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Announcing the COVID-19 Response Campaign Phase 2

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The massive surge in Coronavirus cases across India lately could further bring catastrophic effects to the country. Rise in active Covid-19 cases and massive death tolls is a matter of serious concern. The numbers are growing exponentially every day.

India is in crisis and is in need of collective efforts. Looking at the continued Covid ordeal, relief efforts are required once again for the vulnerable and downtrodden communities such as daily wage labourers, migrant workers and refugees who are the worse affected.

We have launched COVID-19 Response Campaign: Phase Two as an emergency response to support that vulnerable section of the society who constantly become the guinea pigs by the onset of frequent lockdowns, brought upon by the surge in Covid-19 cases across the country.

Donate to COVID-19 Response Campaign: Phase 2
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Our immediate focus is on the oxygen supply and assisting in medical care:

  • We plan to procure 1,000 oxygen concentrators to be deployed in different locations across the country.
  • We will also procure 1,000 oximeters that will be used in our centers.
  • Domiciliary consultation and care through Virtual Care Platform.

Apart from this, we’ll be focusing on:

  • Vaccination to all with focus on refugees and ultra-poor
  • Necessary health support to most resource poor
  • Need based dry-ration support
  • Need based personal hygiene support
  • Livelihood restoration support
  • Setting up community Covid centres to support governments programme at micro
    level

A recap of HAI’s COVID-19 Response in 2020

hai covide response 2020

Amidst the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lockdown announcement by the Government of India on 24 March 2020 resulted in a situation of uncertainty and fear in the country.

HAI was one of the early responders to the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and commenced its Covid-19 response initiatives by 26 March 2020. It was the most unusual and challenging response, out of all the humanitarian responses of HAI, given the restricted mobility of staff and the transportation means. In spite of that, HAI used innovative and unconventional methods to continue reaching the people in need.

Following the strong vision and mission towards humanitarian goals, HAI responded strongly towards the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. HAI diligently paid special attention towards disaster risk reduction after sudden lockdown announcement by the Government of India. HAI reached out to the most affected, marginalized population, and families of the informal sector. HAI, especially, catered to the daily wage earners and the hardest hit refugee communities in Delhi, who lost their source of earnings which further pushed them to face the challenges of food insecurity.

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HAI covid campaign

Humanitarian Impact

As part of the COVID-19 outbreak response, last year in March 2020, HAI launched a humanitarian appeal to support the Nation’s Fight Against COVID-19. HAI initiated a successful Covid-19 relief campaign. HAI received heartfelt support from individual donors, partner organizations, government/local administrative units who made the campaign successful by combating the challenges arising due to the massive spread of the pandemic in India.

Some key initiatives undertaken by HAI under COVID-19 Relief Campaign 2020

Here are some key highlights of the work done by HAI members under Covid-19 relief campaign in 2020:

  • cooked food distribution to over 1,42,000 people, including migrants travelling in
    Shramik trains across the country
  • answered more than 316 distress calls from food-insecure families and arranged for at least two weeks food, milk, medicines and necessary provisions in different states
  • 1,501 families, including 192 refugee families, were provided with dry ration sufficient for 1-2 months
  • Distributed Personal Protective Apparel (PPA) kits to 1,718 sanitation and ASHA workers in Delhi, Gurugram and Bengaluru
  • distribution of dry ration and personal hygiene kits to 263 families in the slums of Bengaluru
  • drone-based surveillance and public announcements in four containment zones of Bengaluru to support police and local government officials
  • 40 women in Bengaluru were supported to start income-generating activities
  • 82 auto/taxi drivers were helped in Bengaluru for COVID-19 safety retrofitting to make their auto/taxi COVID-19 safe
  • 121 daily-wage earners were provided with health screening and certification to help them re-enter the job market
  • 300 daily-wage earners were linked with different government schemes including the AYUSHMAN Bharat scheme to access healthcare
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HAI used drone-based surveillance to support police and local government officials

HAI supported the government of Odisha to mitigate the pandemic risk and carried out the following:

  • disinfectant spraying drones were deployed in Municipal Corporation jurisdiction of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack
  • surveillances drones with high decibel PA systems were used in 3 urban locations to spread awareness about the risks of COVID-19 and associated government advisory through the cooperation and supervision of police officials
  • COVID-19 hotspots in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Jaipur were brought under micro-surveillance through PA & surveillance drones
  • Drone pilots training for 10 people, including government officials, was organised together with the Directorate of Technical Education and Training (DTET) and Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA)

HAI sincerely thanks to all its supporters/ donors and partner NGOs who came forward and joined hands with HAI in need of the hour.

Nevertheless, the threat to coronavirus hasn’t declined yet. We are facing a similar situation in 2021 as the nation grips with Coronavirus pandemic once again.

HAI’s extensive experience in the previous COVID-19 response is going to be useful here but to execute it effectively and quickly, we need your donation support at the earliest. Please be kind and donate as much possible to this noble cause.

HAI has launched pan-India COVID-19 Response – Phase 2 appeal in collaboration with our partners and members:

Gift a Weighing Machine to a Blind Person

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With a contribution of Rs 1,500, you can prevent a blind person from becoming a beggar and support their livelihood.

Approximately 150 residents of the Odisha Association for the Blind, Bhubaneswar, have become more vulnerable and food & income insecure since the national lockdown was announced last year. Prior to that, they earned their meagre livelihood by selling newspapers, toys and engaging in other street vending activities, which is now prohibited for non-registered vendors. Facing the situation of almost starvation, many blind people may fall to begging for survival.

The Department of Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Government of Odisha has approached HAI with a request of donating at least 100 weighing machines to be donated to blind people. This will help them to offer weighing services to the public to earn their livelihood. Together with that, HAI also plans to provide them with masks, sanitisers, etc. to protect them from the virus.

Please donate now and help them.

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If you want to support, vacate the space

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After having worked for over three decades, mainly with international NGOs (INGOs) within India and elsewhere, and feeling disillusioned with the international aid architecture, I decided to return to India to establish Humanitarian Aid International (HAI), together with a few other like minded people. HAI aims to evolve on an Indian value system, resourced by Indians, including people of Indian origin, to work across India while also trying to complement the government’s efforts on South-South cooperation. The realisation came soon about how difficult it is for Indian NGOs to access even Indian funding as Indian fundraising space is largely controlled and accessed by country offices of INGOs, registered in India and calling themselves an Indian organisation. That compelled me to wonder: Are we in a new phase of colonialism?

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Reclaiming Local Civil Society Space

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A 2019 study published by the EU on ‘Societies outside Metropolises: The role of civil society organisations in facing populism’ recommends that “Concrete and consistent actions over time are needed in order to empower civil society organisations in those regions to deliver their mission and play their role of speaking on behalf of those who are underrepresented and advocating for the marginalised, and to educate and create a kind of genuine bond between different communities”. However, the way the international aid sector currently operates most instrumentalises local and national CSOs as subcontractors for their agendas, rather than supporting them as independent civil society actors catering to the real needs and priorities of the community and encouraging their governments to act as the duty-bearer and protect people’s fundamental rights. The Covid19 pandemic has extensively and adversely impacted the aid architecture, at a time when the lifesaving assistance to population facing natural disasters or protracted crises is most needed. Local organisations are facing further marginalisation at a time when they are at the forefront of the response, be it Covid19 health response or economic or other crises caused during this period. Download Statement.

Using Cash Transfer as an Innovative Approach in COVID-19 Humanitarian Response

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At Humanitarian Aid International we are pledged to help people facing a crisis in life; something that we are doing for many years. Our professional team consists of humanitarian and development experts, and our 24/7 active volunteers, whom we consider the backbone of this organization.

HAI’s motto is to help the people affected by a natural calamity like earthquake, flood, pandemic, etc. We are pleased to do anything to help the people in need as well as those on the call of duty.

Helping the People Trapped in Distress

Labour

The global COVID 19 pandemic has upended many lives in India. Though, COVID affected all of us, those on the edge were the 140 millions Indian employed in the informal sectors. These were farm laborers, rickshaw pullers, vegetable and fruit vendors, brick kiln workers, daily wage labours, auto drivers, roadside vendors and others. With the imposition of countywide lockdown they faced serious livelihood crisis. Thousands were stranded on roads after losing their job and livelihood. With all their savings gone and no sign of relief, thousands began their on foot journey for their homes. Men, women, children walked hundreds of kilometers on foot, often sleeping hungry on roadside.

Feed The Daily Wagers During Coronavirus Lockdown
HAI feeding the daily wage earners during the COVID19 lockdown

HAI has helped thousands of such families and daily wage earners, throughout the country, facing life and death situation in wake of the pandemic. We have provided food to the hungry, distributed PPE kits to the healthcare workers; helped municipal bodies in sanitization and in identifying people in need, etc. We reinstate our commitment to helping the people in distress and also the agencies working for them.

All through the pandemic we have attended thousands of distress calls in several states. Sometimes, the person making the request even asked to pay the rent for his/her family’s accommodation. True to our commitment of helping them, we have even transferred rent directly in the house owner’s account.

The restrictions of lockdown relaxed almost completely, life is returning to normalcy. But even today millions of workers are still not able to secure means of livelihood and are forced to sleep hungry under open sky.

Helping Swiftly and Smartly

Hai Volunteers At Pak Hindu Refugee Camp
HAI volunteer helping people with ration and other essential goods

When our volunteers receive a request they verify beneficiary details that is, number of family members, financial condition, employment and all. Once the details are verified, the beneficiaries are asked to go to a ration shop that accepts digital payment. Our designated team member coordinates the transfer of ration to the beneficiary and the payment of shop’s bill by HAI.

Also, to make the transactions transparent and to ensure that every single penny is justly used, we transact through virtual platforms Paytm, Google Pay, Phone Pay, etc.

Donate for the Cause

Every day, as we move on to help new poor families, feed them and help them pay their rents, we thank our donors from the bottom of our hearts for making it all possible. Not only HAI family but also the beneficiaries are obliged to the common people donating for this noble cause.

This, in turn, puts an obligation back on us to make sure that every single rupee you donate is used only for the cause. We understand the value of your hard earned money and for this we have tried to make transactions completely digitalized, making it more transparent right from the donor to the beneficiary level.

Donate to HAI’s Humanitarian Campaigns

Our Future Goals

Help People Restore Their Livelihood

We at Humanitarian Aid International have always felt the need to provide a permanent solution to the problems of people affected by a calamity. We feel that helping them by providing food and shelter, though noble, is only a temporary solution.

In the future, we aspire to help people with finding permanent employment and means of livelihood and making them stand up on their feet once again after the ordeal.

We also aim for helping out millions of migrant workers who are left jobless after the pandemic. We seek to coordinate with the local government agencies in generating and jobs locally to help the migrant workers.

Please click here to access the full report.

Covid 19 Livelihood Restoration Program

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Daily wage workers, street vendors, delivery boys, auto rickshaw drivers, push cart vendors, to name a few who depend solely on their daily earning have been struggling hard to make ends meet during this Corona Epidemic. Waging a battle for survival due to lock-down is quite difficult.

While we all are praying that things come back to normal, HAI is taking a step ahead and helping people ( around 100) restart, who have lost their daily livelihood due to Corona.

HAI would help them in purchasing cart, one time supplies, tools, accessories so that they may start with a small enterprise. Of course, this would be done with due diligence by checking the will and skill of the individual to run his/her business once it is set up.

Donate to Covid-19 Livelihood Restoration Program

Help people like Kripa Saran to restore their livelihood

To begin with lets meet Kripa Saran from Zila Bulandshahar, UP :

Covid 19 Livelihood Restoration Program
Kripa Saran with his family

Due to the lock-down, Kripa Saran along with millions of others is now unemployed and is facing severe hardships due to the onset of Covid19.

Kripa Saran lives in a family of 6, and is the sole breadwinner. He worked as a daily wage earner at a clothing store at Chandni Chowk, and the job although came with immense lack of security, guaranteed food on his plate. Unemployment has now pushed Kripa Saran to stop the education of his children as now, money is more uncertain than ever.

In order to save up money, Kripa Saran along with his family has relocated to his village, and hopes to start his life afresh. He wishes to purchase an E-rickshaw and wants to be able to provide for the basics of his family again.

We at HAI, with your help and contribution can help Kripa Saran start his life over. Even the smallest of your contributions can make a world of a difference to him.

Donate to Covid-19 Livelihood Restoration Program
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