World Vision India Responds to Ease the Humanitarian Crisis Caused by the Spread of Corona Virus in India
Chennai: Aligning their efforts with the ongoing relief work by the Government of India, World Vision India has started emergency response across many states.
With lockdown in place, there is immediate need for food, hygiene kits, medical supplies, medical equipment and livelihood assistance. “World Vision India teams are working with the Government in assisting them meet the needs of vulnerable people by helping them provide food, dry ration and medical supplies. Our long-term response plan also focusses on ensuring that vulnerable families are able to sustain themselves through the lock-down, are protected from the virus and we are also exploring sustainable livelihood models,” said Franklin Jones, Head – Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs, World Vision India.
World Vision India’s teams are closely working with the district administration to provide people with basic essentials during this 21-day lockdown. The relief assistance includes providing cooked meals, dry ration, medical supplies, medical equipment, and hygiene kits to the most vulnerable. World Vision India during the emergency response phase is providing over 45,030 food packets for vulnerable people through respective local administrations and dry ration to over 700 families including families of commercial sex workers. Around 11,313 children have been reached with age-appropriate health messages.
In the state of West Bengal, World Vision India works with children of commercial sex workers. The team along with providing dry rations is also extending counselling support to adolescent girls who visit the child- friendly learning and recreation centres. Joseph Wesley, Head of the Anti-Child Trafficking Program- World Vision India said, “Already reeling under deep debt, for many mothers and children, COVID-19 is an unmitigated double disaster. First, the fear of infection brought their normal lives to a grinding halt. Secondly, and more importantly, it threatened their very survival because of the sudden loss of livelihood. Adding to this most of them live an undocumented life, with no documents to prove their citizenship or their very existence. This means that they face outright rejection in accessing whatever meagre relief assistance that might have come their way.”
As a humanitarian relief organization, in times of calamities and natural disasters like Tsunamis, earthquakes, floods and droughts, World Vision India not only provides immediate relief, it is committed to ensure that the affected communities get back on their feet through long term rehabilitation initiatives.
World Vision India is also a member of Sphere India, whose members include key nodal agencies from the Government of India, UN, INGOs, NGO Networks and National NGOs.