Covid-19 is affecting millions of people in the whole world, however is evident, now more than ever, that women and girls are particularly exposed to various risk factors that need to be addressed urgently.
Consequences could be catastrophic: the increasing pressure on the sanitary systems and the restrictive measures imposed have negatively impacted the access to life-saving sexual and reproductive health services and the response to gender-based violence, at a time when women and girls need to rely on those services most.
The Covid-19 pandemic will provoke a significant increment of risks and situations of distress for the nearly 48 million women and girls, including 4 million pregnant women, identified by the UNFPA as in need of humanitarian assistance and protection in 2020.
UNFPA has launched an Appeal for a Global Response to Covid-19, demanding humanitarian action to face the various difficulties posed by the pandemic. For the year 2020, the indicative funding requirement needed to support the UNFPA’s interventions stands at US$ 187,5 million.
We ask for immediate support to UNFPA’s planned operations listed in this appeal.
- Recruitment and training of national health care and other caregiver personnel.
- Providing an on-site supply of response items like individual protective equipment and respirators.
- Ensure that women and girls have access to safe and quality health care through mobile clinics and other means.
– Ensure that women and girls have access to gender-based violence prevention and response services, including services such as temporary shelter, safe housing, and financial support. - Ensure that women and girls have access to GBV prevention and response services, including GBV survivor services such as temporary shelter, safe housing, and financial support.
- Ensure the exchange of information in real-time between officers, community leaders, experts, and people at risk in order to promote health and stigma reduction.
These are some ways to support UNFPA:
– financial donations;
– donations of useful goods and services: for example life-saving supplies such as individual protective equipment and products, including the necessary facilities to manage mobile clinics and expand our dignity kits;
– spread the UNFPA online fund-raising campaign in any way you can. This is the link
For more information read also the Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem