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	Refugees are paying the highest price in the COVID-19 pandemic by Filippo Grandi UN High Commissioner for Refugees, agencies   June 2021   Ahead of World Refugee Day the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) raises the alarm about the situation of refugees who are facing severe humanitarian hardships, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.   Jagan Chapagain, IFRC Secretary General, said:   “Vulnerable groups, such as refugees, are paying the highest price in the COVID-19 pandemic. We are seeing alarming trends that show many refugees around the world are unable to pay for food or rent and are struggling to access health care and education.   “Refugees have been disproportionately affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and have often been left out of socio-economic support policies. A large number of refugees have lost their sources of income or depleted their savings and are now adopting negative strategies to survive.”   In Bangladesh, latest analysis carried out in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society – with support from the IFRC – reveals that communities are struggling to cover their essential needs, particularly due to COVID-19 related movement restrictions, health issues, restricted access to markets, and a recent major fire in the camps.   Price hikes in local markets and further displacement caused by camp fires have pushed many families further into food insecurity. During April and May, around 30,000 refugees in the Cox’s Bazar camps raised questions and concerns, with 63% seeking services, including urgent food relief and shelter. Just over one third (37%) requested health or medical care.   In the past year, reduced presence of humanitarian organizations in the camps due to COVID-19 restrictions also led to an increase in child labour, sexual and gender-based violence and heightened risk of human trafficking. In addition, an increase in child marriage has been observed since the start of the pandemic, often seen as an alternative to education or work.   In Colombia, border closures, movement restrictions and loss of livelihoods led to limited access to food and accommodation, with many refugees and migrants – most of whom are from Venezuela – eating only once per day. 18% of those surveyed by the Red Cross Red Crescent Global Migration Lab cited food security and malnutrition as the biggest risks for children during the pandemic.   In Turkey, a recent study – conducted by the Turkish Red Crescent and the IFRC – indicates that, among the 4,500 refugee households surveyed[1], debt levels have increased by nearly 50% over the last year. Even more alarming is the fact that many families are unable or can barely afford to pay for what they need most, such as food (72%) and rent (66%). However, cash assistance provided by the EU-funded Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) is helping refugees to cover some of these costs.   In order to cope with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees are increasingly relying on survival strategies, such as reducing food consumption, buying cheaper and less nutritious food, buying food on credit and borrowing money from relatives and friends. These strategies have negative consequences on health and well-being and contribute to worrying levels of food insecurity and skyrocketing debts for refugees.   “Nobody should be forced to choose between giving their family food or paying their rent; nor face hunger or forced evictions,” said Jagan Chapagain. “Governments should work together with donors, international and multilateral organizations, private sector and civil society to effectively mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable groups, such as refugees and migrants. It’s our shared responsibility to ensure that everyone can meet their most essential needs”.   http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/press-release/refugees-are-paying-the-highest-price-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/ http://www.unhcr.org/flagship-reports/globaltrends/ http://www.wfp.org/news/refugees-worldwide-face-rising-hunger-due-funding-gaps-amidst-covid-19 http://www.nrc.no/shorthand/fr/82.4-million-people-displaced-in-the-year-of-the-pandemic/index.html   Sep. 2020   Critical underfunding exacerbated by COVID-19 pushing displaced people to the edge   UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has warned that millions of displaced people in need of protection and assistance, and their host communities, are feeling the pinch of massive underfunding, as the COVID-19 crisis continues to increase humanitarian needs globally.   The agency has so far received just 49 per cent (US$4.5 billion) of the $9.1 billion required for its global operations this year to address the needs of over 86 million people.   The consequences of this funding gap are particularly devastating in low- and middle-income countries, which currently host more than 85 per cent of the world’s refugees. In many such countries, the pandemic has destabilized economies, exacerbated internal displacement and reduced access to asylum.   A report released by UNHCR today describes the COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘force multiplier’, increasing the needs of the displaced population, including refugees in many countries, while also making those needs more difficult to address.   A shortage of resources for humanitarian operations could have devastating impacts for millions of people around the globe – putting women and children in particular at heightened risk, and disrupting vital services including, health, shelter, water and sanitation, and many other essential relief programmes.   The report highlights 10 situations particularly affected by funding gaps: Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, the Central Mediterranean route, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela. These situations make up 56 per cent of UNHCR’s annual budget.   While some instances of underfunding are due to new needs resulting from COVID-19, many others pre-date the pandemic and demonstrate the impact that chronic underfunding can have on the lives of displaced populations and host communities.   “As violence, persecution and civil strife continue to uproot millions, the coronavirus pandemic is destabilizing entire sectors of the economy, with millions depending on fragile incomes that are now at risk,” said UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Kelly Clements. “In these unprecedented times, the world needs to broaden its focus making sure displaced populations and their generous but under-resourced hosts are not forgotten. The time to step up support is now.’   Underfunding has already brought many programmes to a halt. Other essential activities, such as child protection, support for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, health services, education, and water, sanitation and hygiene activities are on the brink of being cancelled or scaled back if more funding is not forthcoming soon.   For example, child protection and social care services in Ugandan settlements hosting South Sudanese refugees had to be scaled down this year due to lack of funding.   Without adequate funds, UNHCR will also have to reduce or stop its winterization assistance to vulnerable displaced people in Syria and Syrian refugees in the region, which includes cash transfers and the distribution of relief items this winter.   Lack of funds already forced UNHCR to end its support to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan in March. A programme to provide medical equipment related to treatments had benefitted both Afghan refugees and members of the host community.   As of September 2020, a shortfall in funding will prevent UNHCR from assisting Venezuelan families with emergency cash, vouchers and core relief items in key border and urban areas in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador.   In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a US$223 million funding shortfall has forced UNHCR to cut programmes across a number of sectors. The provision of emergency shelters to internally displaced families in South Kivu Province stopped in January and planned construction of classrooms for Congolese refugee children in Burundi and Zambia has been put on hold.   As well as additional funding, UNHCR is calling for donor flexibility when contributions are made so that resources can be targeted to where the needs are the greatest.   http://bit.ly/2Hg4IZV http://www.unhcr.org/underfunding-2020/ http://reliefweb.int/report/world/consequences-underfunding-2020   * Norwegian Refugee Council: Downward Spiral: the economic impact of Covid-19 on refugees and displaced people: http://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2020/if-the-virus-doesnt-kill-us-hunger-will/ http://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/nrc_downward-spiral_covid-19_report.pdf   June 2020   We are marking this year’s World Refugee Day against a backdrop of a dramatic global crisis. Not only are record numbers of people forced to flee their homes, but the world is grappling with COVID-19, a disease that is still very much affecting us all. What started as a health crisis has expanded, and today many of the most vulnerable – refugees and the displaced amongst them – face a pandemic of poverty.   Yet, throughout this challenging time, we have also seen a connectedness that transcends borders. Ordinary people have stepped up to help. Host communities – especially those in low- and middle-income countries where nearly 90 percent of the world’s refugees live – have continued to demonstrate a remarkable welcome.   And refugees themselves are also contributing in significant ways, despite often living in extremely vulnerable conditions. They are, for example, volunteering as front line health workers in Colombia and the United Kingdom; making soap for distribution in Lebanon and Niger; sewing masks and protective gear in Iran; helping construct isolation centres in Bangladesh; and elsewhere around the world, they are contributing time to help the needy in their host communities.   As we battle COVID-19, I draw inspiration from the resilience refugees have shown in overcoming their own crisis of displacement and dispossession; their separation from home and family; and their determination to improve their own and others’ lives, despite these and other hardships.   On World Refugee Day, I salute and celebrate the fortitude of refugees and displaced people around the world. I also pay tribute to the communities that shelter them and that have demonstrated the universally shared values and principles of compassion and humanity. They have sometimes hosted and protected refugees for years or even generations, and continuing to uphold these values in a time of pandemic is a powerful message of hope and solidarity.   UNHCR is no stranger to challenges. For over 70 years we have been on the frontlines of countless emergencies. Yet this global pandemic is of an entirely new magnitude. Our priority has been and will be, to stay and deliver for the refugees, internally displaced and stateless people we are mandated to protect. But we can’t do it alone.   Mobilizing help and support to prepare and respond to the pandemic has been vital in the past months. And we have seen how countries and communities around the world have included refugees in their own national health responses. It is now equally critical to secure refugees’ and displaced persons’ inclusion in the much-needed socio-economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic.   The Global Compact on Refugees has laid a strong foundation for this response. We have seen it in action as various actors have responded to this crisis to support refugees through host governments. Such support must continue and be redoubled so that they have the resources necessary to include refugees and displaced people and ensure that economic and social disparities do not lead to rifts within and between communities. More must also be invested in countries of origin to make the return of refugees a viable option.   On this World Refugee Day, I call for greater global solidarity and action to include and support refugees, internally displaced and stateless people as well as their hosts.   The COVID-19 pandemic and the recent anti-racism protests have shown us how desperately we need to fight for a more inclusive and equal world. A world where no one is left behind. It has never been clearer that all of us have a role to play in order to bring about change.   Everyone can make a difference. This is at the heart of UNHCR’s World Refugee Day campaign. This year, we aim to remind the world that everyone, including refugees, can contribute to society, and Every Action Counts in the effort to create a more just, inclusive, and equal world. Whoever you are. No matter where you come from. Every one of us can make a difference.   # UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, leads international action to protect people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. We deliver life-saving assistance like shelter, food and water, help safeguard fundamental human rights, and develop solutions that ensure people have a safe place to call home where they can build a better future. We also work to ensure that stateless people are granted a nationality.   June 2020   One per cent of the world’s population has been forced to flee their homes due to war, conflict and persecution to seek safety either somewhere within their country or in another country, according to the latest Global Trends report released today by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.   UNHCR,is appealing to countries worldwide to do far more to find homes for millions of refugees and others displaced by conflict, persecution or events seriously disturbing public order. This is as the report released today showed that forced displacement is now affecting more than one per cent of humanity – 1 in every 97 people – and with fewer and fewer of those who flee being able to return home.   UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report, shows that an unprecedented 79.5 million were displaced as of the end of 2019. UNHCR has not seen a higher total.   The report also notes diminishing prospects for refugees when it comes to hopes of any quick end to their plight. In the 1990s, on average 1.5 million refugees were able to return home each year. Over the past decade that number has fallen to around 385,000, meaning that growth in displacement is today far outstripping solutions.   “We are witnessing a changed reality in that forced displacement nowadays is not only vastly more widespread but is simply no longer a short-term and temporary phenomenon,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.   “People cannot be expected to live in a state of upheaval for years on end, without a chance of going home, nor a hope of building a future where they are. We need a fundamentally new and more accepting attitude towards all who flee, coupled with a much more determined drive to unlock conflicts that go on for years and that are at the root of such immense suffering.”   UNHCR’s Global Trends report shows that of the 79.5 million who were displaced at the end of last year, 45.7 million were people who had fled to other areas of their own countries. The rest were people displaced elsewhere, 4.2 million of them being people awaiting the outcome of asylum requests, while 29.6 million were refugees and others forcibly displaced outside their country.   The annual increase, from a figure of 70.8 million at the end of 2018, is a result of two main factors. First is worrying new displacement in 2019, particularly in Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sahel, Yemen and Syria – the latter now in its tenth year of conflict and accounting on its own for 13.2 million refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people, fully a sixth of the world’s total.   Second is a better presentation of the situation of Venezuelans outside their country, many of whom are not legally registered as refugees or asylum-seekers, but for whom protection-sensitive arrangements are required.   And within all of these numbers is a multitude of individual and very personal crises. As many children (estimated at 30-34 million, tens of thousands of them unaccompanied) are among the displaced. Meanwhile, the proportion of displaced aged 60 and above (4 per cent) is far below that of the world population (12 per cent) – a statistic that speaks to immeasurable heartbreak, desperation, sacrifice and being torn apart from loved ones.   8 things you need to know about forced displacement today   100 million people at least were forced to flee their homes in the past decade, seeking refugee either in or outside their countries. That’s more people fleeing than the entire population of Egypt, the world’s 14th most populous country.   Forced displacement has almost doubled since 2010 (41 million then vs 79.5 million now).   80 per cent of the world’s displaced people are in countries or territories affected by acute food insecurity and malnutrition – many of them countries facing climate and other disaster risk.   More than three-quarters of the world’s refugees (77 per cent) are caught up in situations of long-term displacement – for example the situation in Afghanistan, now in its fifth decade.   More than eight of every 10 refugees (85 per cent) are in developing countries, generally a country neighbouring the one they fled.   Five countries account for two-thirds of people displaced across borders: Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar.   Global Trends Report counts all major displaced and refugee populations, including the 5.6 million Palestine refugees who fall under the care of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine.   The 2030 Sustainable Development commitment of “leaving no one behind” now explicitly includes refugees, thanks to a new indicator on refugees approved by the UN Statistical Commission in March this year.   http://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends2019/ http://www.unhcr.org/emergencies.html http://www.unhcr.org/en-au/news/latest/2020/6/5eeba28c4/resolving-displacement-critical-regional-international-stability-un-refugee.html http://www.unhcr.org/stories.html Visit the related web page
	People in poverty bear the brunt of Covid-19 by IDS, WEIGO, UNDP, agencies   May 2020   People in poverty bear the brunt of Covid-19, and the worst is yet to come, writes Keetie Roelen, Co-Director of the Centre for Social Protection at the Institute of Development Studies   Poverty puts people at greater risk of getting infected with coronavirus, and also makes them carry the brunt of its economic fallout. This transcends traditional boundaries of the Global South and Global North with consequences felt by people living in precarious conditions across the globe.   The much-repeated meme that the virus doesn't discriminate suggests a false sense of equality, while in fact Covid-19 lays bare and reinforces deep-seated economic and social inequalities.   People living in unstable housing arrangements or informal settlements are largely unable to abide by measures of lockdown and distancing oneself from others by the recommended 2 metres. As noted in a recent podcast episode: Social distancing is a privilege with people living in informal settlements such as in Dhaka, Bangladesh or in cities in Kenya living in large households, in close proximity to other families and sharing kitchen and toilet facilities with each other.   In the UK, homeless people and undocumented migrants do not have adequate shelter to keep themselves at a safe distance from others, despite government interventions.   Work has become even more precarious and the inflow of income even more unpredictable, particularly for those who were already struggling to make ends meet. Those working in informal sectors or depending on day labour are unable to go out in search of work due to distancing measures or have simply seen work dry up due to decreased demand.   With government responses often targeted at workers in the formal market, those in the informal economy are left to fend for themselves.   Children are especially affected. School closures in many countries across the globe means that children miss out on school meals. For those living in families that struggle to make ends meet, this often represents their only nutritious meal per day. Losing the certainty of one meal per day at a time when income has become highly uncertain, many children are at risk of hunger.   School closures also affect learning, and disproportionately so for children who do not have access to school materials or digital devices that can support home schooling or distance learning. The ability to learn at home is further undermined by daily stress about keeping one's head above water, and is leading to concerns that the pandemic increases the learning gap between children in low- and high-income households.   And the worst is yet to come. Research by UNU-WIDER suggests that poverty levels could rise to levels last seen 30 years ago, thereby reversing much of the progress that has been made towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 1 to eradicate poverty. Save the Children estimates that up to 30 million children in Africa could be pushed into poverty as a result of Covid-19.   Social policy responses must go further   Many have called for ambitious and far-reaching welfare and social protection measures. These calls are growing louder and stronger with well-known economists such as Martin Ravallion arguing for the need to go beyond 'business as usual' and not to get obsessed about targeting the poor, for example. Others advocate for a Universal Basic Income that provides an unconditional transfer of cash to everyone. As of 10 April, 126 countries have put in place or adapted some form of social policy in response to coronavirus.   The promise and potential of these measures is laudable and encouraging, but not enough. Too many people are falling through the cracks and need further support, urgently. At the same time, the focus on providing immediate support should not go at the expense of a longer-term vision.   For many across the globe, the pandemic's consequences will continue to hit hard long after we have stopped worrying about infection rates. The expansions of social safety nets across the world should therefore not serve as temporary measures only. Instead, let us seize this moment as an opportunity to scale up investment in social protection systems that offers support to everyone in need for as long as they need it.   http://www.ids.ac.uk/publications/social-impacts-and-responses-related-to-covid-19-in-low-and-middle-income-countries/ http://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/people-in-poverty-bear-the-brunt-of-covid-19-and-the-worst-is-yet-to-come/ http://www.ids.ac.uk/news/responding-to-covid-19-the-social-dynamics/ http://reliefweb.int/report/world/fighting-covid-19-africa-s-informal-settlements http://www.wiego.org/social-protection-responses-covid-19 http://www.streetchildren.org/news-and-updates/covid-19-rights-and-you-advocacy-for-children/ http://www.streetchildren.org/how-covid19-affects-street-children/   http://www.wiego.org/covid19crisis http://bit.ly/2D4lucM http://www.wider.unu.edu/publication/covid-19-intensifies-global-need-support-informal-workers-their-struggle http://knowyourcity.info/blog/ http://gcap.global/covid-19/ http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/transitions-series/temporary-basic-income--tbi--for-developing-countries.html http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/news/ http://mppn.org/the-threat-posed-by-covid-19-to-people-living-in-poverty/ http://bit.ly/3fexXbe http://data.unicef.org/resources/impact-of-covid-19-on-multidimensional-child-poverty/ http://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/world/coronavirus-poverty-recession-inequality-sabina-alkire-multidimensional-a9516811.html http://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/publication/un-desa-policy-brief-86-the-long-term-impact-of-covid-19-on-poverty/ http://theconversation.com/five-ways-coronavirus-is-deepening-global-inequality-144621 http://reliefweb.int/report/world/building-back-justice-dismantling-inequalities-after-covid-19-july-2020   http://www.actionaid.org.uk/blog/news/2020/05/21/how-is-covid-19-affecting-girls-around-the-world http://www.actionaid.org.uk/blog/news/2020/05/15/why-coronavirus-is-a-catastrophe-in-the-worlds-most-densely-packed-locations http://www.actionaid.org.uk/blog/news/2020/04/22/coronavirus-millions-facing-hunger-around-the-world http://viacampesina.org/en/the-winds-of-change-are-blowing-harder-covid-19-update-on-peasants-rural-workers-and-other-marginalized-groups/ http://www.fian.org/en/press-release/article/a-recipe-for-disaster-covid-response-based-on-the-industrial-food-system-2510 http://concordeurope.org/2020/04/07/covid19-support-resources/ http://concordeurope.org/resource/eu-global-response-to-covid-19-forging-a-path-to-an-equitable-future http://www.chronicpovertynetwork.org/blog/2020/6/10/covid-19-and-health-five-expert-views http://www.chronicpovertynetwork.org/covid-19 http://www.one.org/international/blog/global-poverty-covid-19/ http://www.wider.unu.edu/news/press-release-covid-19-fallout-could-push-half-billion-people-poverty-developing-countries   * UNRISD: Lives or Livelihoods? Protecting and Supporting Vulnerable Groups Through the Covid-19 Crisis: http://bit.ly/3gqKgS1 http://bit.ly/3aViJGY
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