Our Approach
Kirk Humanitarian focuses on four areas when procuring UNIMMAP MMS product and building awareness in conjunction with our partners.
We provide UNIMMAP MMS product.
Kirk Humanitarian partners with manufacturers that produce high-quality, low-cost UNIMMAP MMS. We purchase and provide it to eligible national governments for development and emergency relief purposes to fulfill our philanthropic mission. Kirk Humanitarian is not a manufacturer and does not accept donations. Learn how to get UNIMMAP MMS.
We help boost the production of UNIMMAP MMS.
The demand for UNIMMAP MMS is projected to outpace the global supply by 2025. To meet the growing demand, Kirk Humanitarian is leading the effort to expand the number of manufacturers capable of producing high-quality MMS to serve both domestic and import markets. Backed by years of experience and with our trusted partners, we developed open-access UNIMMAP MMS product specifications – a necessity for manufacturing a complex product containing 15 ingredients and 16 excipients.
We support country-led adoption of national MMS programs.
Kirk Humanitarian facilitates the introduction of UNIMMAP MMS programs into antenatal care programs informed by implementation science. And we invest in implementation research to improve national MMS coverage, acceptance, and adherence. Research findings yield valuable insights and practical experience in the country context, which in turn informs policy changes at the national level and supports the expansion of MMS usage.
We raise awareness about UNIMMAP MMS through advocacy efforts.
Kirk Humanitarian collaborates with advocacy and academic partners worldwide to prioritize women’s nutrition on global, regional, and national health agendas and support governments as they transition from IFA to MMS.
Our Partners
At Kirk Humanitarian, we work closely with a range of partners including UN agencies, experienced implementing partners, and other donors. We welcome others to join us in our efforts.
We work together to:
Kirk Humanitarian is the largest procurer of the global supply of UNIMMAP MMS, which we then donate on behalf of our family philanthropy. With more than 20 years of experience working with manufacturers, we are uniquely suited for and committed to expanding the MMS supplier base which will increase the global supply of affordable UNIMMAP MMS. To ensure manufacturers across the world produce a high-quality product, we partnered to create comprehensive open-source expert consensus UNIMMAP MMS product specifications, which is publicly available at no charge.
Kirk Humanitarian supports the national introduction of MMS by providing the product to national governments with a long-term, sustainable plan to introduce it into their national health system. To date, nearly 30 LMICs have initiated introduction of UNIMMAP MMS. At least 50 countries are using donated product supplies as part of exploratory initiatives to introduce MMS. Additionally, we support exploratory implementation research efforts that seek to enhance knowledge about coverage, acceptance, and adherence in LMICs as countries chart roadmaps to introduction and scaling.
Kirk Humanitarian collaborates with a range of partners worldwide to prioritize women’s nutrition on the global agenda. Through our primary advocacy partner, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies (HMHB) Consortium, we aim to promote MMS adoption by increasing awareness of its benefits, supporting policy change at both international and national levels, and building a network of strategic partners to engage NGOs and governments in adopting MMS. In addition to being a founding member of HMHB, we are members of the Micronutrient Forum’s MMS Technical Advocacy Group (TAG) and Stronger Foundations for Nutrition.