The project of the collective group of NGO-UNESCO partners to fight against the pandemic
"We must come together to fight this virus, and as we do so, ensure that life-saving relief operations around the world continue. It's a moment for solidarity and global action"
Mark Lowcock
Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations
Context
Faced with an unprecedented disaster, a collective group of NGOs in official partnership with UNESCO have created a network initiative of solidarity from the start of the pandemic in order to interact with their local associations. They are collaborating together and sharing initiatives, including the ones from UNESCO, to implement appropriate and effective global actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Goals
The feedback from the field enables a global chronological and thematic vision of the evolution of the crisis experienced by local populations. The objective is three-fold:
1. To share the realities of the situations experienced in the field and alert about the needs;
2. To report examples of exceptional solidarity initiated by civil society on all continents;
3. To propose a new vision for the post COVID-19 period taking into consideration the experiences of the local communities.
Implementation
Several Facebook groups have been created in Africa (Côte d’Ivoire, Central Africa, Anglophone Africa, Madagascar), South Asia, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, Lebanon.
Reliable information feedbacks were thus collected on the different continents.
Jeanne Lebaudy, a young volunteer engaged in the project, could analyze the feedbacks and provide a detailed report on the challenges faced by people on the ground, their incredible mobilization and the post COVID priorities to be taken up.
The widely diverse actions of these NGOs and their different approaches have enabled them to create an effective network of global solidarity with the support of UNESCO, respecting their shared values. Such collaboration is more than ever necessary to respond to the health, economic, social, cultural and now humanitarian crisis for a large number of populations.
The voices of civil society must be heard in order to build a more just and peaceful world!