Blog - 'Between COVID-19 and Humanitarian Crises: which one to choose?'

A blog discussing widespread concerns within the international humanitarian and health sectors about countries with weaker health systems and the challenges they are having putting in place the right procedures and services to deal with COVID-19. Further complicating this is is the fact that many of these countries have large refugee populations.

According to UNHCR, amongst the 100 countries affected today by the virus, 30 of them have a refugee population exceeding 20,000. The recent information received from two refugee camps, one in Kenya and the second one in Jordan, reports that the camps are closed and any movement in or out is restricted. Access to safe drinking water has been reduced due to the decrease of water tanks entering the camp. Refugee populations have not received proper information from authorities on the measures to put in place to reduce transmission. This situation really demonstrates the slow preparation currently in place in potential high-risk places, where populations are overcrowded, hygiene and living conditions are challenging and access to water and soap have become difficult.