COVID-19-RELATED SOCIAL PROTECTION
RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS: LINKING HUMANITARIAN CASH AND SOCIAL PROTECTION IN PRACTICE
This paper seeks to demonstrate practical ways in which NGOs are linking their humanitarian work to social protection and the added importance of this in the context of COVID-19, following from the earlier work of CCD outlining the role of NGOs to improve the access to and delivery of social protection in crises and the COVID-19 advocacy paper. This is written for signatories
of the Grand Bargain, particularly those engaged in the cash sub-working group on social protection and humanitarian cash. This paper highlights that there is much more to be done but that NGOs have a crucial role to play and what follows are some of the ways in which CCD can engage.
CCD'S SOCIAL PROTECTION WORKING GROUP'S ADVOCACY BRIEF IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19
COVID-19 has an unprecedented impact globally in terms of access to and the capacity of healthcare systems to respond. The health crisis is yet to peak in many countries and in low income contexts, the concern is that its impact will be severe where it is not physically possible to practice physical distancing. As we saw during Ebola in 2014 or in cholera outbreaks, physical distancing is a choice that only a minority can afford in low income countries. It is anticipated that this crisis will result in significant numbers of households falling into poverty (or deeper into poverty) as a result of the enormous economic impacts of measures needed to contain this virus: recovery from the economic impact of this, will not be short term. Those most vulnerable to this are those without job security, small businesses, those in the informal economy and in unpaid care. We recognise that these roles are the backbone of many national economies.
We recognise that a large burden will currently fall to communities to meet care and other needs to affected households. The impact on women is particularly strong, given their role as caregivers, which puts them at particular health and economic risk due to their roles in both the informal sector and care economy and the additional care burden of the sick and also of children, now schools are closed. Governments should recognise too, that children and caregivers depended on breakfasts and/or lunches in schools to avoid going hungry. At the same time there are those excluded from society, stateless, displaced, refugees who are extremely vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic.