UNHCR has deployed innovative emergency measures to prevent the spread of the virus within refugee camps where people often live in overcrowded conditions with limited access to water, sanitation and health care.
UNHCR provides vital support by supplying water, medical care and hygiene equipment.
UNHCR is also monitoring the spread of the outbreak and implementing measures to curb infection rates.
Since the beginning of the crisis, UNHCR has distributed:
- more than 64 million masks
- 2,000 oxygen dispensers
- 12 tons of hospital tents
- 250 tons of medical personal protective equipment.
Thus, UNHCR has been intensifying its vital support since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.
A strong logistics strategy has not only enabled UNHCR to launch prevention campaigns and set up isolation tents for positive cases, but also increase funding in order to mitigate the pandemic’s social and economic impact.
UNHCR makes sure that the rights of displaced people are respected at all times despite the global context, including their right to seek asylum.
Víctor is a Venezuelan civil engineer who has lived in Ecuador for two years. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked as a driver, but lost he his job and his wife is pregnant. On May 27, 2020, UNHCR Ecuador donated 476 food kits to Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the capital city, Quito. Many of them earned a living as informal street vendors, but the COVID-19 lockdown measures set by the government have stripped them of any opportunity to earn an income.
The COVID-19 pandemic calls for an extraordinary emergency response.
The combined effects of the crisis have magnified and compounded situations which were already complicated.
In order to respond, UNHCR needs to raise CHF 233 million to help host countries prevent the spread of coronavirus.
To support the fight against COVID-19 worldwide, UNHCR needs you.