Coronavirus update - Children on the Edge

DONATE

Updated 06/04/2020 
​
Children on the Edge are naturally concerned about the impact that the global spread of coronavirus is likely to have on the slum dwelling, refugee and internally displaced people’s (IDPs) communities we work with. 
​
Through nearly 30 years of working with some of the most marginalised communities, we know that these are nearly always the hardest hit people in times such as these. We are experienced in rapidly adapting our programmes to respond to emerging needs in crisis situations. We are talking regularly with our international partners, working with them to pursue sensible solutions to contain the outbreak and give support to those most affected.

---

​Hear from Rachel Bentley, our CEO and Co-founder in this video. She provides a quick summary of how we are currently responding to the pandemic on our international programmes and how are supporters are helping. 

---

Bangladesh
​
All of our centres in Bangladesh are now closed and we expect this to continue until at least May or June.  As a result of the volatile environment in which they live, the community here are used to interruptions to the education programme and will respond as best they can. 
​
In addition to the distribution of 10,000 flyers with Mukti to inform children and their parents about Covid 19, our digital team have worked with the children to produce a series of videos to help them understand and prevent the spread of the virus. 

Read about our WORK IN BANGALDESH

---

India
​
Cases are increasing rapidly in Bihar and and the government has put the country in lockdown. Authorities are punishing people who are found outside, but many of the poorest people struggle to understand the lockdown message as they may not have TVs, phones, or the literacy to read notices.

All of our centres are currently closed. Despite the difficulties involved in obtaining government permission, our partners are now delivering food parcels to vulnerable households.

​These consist of rice, dhal, spices, sugar, soap, oil and soya chunks and contain enough food for 15 days for an (average sized) family of six. 

Read more about our work in Patna

---

Kachin
​
Officials from various camps are saying the government has no plans in place to protect tens of thousands of people living in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Human Rights Watch Asia Director Brad Adams says, “Years of conflict, neglect, and abusive policies by Myanmar’s government and military have left hundreds of thousands of displaced people sitting in the path of a public health catastrophe”.

The teachers within the ECD centres have been educating parents and children about the virus and have implemented a handwashing campaign. All the centres have now closed and, due to proximity to China and lack of resources, we expect them to be closed until at least June.

Read about our work in Kachin State

---

Lebanon
​
Lebanon declared a medical state of emergency on Sunday 15th. With scarce safety nets for refugee populations, the Eastern Mediterranean could be a new outbreak point for coronavirus.​

All centres have been deep cleaned and schools shut as per Government policy. Two weeks of homework has been set for the children. 

Staff are now self isolating in homes, with teachers continuing to be paid, but our partners are still managing to deliver food parcels to the most vulnerable and send out encouraging videos for those on lockdown.

Read about our work in Lebanon

---

Uganda
​
In the rest of Uganda a total lockdown began on Tuesday 31st March, so the Jinja Centres are now closed and all Child Protection Teams have stopped operating. Fortunately, a tranche of business loans went out just before lockdown. 

The team here identified that the greatest threat is to the elderly in the community, particularly grandmother-headed households who often care for an average of five children.

Working with the government, the team here are  delivering fortnightly supply parcels of maize flour, beans and soap to the most vulnerable households in all five slum areas. 

---

All education work in Kyaka II has been shut down as a result of government instruction and all international agencies have pulled out (apart from those offering medical and food supplies). We will get back to supporting the communities here as soon as we can. 

Read about our work in Kyaka II

Read about our work in Jinja

UK 

In the UK office, it is business as usual with staff working remotely from home, talking daily with our international partners and keeping engaged with our supporter community. 

---

We will continue to keep this page updated over the coming weeks, so check back in for news on how we are supporting the communities that we work with. 

Make a donation to support our work

Sign up for our E-News Updates