
In 2017 alone, Deworm The World reached 280 million children.The project's deworming measures are not only particularly cost-effective, but also very transparent and continue to have high growth potential.
GiveDirectly
One in ten people lives on less than $1.90 a day—in other words, in extreme poverty. However, in many programs, donations don't reach those in need directly, but only indirectly. Traditional development cooperation projects are often more influenced by political decisions than by the actual needs of the people in need. In addition, substantial portions of the funds are often spent on staff from donor countries or on administrative costs.
GiveDirectly does things differently: Here, people living in extreme poverty are transferred money via mobile phone. The amount corresponds to the equivalent of a year's income. In Kenya, that's about $1,000 for a five-person household. These money transfers are unconditional, and recipients can use them to buy urgently needed food and medicine, for example, or pay school fees. They don't have to pay the money back.
Where does the money go?
Of the donations received by GiveDirectly, only 15% are used for administrative purposes. This is an exceptionally low figure, making the money transfers extremely efficient. The money is highly protected from corruption because it is transferred directly to people's mobile phones via mobile banking. Another great thing about this approach is that it can be transferred to other countries without much effort.
You might not immediately think so, but unconditional cash transfers – unlike many conventional aid measures – help people sustainably and reliably lift themselves out of poverty. A whole series of scientific studies has shown this. This not only leads to lasting improvements in areas such as education, health, and savings rates, but also has positive effects on the physical and mental well-being of the recipients. Concerns that the money will be spent on alcohol or drugs are, by the way, unfounded – as studies repeatedly show.
Cash transfers are among the best-evaluated approaches in development cooperation. Since the project's inception, GiveDirectly has also placed great emphasis on ensuring that its projects are scientifically monitored and carefully evaluated. The organization is also highly transparent and cost-effective.
In 2018, GiveDirectly distributed nearly $60 million directly to people in extreme poverty.
Pratthanadee Foundation
Millions of women and girls in rural Thailand have limited access to education and secure jobs. Many of them move to Bangkok to seek better income opportunities—often without training, financial resources, or support. This makes them particularly vulnerable to low-paying and insecure jobs.
The Pratthanadee Foundation This is precisely where the award-winning organization comes in: Since 1999, the award-winning organization has been offering targeted educational and mentoring programs for women and girls from low-income families. It teaches practical skills often not taught in public schools and builds the self-confidence of its participants.
How is help provided?
Donations to the Pratthanadee Foundation go directly towards free training and workshops for women and girls in Thailand.This includes:
- The “Better Me” program for women: An intensive training in Bangkok with courses on financial planning, self-defense, English, women's rights, and career planning.
- Workshops for girls in Ubon Ratchathani: Early education about educational opportunities, secure career paths and self-protection.
- Individual mentoring programs: Support from experts to accompany women on their personal journey.
More than 46,000 women and girls have already benefited from these programs. Studies show that participants earn higher salaries, feel more confident, and are able to escape the poverty trap in the long term.