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In the battle against COVID-19, aid groups are achieving results for vulnerable communities

South Sudanese refugees practice social distancing as they wait to access a food distribution at Kakuma camp in Kenya. Credit: UNHCR

Non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and the Red Cross and Red Crescent are scaling up and delivering vital assistance to millions of people despite challenges

From building global supply chains and air bridges to delivering masks and medical equipment, and to communicating life-saving health messages from loudspeakers mounted on cars and bicycles, aid groups large and small are supporting the world’s most vulnerable people in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Humanitarian organizations have mobilized to reach people most in need, both with specific COVID-19 assistance but also to continue their life-saving work for some 117 million women, men and children caught in conflict, poverty and climate-related emergencies.

Lockdowns, curfews and restrictions on movements of personnel and cargo – part of the strategy to slow down transmission of the virus – are impacting the humanitarian response, but aid workers are determined to continue their life-saving work.

In countries with complex emergencies, responding to COVID-19 is particularly challenging. An appeal for a global ceasefire by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has been endorsed by a growing number of countries and parties to conflict. The UN has also initiated a communications campaign to counter harmful health advice, conspiracy theories, stigmatization of people online and other misinformation, and the World Health Organization has established a strategic response for managing the infodemic – the over-abundance of information flooding the world in the wake of COVID-19. 

The international humanitarian community responding to COVID-19 comprises a vast number of international and local organizations. Learn more about their achievements here: https://www.unocha.org/sites/unocha/files/COVID-19_Response_Achievements.pdf