What is ActionAid’s response to the coronavirus outbreak around the world?
As cases of coronavirus continue to increase globally, ActionAid stands in solidarity with all those affected by the crisis. Like all emergencies and humanitarian crises, the Covid-19 pandemic will hit women, the poor and the most marginalised the hardest.
We are taking all necessary measures to protect the health and safety of our staff and the communities we work with worldwide.
Using lessons learnt from previous disease outbreaks, including the recent Ebola crisis, our colleagues around the world are sharing essential health information with vulnerable communities and starting to put women-led response plans into action.
ActionAid is calling on governments to ensure that social protections target women, whose care duties will double as they are at the forefront of caring for the sick, home-schooling, working informal jobs and collecting water.
Two-thirds of health sector jobs globally are held by women, who are on the frontline of the crisis working as nurses and carers.
In developing countries, more than two thirds women work in the informal economy, without sick leave and unemployment benefits. If they don’t work, they and their families don’t eat.
Girls are often responsible for walking increasingly long distances to collect any water available. Worldwide, 780 million people don’t have access to clean water. Unless their basic needs are met, they won’t be able to protect themselves or their communities from coronavirus.
ActionAid Australia has launched a coronavirus fundraising appeal to help support those in the most vulnerable communities to stop the spread of the virus and save lives.