Racing against a pandemic

The UN Foundation asked us to tell the remarkable story of the second biggest single contributor to WHO's pandemic response.
Client

UN Foundation

A collage of illustrations relating to fighting pandemics including lorries transporting along a road, a house with a medical cross above it and a network of people.

As the pandemic began overwhelming healthcare systems and the world shut down, it was nearly impossible to get lifesaving resources to the right places in time. The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund was a game-changing solution to this crisis.

The UN Foundation asked us to tell the remarkable story of what was, at one point, the second biggest single contributor to WHO's global response to the pandemic. To convey this story with detail and dynamism, we created a visually compelling microsite that took audiences on a journey through the Fund’s crucial first year.

This scrolling one-pager weaves a rich mix of visual storytelling devices into a smartly written narrative. Photos, quotes, data visualizations, stats and graphics unpack how the Fund mobilised private funding on a planetary scale to stay ahead of a planetary threat: $243 million from more than 660,000 donors in a single year. And how the Fund helped to direct resources where they were needed most.

Engaging everyone from health care professionals to donors to policymakers, this was a legacy product that demonstrated to global audiences the phenomenal scale and significance of the Fund.

A screenshot of the 'racing against a pandemic' website. It shows a picture of people loading a medical delivery truck and some stats about money raised and number of donors.
A collection of screenshots showing how the 'racing against a pandemic' website looks on mobile. It shows a mix of data visualizations, text and illustrations/photography  in a vertical format.
Illustrations including paintbrushes painting roads, a water dropping into water and a globe.
Illustrations including a torch, a network of people and posters.
Some illustrated key results from the 'racing against the pandemic' page. It includes 12,000 intensive care beds supported in otherwhise overwhelmed health systems.
A tree map showing the proportion of different PPE items that were delivered to more than 150 countries. The biggest section is medical masks with 199 million delivered.
Illustrated facts about how the race against of the pandemic was achieved including speed, scale and ease of access.
A bubble map of COVID-19 vaccine researchers around the world where the size of the bubble reflects the number of researchers. It shows research is happening in almost every country around the world.
A line chart comparing global confirmed COVID-19 cases to global modelled seroprevalence (the number of persons in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on blood specimens. Confirmed cases are much lower than seroprevalence.

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