Coronavirus! IRC seeks $30m to protect most vulnerable

With coronavirus spreading globally, and now confirmed in crisis-affected countries with International Rescue Committee (IRC) operations like Afghanistan, Iraq, Burkina Faso and Venezuela, the IRC is ramping up its response to the outbreak with a focus on crisis zones with especially weak health systems.

The IRC is providing life-saving programs in countries threatened by the disease and is seeking $30mfrom the public, private sector, and governments to support preparedness and prevention efforts to combat the virus.

David MIliband, president and CEO of IRC, said, “Every member of the IRC family shares the concern of people in the hardest hit areas of the coronavirus outbreak. We send our sympathy to those who have already lost loved ones. At the same time, our priority for staff safety and frontline program continuity is driven by the knowledge that while coronavirus is a serious threat where there is a health system, its dangers are magnified in communities where there is no such system. This is a global disease and can be expected to hit all parts of the world - it's imperative to protect the most vulnerable.

“Refugees, families displaced from their homes and those living in crisis will be hit the hardest by this outbreak. COVID-19 will thrive in active war zones like Yemen and Syria, putting the lives of thousands of civilians in even more danger, and is another reason for ceasefires to be implemented. Displaced and vulnerable families are often confined to overcrowded camps or cities where a disease like this can spread rapidly through the close-knit population. As the world struggles to deal with the fallout of COVID-19 across its richest nations, the needs of the most vulnerable must not be neglected or forgotten.

“The IRC is scaling up our work in many places with weak health systems that are simply not prepared to deal with an outbreak of this scale. We need a major injection of funding to help us mitigate the spread of the disease across our programs and ensure our life-saving work can continue to reach those in need. This is why we have launched a global appeal for $30m to support staff safety, program continuity and frontline response to the virus. And this includes our work to support vulnerable communities across the US, including refugees and other new Americans, as they face the economic and health challenges ahead.”