5 Things You Need to Know About Coronavirus
Like you, the team here at ShelterBox are concerned about the impact coronavirus is having on our lives and the world around us.
In honour of World Humanitarian Day, held every year on 19 August, we are celebrating our trusted global partners.
As the world continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic, we are working non-stop with our partners. Together, we are overcoming unprecedented challenges to support vulnerable people who are already going through a crisis.
We couldn’t provide support for people in need in Syria, India, Ethiopia, Tanzania and beyond without the incredible work of our partners.
Keep reading to learn more about where and how we are working with our global partners.
Syria
Delivering emergency aid with our partners, ReliefAid
Throughout July 2020, conflict and violence continued in Syria.
There are now more than 1.2 million people displaced in Idlib province alone. As well as the continuous violence, families displaced now have the threat of coronavirus to add to their worries.
Throughout these difficult times we have continued to work with our partners ReliefAid to support those displaced by the conflict. In this photo you can see the ReliefAid team undertaking needs assessments to understand what support people need.
Philippines
Responding to cyclone damage with Terres des Hommes
This is Irish standing outside her home which was totally destroyed when Category 3 Typhoon Vongfong made landfall in the Philippines in May.
Torrential rains brought devastating damage, with nearly half a million people affected. Together with our partner, we are supporting families across 19 barangays (villages) whose homes have been completely flattened. Communities in these areas have not received any support from other humanitarian organisations after the disaster.
We have been working with our new partner Terres des Hommes (TdH), to provide essential aid to families, just like Irish’s, who have seen their homes totally destroyed by Typhoon Vongfong.
Burkina Faso
Supporting displaced families with Help (Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe)
In Burkina Faso, more than 920,000 people had been forced to flee their homes due to extremist violence. This has led to the country having one of the fastest-growing displacement crises in Africa.
We have been working with our new partner Help Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe to support the most vulnerable communities.
We have supported families with tarpaulins, kitchen sets, water carriers, sleeping mats, high thermal blankets, mosquito nets and solar lights.
Paraguay
Working with Habitat for Humanity Paraguay
In 2019, we responded to flooding in Paraguay, where we supported families with tools to rebuild their homes. This year we focused on the country once again for a response that was a little bit different.
With the additional threat of coronavirus lurking over already vulnerable families, we partnered with Habitat for Humanity Paraguay to create coronavirus information campaigns.
Our coronavirus information campaigns in Paraguay included leaflets and posters that show people how they can use their ShelterBox aid items to create additional space, as well as guides on how to isolate somebody, how to clean effectively, the importance of handwashing, and more.
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Cameroon
Our long-term partnership with IEDA Relief
Distributions taking place in June 2020 in Cameroon with our long-term partner IEDA Relief.
This is Project 8 which includes 743 tents with household items including water carriers, kitchen sets and blankets, 560 shelter kits, 2,000 tarpaulins and rope, and additional household items for families with added vulnerabilities.
Distributions are held to support families displaced by the ongoing conflict in the Northern Region of Cameroon and the Lake Chad Basin.
Ethiopia
Providing aid and support with IOM
Distributions of tarpaulin, kitchen sets and other household items to families displaced by conflict in the West Guji area, Ethiopia. Since leaving their homes, some families have been living in clusters of makeshift shelters, many using banana leaves for roofing material.
The distributions in Ethiopia took place through our partner IOM (International Organisation for Migration) who we have been working with in Ethiopia since 2018. The ShelterBox tarpaulins and household items will protect families from rain, strengthen their ability to withstand infections (including coronavirus), and allow them to extend their shelter to create more space.
Vanuatu
Working with our local partner, CARE Vanuatu
When Cyclone Harold made landfall in Vanuatu as a Category 5 cyclone, it devastated communities across the country. The provinces of Sanma, Malampa, Torba and Penama were the worst hit with around 160,000 people thought to be affected.
We have been working with our local partner CARE Vanuatu to get much-needed ShelterBox aid to 2,000 families. In these photos you can see distributions of tarpaulins, rope, solar lights and kitchen sets on Pentecost and Santo Islands which took place throughout July and August 2020.
About World Humanitarian Day
“On World Humanitarian Day (WHD) August 19, the world commemorates humanitarian workers killed and injured in the course of their work, and we honour all aid and health workers who continue, despite the odds, to provide life-saving support and protection to people most in need.
This year World Humanitarian Day comes as the world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic over recent months. Aid workers are overcoming unprecedented access hurdles to assist people in humanitarian crises in 54 countries, as well as in a further nine countries which have been catapulted into humanitarian need by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This day was designated in memory of the 19 August 2003 bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 22 people, including the chief humanitarian in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly formalized the day as World Humanitarian Day.”
— United Nations, 2020
Keep reading
Coronavirus: It’s not over until it’s over everywhere
This global pandemic is changing all our lives. It’s our duty as humanitarians to help those least able to protect themselves.
How Has Our Disaster Response Work Changed During the Coronavirus Pandemic?
ShelterBox has always benefitted from a global network of partnerships, and those relationships are more important than ever in the era of coronavirus.