Humanity & Inclusion continues its work in aid of Rohingya refugees during the Covid-19 epidemic
Jean-Loup Gouot, Director of Humanity & Inclusion (HI) in Bangladesh, tells us more about our work in aid of Rohingya refugees in the light of the Covid-19 epidemic.
HI is conducting an emergency intervention in Rohingya refugee camps to bring a support (rehabilitation, logistics platform, distribution of kits) to Rohingyas refugees. | © Shumon Ahmed/HI
“Nearly one third of our teams are continuing our ‘essential’ work and providing response to the Covid-19 epidemic. Other staff members have adopted alternative working methods – they work from home or do not work at the moment - and are ready to help if we need to beef up our emergency response.
For people living in refugee camps and host communities, our teams organise awareness-raising sessions on good hygiene practices to stop the spread of Covid-19, identify people requiring medical care and refer them to partner organisations, and provide personal psychological support to the most vulnerable individuals – the Rohingya refugees who need it. HI has also made available two warehouses - in Unchiprang and Dhumdumia - where national and international humanitarian organisations can store humanitarian equipment, and a fleet of lorries to transport humanitarian equipment such as hygiene kits, mobility aids, etc., and relief for other organisations, to people living in hard-to-reach areas. We have noticed an increase in the number of lorries transporting specialised equipment in response to the coronavirus emergency.
As many HI staff members are home working or temporarily off work, our human resources team has developed an online training platform to build the capacities of our national and international teams. Over the next few days, they will be able to access more than 150 compulsory, recommended or optional online training courses, including on the humanitarian response to Covid-19, which can also be accessed by other colleagues in Nepal.
We aim to adapt our activities to assist Covid-19 victims and expect to launch a number of new projects very shortly.”