The crisis caused by the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic is being felt by us all. However, its impact has been extremely disproportionate on the marginalized communities. We, at ActionAid Association, have been rigorously responding to this humanitarian crisis for the last two months, extending a helping hand to those most vulnerable in this time of distress.

Our regional teams have been working with the state governments and local administrations to sensitize communities on the need to maintain hygiene and take precautionary steps to prevent the spread of the virus. Together with the local administration, our volunteers and allies are also helping counsel the migrant workers returning to their villages on the need to maintain quarantine, besides helping set up community-based quarantine facilities.

Recognizing that the worst-affected communities need immediate support, we are also continuing to reach out to them with relief material. As on May 14, 2020, we have provided support to more than 27 lakh individuals, 14.77 lakhs directly and 12.69 lakhs through local administration. These figures assume five members in a family and discount overlap. We have provided 1,35,462 families with dry rations, 96,653 families with sanitation and dignity kits and 4,71,360 individuals with cooked food across 203 districts in 24 states. This has been made possible due to the generous support of individual donors, corporate supporters and institutional partners. We thank all our supporters. However, much more needs to be done and for a longer time, and your continued support will help us help more such families in need. Please donate now.

As part of our response to this emergency, we had reached out to the COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force, led by the Finance Minister, with our suggestions and have offered all support to the High-Level Committee for Engagement of Private Sector, International Organisations, CSOs/NGOs and other Development Partners constituted by the Government of India, under the Chairmanship of CEO, NITI Aayog. We are pleased to share that NITI Aayog recently commended the work being done by non-governmental and civil society organizations, including ActionAid Association, as part of COVID-19 response. More recently, we have brought out a series of documents titled ‘Isolate. Don’t Abandon’, capturing our recommendations pertaining to the most vulnerable groups for consideration of the Union and State Governments and the district administrations. These notes aim to highlight the vulnerabilities of informal workers, vulnerable communities, women and children, and to secure immediate as well as long-term support for them.