Image credits and information
Mrs Hasinur receives a parcel of food for her family in Delhi, India. Credit: Christian Aid
Will you help vulnerable families protect themselves against coronavirus?
Soap. Masks. Hand sanitiser. Vital weapons against coronavirus. In India alone, more than 200,000 lives have been lost to the pandemic in India. Across the country, hospitals are overrun and oxygen supplies are falling short of demand.
Across the world, and especially in India, the most marginalised have been hit the hardest. From women and people with disabilities to informal and migrant workers and Dalit communities.
We urgently need your help share life-saving health information on how to prevent catching or spreading coronavirus, as well as ensuring vulnerable families can access vital welfare and healthcare.
We're responding now
Together with our local partners, we are working to limit the impact of coronavirus in some of the most vulnerable communities around the world.
- We have drawn on our experience from the Ebola crisis and are helping communities to prevent and delay infection.
- We are providing essential soap, water and handwashing training, as well as food packages for families who have lost work over lockdown.
- We are ensuring urgent health messages get through to help keep people safe.
- We are working through our networks of church partners and faith-based organisations to reach the most vulnerable at this critical time.
- As the vaccine rollout continues in Ireland & the UK, we are campaigning for fair and equal access to vaccines in the countries that we support.
Click on the map below to read more about how we're fighting the spread of coronavirus around the world.
We're responding now
Christian Aid is responding to the coronavirus outbreak in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. We're working together with partners and faith leaders to inform people about the risks, offering vital hygiene training, equipping health facilities with supplies, and providing food packages to the most marginalised families. Click on the map below to read more about how we're fighting coronavirus around the world.
Coronavirus response: Kenya
Our work in Kenya focuses on providing clear health information about coronavirus and minimising the impacts of lockdown. In collaboration with the government, our partners are co-ordinating awareness campaigns in local languages about how the virus can be caught and spread. We are setting up handwashing points and signposting people towards hotlines and healthcare facilities when they become sick.
We are campaigning the Kenyan government to ensure that rural communities continue to receive vital goods and services. We are providing a range of advice and support for women at increased risk of physical and sexual violence during lockdown.
Coronavirus response: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
With funding from Irish Aid, we have been able to reach thousands of vulnerable families in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Local partner ECC MERU is using community radio to raise awareness of the importance of physical distancing and regular hand washing.
We are promoting health messaging via loud speaker announcements in three villages in Kalehe Territory in South Kivu. In one of these villages, we have provided soap, water and jerry cans to over 1,300 people. We have also built three wells to ensure that almost 8,000 people have access to clean water for regular hand washing.
Coronavirus response: Angola
The government in Angola has declared a state of emergency and asked all citizens to stay at home. Our partners are running community awareness campaigns and distributing soap to people living on the street.
An online campaign is raising awareness of the risk of domestic violence during lockdown and pushing for the introduction of an emergency number which people can call to report incidents of abuse.
Coronavirus response: Malawi
In Malawi, our partners have been raising awareness of Covid-19 in the displacement camps which have become home to those who lost their homes after Cyclone Idai in 2019.
In other regions of the country, we are providing accurate health information through community radio. Working alongside health workers, we are visiting schools to demonstrate the proper technique for thorough handwashing.
With funding from the EU, we have adapted a project which supports rural women entrepreneurs so that they can respond to coronavirus. They have learned how to make soap which they are now selling to the local community.
Coronavirus response: Burundi
In Burundi we are responding to the pandemic in two southern provinces: Rumonge and Makamba. Our partners are raising awareness of the importance of physical distancing and regular handwashing.
They are distributing kits containing soap and water containers to over 1,300 families, 40 community groups and 200 churches across both provinces. Handwashing kits are also being distributed to 60 schools for use by almost 27,000 children.
Coronavirus response: Ethiopia
With funding from Irish Aid, our partners are raising awareness of the importance of regular hand washing and physical distancing through leaflets, posters and public service announcements. Faith leaders are also being supported to share health messaging within their communities.
We are also providing soap and water buckets complete with taps to 500 vulnerable families at higher risk of the virus and setting up 25 handwashing stations at community centres, health centres and distribution and training sites.
With funding from the Scottish Government, we are working in South Omo province to eliminate the locust infestation within the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Coronavirus response: Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, we are ensuring that 15,000 people have enough water to wash their hands regularly. We are also supporting communities in Mudzi and Mutoko whose livelihoods have been impacted by Covid-19. We are providing food hampers to 5,400 people. We are helping young people return to apprenticeships and supporting farmers to get the most from their smallholdings with the help of small loans.
Coronavirus response: Syria
Our humanitarian and education work in Syria is continuing, albeit with coronavirus adaptations.
Our partners in north west Syria are raising awareness within communities about the need for physical distancing and regular handwashing to prevent the spread of the virus. They are also educating recently trained First Aid students on how to safely respond to someone with Covid-19 symptoms.
We are keeping in touch with students online through classes, e-books and prepaid internet cards.
Our humanitarian staff are safeguarded with gloves and masks as they distribute blankets and other essential items to those who have fled their homes due to aerial bombardments.
Afghanistan
Our local partners are supporting fragile communities in Afghanistan with food provisions, hygiene kits, and promoting reliable information about Covid-19.
Coronavirus response: Bangladesh
For Rohingya refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar we are raising awareness on Covid-19, training doctors, conducting hygiene training, building handwashing stations, and distributing hygiene kits.
Coronavirus response: Guatemala
We're working to protect the most vulnerable communities from coronavirus.
Coronavirus response: Honduras
We're working to protect the most vulnerable communities from coronavirus.
Coronavirus response: El Salvador
We're working to protect the most vulnerable communities from coronavirus.
Coronavirus response: Nicaragua
We're working to keep the most vulnerable communities in Nicaragua safe from coronavirus.
Coronavirus response: Colombia
Our work in Colombia has long focused on peace building and gender justice. As a result of coronavirus, millions of people have been left without access to health services, dependent on the informal economy to survive, or experiencing violence.
We are helping to amplify the voices of those most in need and providing humanitarian assistance in difficult to reach communities. In Bogotá we have paid for food packages for families who have been unable to earn an income since the lockdown.
Coronavirus response: Haiti
We're working to protect the most vulnerable communities from coronavirus.
Coronavirus response: Dominican Republic
We're working to protect the most vulnerable communities from coronavirus.
Coronavirus response: India
In India our local partners are sharing vital health and hygiene messages and empowering vulnerable people to access the government support they are entitled to.