Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on families in Jordan
Since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Jordan in March 2020, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNICEF, and World Food Program (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) in Jordan have mobilized to ensure that the essential basic needs of vulnerable households across the Kingdom are maintained in spite of the complex and quickly changing environment. As part of the COVID-19 response efforts and as part of an intentional shift towards collaboration and sharing of resources across the UN System, UNICEF, UNHCR and Â鶹ÊÓƵ have undertaken an inter-agency rapid needs assessment (RNA) to generate evidence on the impacts of the emergency on household-level basic needs. The RNA was conducted as a multi-sectoral assessment covering a broad array of sectors including Health; Food Security; Livelihoods; Education; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene; and Protection.
Global school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic present an unprecedented risk to children¡¯s education, protection and wellbeing. By late April, school closures were still disrupting the learning of more than 90 per cent of students, or more than 1.5 billion children and youth - and nearly 370 million children were not receiving school meals.
The United Nations Secretary-General Ant¨®nio Guterres recently called on governments and donors to prioritize education for all children, including the most marginalized, and the Global Education Coalition was established to support governments in strengthening distance learning and facilitating the reopening of schools.
This Framework aims to inform the decision-making process regarding school reopening, support national preparations and guide the implementation process, as part of overall public health and education planning processes. It is designed to be a flexible tool that can be adapted to each context and updated as the situation changes. The guidelines outline six key priorities to assess the readiness of those schools and inform planning.
R4 saw a one percent growth in the number of farmers insured in 2019, with this year¡¯s focus being on consolidating the gains achieved so far in existing countries and preparing for next year¡¯s geographical expansion. In Ethiopia, the initiative reached over 28,000 farmers (42 percent women) with microinsurance. This year, activities focused on building the index design capacity of local stakeholders in the country and defining the steps for handing over design and distribution of microinsurance products to the local insurance companies from 2020 onwards. Under the Satellite Index Insurance for Pastoralist in Ethiopia (SIIPE), 7,816 pastoralists accessed index-based livestock insurance in the Somali region of Ethiopia. In Senegal, a total of 8,206 farmers (52 percent women) were insured this season. In Malawi, R4 insured 37,891 farmers (71 percent women) for the 2019/20 season and is piloting a hybrid index insurance product in three districts, that brings together Weather Index Insurance (WII) with Area Yield Index Insurance (AYII), providing farmers with a more comprehensive insurance coverage. In Zambia, no new insurance enrolments were undertaken, following recommendations made by the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the R4 Programme in Southern Africa commissioned by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), with Â鶹ÊÓƵ Zambia now focusing on consolidating the gains obtained so far and supporting sustainability plans. In Kenya, a total of 8,862 farmers (85 percent women) were insured for the 2019 Short Rains season. In Zimbabwe, R4 insured 1,651 farmers (66 percent women) and expanded to three additional wards. In addition to microinsurance, Zimbabwe became the first-ever country in Southern Africa to test the ARC Replica instrument in collaboration with the Government of Zimbabwe and the African Risk Capacity (ARC) Ltd.
There is global recognition of the promising linkages between social protection and disaster risk management (DRM) in responding to and mitigating shocks, and in contributing to strengthening the humanitarian¨Cdevelopment nexus. It is in this context that the Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) and Oxford Policy Management (OPM) began a research project in 2016 on shock-responsive social protection in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In 2019 and 2020, the study focuses on the Caribbean where several governments have used social protection programmes and systems to reach people impacted by disasters. This report studies the case of Jamaica and identifies the factors that would allow the social protection system to be more responsive. The box below briefly summarises the theoretical framework for this case study.
Â鶹ÊÓƵ, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) & World Bank Middle East & North Africa are conducting a joint assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on foodsecurity in Iraq, to identify potential actions to minimize the crisis. The first joint report is expected in May 2020, & the new joint Weekly Food Security Monitor launched today. Recommendations include:
- Facilitate dialogue with key partners & direct resources to the most critical needs
- Prioritize vulnerable groups, including IDPs, Returnees & Refugees
Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s analysis of the latest food & non-food price data reveals that prices started surging in fragile and less shock-responsive areas of Iraq. In the context of COVID-19, social distancing, lockdown & curfew are reducing economic activity, negatively impacting upon vulnerable groups such as daily casual labourers & low-income workers. A health emergency is evolving into an economic emergency.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has made the assessment that COVID-19 (coronavirus) can be characterised as a pandemic and the virus has now spread to many countries and territories. While COVID-19 continues to spread, it is important that communities take action to prevent further transmission, reduce the impacts of the outbreak and support control measures.
While the prevalence of undernourishment has declined in Bangladesh, there still are 26 million food-insecure people in the country. Cox¡¯s Bazar alone has 695,000 people that are severely food-insecure with over 34 percent of the population living under the food consumption poverty line. It has also been performing poorly on indicators such as Net Enrolment Rate (NER) and dropout rates.
The COVID-19 submission for refugees from Western Sahara in camps in Algeria presents the strategy to respond to the public health needs and immediate humanitarian consequences of the epidemic in other sectors including education, food security, protection, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). This strategy aligns the collective efforts of the humanitarian community, including UN humanitarian agencies and I/NGOs to support the refugee community in managing the impact of COVID-19. This submission seeks to mobilize support to implement the most urgent and critical activities over the next three months, and sometimes beyond, in exceptional cases.
A Situation Report is a concise operational document with latest updates on the Â鶹ÊÓƵ's (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) response to an emergency. It gives an overview of Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s activities and informs the wider humanitarian community and other interested stakeholders about Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s response.
The COVID-19 pandemic is having far-reaching impacts on how people earn a living and meet critical needs. The Caribbean COVID-19 Food Security and Livelihoods Impact Survey was launched by CARICOM to rapidly gather data on impacts to livelihoods, food security and access to markets. Prepared by the Â鶹ÊÓƵ with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the survey link was shared via social media, email and media.
This latest food security analysis shows a deterioration in food security in Sierra Leone compared to February 2019, with the total food-insecure population increasing from 34 percent to 47.7 percent. This implies that almost half of the population of Sierra Leone (3,921,752) are not consuming enough nutritious diet to live a healthy life. The likely drivers of an increase in food insecurity in Sierra Leone are recurrent climatic shocks, including flooding and erratic precipitation pattern during the seasonal rains, in addition to a challenging macroeconomic situation. These shocks have not only increased short-term hunger, but also compromised the resilience of poor households. Whilst food insecurity is highest in rural districts, it should be noted that the January 2020 FSMS shows a sharp increase in the number of urban residents living in food insecurity. The global socio-economic downturn impacted by the COVID-19 may exacerbate the already difficult food security situation in the country.
Â鶹ÊÓƵ will continue to lead discussions on the ground, together with the Food Security Working Group, to review the implications along with making immediate decisions on how food security partners can work together to address the needs.
