The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a myriad of constraints culminating in the disruption of essential supplies to millions of households worldwide. This translated into vulnerable and underserved communities grappling to gain access to essential supplies while being faced with unique challenges impeding their livelihoods, we stepped up to help the needy and vulnerable groups through local Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) across the country.
1. Providing 5 million meals: Disruption of food supply chains and loss of livelihoods together aggravated the state of malnourishment. The crisis has further compounded the hunger pandemic, according to United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) estimates, the number of people at risk of starvation globally is at more than 270 million. Recognising this urgent need, we have been working relentlessly towards addressing the hunger pandemic. In FY 2020-21, through our pan-India meal distribution drive we delivered on our pledge to providing 5 million meals.
2. Distress cell – helpline: We established a distress cell focused on the food and nutrition linked concerns of communities. Identified beneficiaries were provided with support by distributing food kits.
3. Jeevan Rath: We were a part of the The Jeevan Rath program. This relief-on wheels initiative with UNICEF and over 25 development partners and donors, was conceived and executed within 48 hours to respond to and alleviate some of the challenges and difficulties of migrant labour. The first phase was focused on food for migrants who were walking home. In just two weeks, 100,000 migrants were served. Later, transportation to train and bus stations were also arranged.
4. Facilitating access to healthcare through telemedicine and tele-counselling: Social distancing guidelines created a barrier for effective delivery of health care services especially for marginalised communities. In our effort to bridge this gap, we enabled access to telemedicine to the communities that we serve through our CSR programs. A toll-free helpline number was made available for this purpose in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi NCR, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. This initiative greatly benefitted pregnant women who were missing their routine health check-ups because of COVID-19. The pandemic has also had a devastating impact on mental health. So, we extended our tele-counselling services to help people de-stress and improve their mental health during the lockdown.
5. Supported 50,000 law enforcement officers through candid powder donation: Glenmark Foundation and RISE Infinity. Foundation distributed Candid dusting powder samples for common skin conditions to more than 50,000 law enforcement personnel across 12 cities.
6. Supporting frontline workers with essential supplies
Keeping frontline workers safe has been of the utmost importance during in India’s pandemic management strategy. In our endeavour to support healthcare workers, we donated PPE kits and other protective and preventive supplies across India.
7. Augmenting the capacity of the healthcare system: Our focus through this intervention was to equip healthcare workers with the requisite know-how for COIVD-19 management, provision of ancillary support to healthcare facilities and community awareness building on COVID-19. We conducted a series of technical training programs to equip healthcare workers with the knowledge and tools to sensitise their communities on COVID-19. The training program covered topics such as effective use of COVID-19 safety equipment, and preventive and precautionary measures. We also conducted awareness drives to sensitise communities on infection prevention and control measures.
8. Saving lives, supporting livelihood of women during pandemic: We devoted our efforts towards engaging women from Self Help Groups, by training them to make masks. This further, added as an additional source of income.
9. Help for brave children (COVID orphans): To augment initiatives taken by the government for the rehabilitation of orphan children. We, in partnership with Women and Child Development Department, Maharashtra and our NGO partner, provided financial assistance to 500 children in Maharashtra. While acknowledging their emotional and personal loss, it was an effort to help them in their educational requirements as well as dietary needs.
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