Women leaders and young volunteers, trained by ActionAid, are supporting affected communities by providing food support and hygiene supplies. This has been an important part of our work, because disasters, crises and conflicts have a disproportionate effect on women.
Check out our latest video to find out why.
How ActionAid has responded:
India: Disaster risk reduction volunteers and women leaders in coastal areas of West Bengal and Odisha are supporting vulnerable families with food and hygiene supplies.
In Kolkata, at least 15 people have died, roads were flooded, and millions were left without power. ActionAid’s partners report that the most deprived slum areas were the hardest hit.
ActionAid is already working with 5,000 homeless families, 1,000 domestic workers and 2,500 families of informal workers living in slum areas, providing food support as part of the organisation’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Volunteers and women leaders worked in close collaboration with the local authorities to evacuate people to safety. ActionAid is coordinating support at cyclone shelters, ensuring families have access to food, medicine and separate areas for women and girls.
In Bangladesh, local emergency teams are providing food support and hygiene supplies to 1,520 families in the most affected areas, including Borguna, Patuakhali and Bhola.
Before the cyclone hit, young ActionAid volunteers disinfected and prepared 75 cyclone shelters, providing hand-washing facilities, sanitary towels in the cyclone shelters and masks and gloves, in coordination with local authorities.
Women leaders and young people are keeping communities up to date with information and awareness messages via text messages and have supported pregnant women to cyclone shelters.
We know true recovery requires long-lasting change. As ActionAid Bangladesh’s Farah Kabir shared: “This latest extreme weather disaster to hit Bangladesh shows that we must find new ways to support people to recover and rebuild their livelihoods.
“ActionAid is calling on governments to ensure that climate resilience is built into long term Covid-19 response plans and poor countries must be supported by the global community to deal with rising climate impacts.”
This rapid response and the ongoing support is possible thanks to the generosity of supporters like you. Thank you for being a part of the ActionAid Team!