Protection Response Under the Restrictions of COVID-19

This report from INTERSOS summarises their responses to ongoing protracted crises and humanitarian contexts that have further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The full humanitarian impact of the pandemic has not yet been fully understood, although the drastic contraction of countries’ economies, resulting in rising unemployment, and loss of livelihoods and income, millions of people, especially those depending on daily wages, are becoming more vulnerable. According to the World Bank, the poverty levels are unfortunately expected to deepen further due to the pandemic, with projections estimating that between 71 and 419 million people may fall beneath the poverty line . WFP estimates that, due to the pandemic, an additional 130 million people may face acute food insecurity (IPC-3 or worse), twice as many that are already in such a predicament . UNHCR is concerned about people living in dense conditions in camps, as well as about the impact of the pandemic on access to asylum, protection and other services

INTERSOS is particularly worried about the pandemic impact on the harrowing humanitarian situation in most protracted humanitarian crises such as Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Millions of people living in such crises, in the majority of cases forcibly displaced by conflicts, poverty or lack of human rights, already suffering from violence, stigma, discrimination and unequal access to basic services continue to be exposed daily to a variety of severe protection hazards, and lack access to basic life-saving commodities, including food, water, shelter and clothing.