Two most important actions to be taken immediately are the supply of Food items (either in the form of dry ration or cooked meal) and Non-food Essential items. Appendix B1 has guidelines on how to provide support with Food items. Appendix B2 has guidelines on how to provide support with Non-Food Essential items. In all situations it is important that appropriate government guidelines are followed, personal safety measures are taken and physical distancing norms followed.

Pandemics of this size and scale also create severe humanitarian issues in the short term, medium term and long term. Vulnerability of people, especially among the poorer sections, increases. Thus there should be sufficient focus and targeted interventions in the overall combat strategies for reducing the vulnerability of the poor.

The common factor here is the provision of Food and Non-Food essential items. This is covered first. Subsequent sections cover different scenarios and appropriate actions that would be relevant in each scenario.

Look up the Table of Contents to identify one or more areas of work. Proceed directly to that section. In the section see a list of suggested actions. Where a process flow, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) or Guideline is available, it will be in the Appendix. It is likely that as additional information becomes available, the Appendix will continue to be updated.

In all cases, collaborate with the local/district/state government authorities to get authorization and to complement the work of the government.

Based on inputs from the ground, the key challenge for both humanitarian and healthcare services in the current context is last-mile connect and delivery on the ground that is both empathetic and efficient. While central and state governments have announced a number of relief measures and the administrative set-up is working to respond to the situation, because of the scale, speed of spread and the serious impact of this crisis, many of the district administrations are likely to benefit from additional support.

The following are some guiding principles that have been used in the preparation of this document.

The following assumptions have been used in the preparation of this document.

The COVID-19 crisis that has hit the whole of humanity in recent weeks is unprecedented in terms of scale, speed of spread and impact. While the primary consequences are on people’s health and lives, the secondary effects are likely to be deep and wide-ranging, with severe disruption in livelihoods and jobs, along with its cascading social implications.

There is an urgent need to look at the COVID-19 pandemic in a comprehensive and integrated manner. In the last few weeks, we have been in detailed consultations with a number of experts, practitioners and thought leaders from different fields to understand the situation on the ground and potential areas where Civil Society Organizations can help.