5 Min Inspiration :-How CARE helps governments respond to COVID-19

As COVID-19 and its consequences continue to unfold, it is ever more clear that government leadership is the difference between life and death for millions of people around the world. CARE can do a lot—we’re reaching 6.9 million people directly, and more than 126 million people with access to information—but we can’t do it alone. So what are we doing to advocate for government leadership? How is CARE helping governments, from the local level to the highest reaches of global groups, build a better COVID-19 response? We’re advocating in 32 countries to shape a response that will work better for the people we serve. What are we contributing to? Governments are putting gender at the center of their response. The European External Action Service is releasing a declaration on Gender, GBV, and sexual and reproductive health on behalf of the EU. The UN has been focusing on gender and GBV since the beginning of the pandemic. The government of Egypt has set up a GBV Committee to understand and prevent GBV for women in COVID-19. Governments are looking at what happens to women. In Malawi, the government is partnering with CARE to conduct a rapid gender analysis so they can build a response that supports women. In Bangladesh, the national needs assessment includes a focus on women and what they need. Local leaders are mobilizing responses. In Bangladesh, CARE is supporting local administration to set up isolation centers for suspected cases of COVID-19, and build hand-washing facilities in different crowded locations. In Burkina Faso, health centers are training and supporting community-based health workers to educate others about COVID-19. In Rwanda, the government has mobilized 400 health workers to start contact tracing. Responses are keeping people safe. In Mozambique, the government has adapted all of its distribution processes for goods and cash to respect social distancing. Humanitarian workers can still support people. In countries like Kenya, Ghana, Sudan, and others, governments are re-classifying humanitarian workers as the essential staff who can continue their work and support the people who need it most. How are we doing it? Work with partners: In dozens of countries, CARE is working with groups like the UN, local NGOs, and other INGOs to convince governments to change. CARE teams in Mozambique, Ghana, Laos, and Egypt—as well as many others—are all coordinating groups to advocate for change. Support women-led organizations: In West Bank/Gaza, CARE is coordinating with women-led organizations to discuss gendered impacts of COVID-19. Honduras is supporting women’s rights organizations to advocate for a law that requires gender equality in the measures that the government is taking to respond to COVID-19. Support government activities: In Sierra Leone, CARE has taken a lead role within the Emergency Operations Center with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone and for the city of Freetown. In Thailand, CARE staff are serving as hotline focal points for COVID-19 information in Myanmar and Cambodian languages. In Sudan, CARE is helping the Ministry of Health access masks and gloves for crucial medical services. Share information: In India, the CARE team built the information management system that state governments are adopting as their own to manage COVID-19 information. In Somalia, CARE has opened Whatsapp groups for 458 schools and partners to share crucial information on access to the crisis. CARE Ecuador has been organizing forums on issues of national importance with other organizations and then using that information to create policy recommendations for the government. Generate evidence—especially about women: The CARE team in Malawi is working with the government to understand what women need in a crisis. In Bangladesh, the team coordinated the Bangladesh national needs assessment process for COVID-19. In Cambodia, CARE is the only organization conducting a gender-specific analysis.