Humanity & Inclusion works in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, where COVID-19 is spreading at an alarming rate.

South Asia has seen a worrying jump in COVID-19 cases, particularly in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The situation has made it especially difficult for the most vulnerable individuals to access health care and humanitarian aid.

India: the world’s fourth worst-affected country

According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 is spreading at an alarming rate in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Out of 565,000 confirmed cases, more than 330,000 were recorded in India, the world’s fourth worst-affected country.

Two powerful typhoons: Amphan and Nisarga

May 13, India and Bangladesh were also hit by Typhoon Amphan, affecting 71 million people, mainly in West Bengal, and Odisha in India. India was hit by another typhoon, Nisarga, on June 3. Due to social distancing guidelines, lack of space in evacuation centers, and other factors, the COVID-19 crisis further complicated evacuation efforts. Natural disasters considerably increase vulnerability during an epidemic.

India: risk prevention

The situation is particularly worrying in India, where more than 330,000 people have been affected by the epidemic. More than 70% of people with disabilities have experienced problems due to the lockdown and travel restrictions, including financial issues, difficulties accessing services, food, and the like . According to the International Labour Organization , as a result of the pandemic, some 400 million workers in the informal economy are at risk of falling deeper into poverty. They include more than 100 million migrant workers in India who have lost their jobs due to the lockdown and been forced to return to their region of origin, depriving their families of sometimes vital financial support. The situation is therefore likely to further increase inequalities in a country with a population of 1.3 billion, and more than 190 million undernourished people.

Humanity & Inclusion is currently identifying the needs of people with disabilities in India and, in partnership with SPHERE INDIA, trains local organizations to be inclusive in their projects. Our team also translated COVID-19 prevention messages into sign language for individuals with hearing disabilities.

Bangladesh: rehabilitation and psychological support

In Bangladesh, more than 90,000 cases of contamination have been reported, although the actual figure is likely to be higher, given the country’s limited testing capacity. According to the World Food Program, around a quarter of the population—more than 160 million people—is food insecure, and one in three children have stunted growth due to acute malnutrition. The lockdown is likely to have a disastrous social and economic impact.

In Bangladesh, and particularly in the Rohingya refugee camps, Humanity & Inclusion continues to provide rehabilitation and psychological support, and socio-economic support (through livestock breeding schemes, cash transfers, etc.) to more than 300 families. We also remotely assists some 1,400 people with disabilities, sharing advice on their sexual and reproductive lives. Our teams help train partner organizations to ensure they are inclusive to people with disabilities, so that no one is left on the sidelines.

In response to rumors currently circulating in Rohingya refugee camps, the organization provides local people with information on the risk of contamination and how to protect themselves from it. Lastly, Humanity & Inclusion helps transport equipment to remote areas. We’ve supplied humanitarian organizations with 169 trucks and transported 653 tons of humanitarian supplies to refugee camps and storage centers.

Pakistan: food distribution and awareness-raising

The situation is very worrying in Pakistan. There has been a significant increase in the number of recorded cases (more than 140,000) and deaths in recent weeks. Lockdown measures have not been implemented.

Humanity & Inclusion continues to operate in Pakistan. A project providing support to health centers in Afghan refugee camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been adapted by raising the COVID-19 risk awareness of health unit staff in refugee camps and local communities. Our team has also distributed food to the most vulnerable people, including children and young women with disabilities.

Focus on the most vulnerable 

As COVID-19 takes aim at our planet's most vulnerable neighbors, Humanity & Inclusion donors ensure that people with disabilities, people with injuries from conflict, children, women, and especially older people have the information--and even the soap--they need to stay healthy. Learn more about Humanity & Inclusion's vast COVID-19 response.

Begin a monthly gift today to help sustain this work and reach as many people as possible.

As of June 29, more than 206,500 people have contracted COVID-19 in Pakistan, a country with one of the world’s most highest daily infection rates. Pakistan has not implemented lockdown measures, which makes the situation particularly concerning.

Humanity & Inclusion donors are assisting the most vulnerable individuals, including Afghan refugees. Their generosity has enabled distributions of food kits, as well as hygiene and prevention kits, to families who need it most in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Peshawar and Peshawar districts. Donors have placed such essential supplies in the homes of 1,840 families.

Teams are sharing information with Pakistani children and their parents about the risks of COVID-19 and how to stay safe. We’re also spreading awareness messages in Afghan refugee camps and making sure that health professionals working with vulnerable populations know how to protect themselves and the individuals they work with.

In the video below, Angelina Robinson, Humanity & Inclusion's Director in Pakistan, tells the story of a beneficiary who could not take her sick child to the hospital due to her disability and the ongoing pandemic.

Focus on the most vulnerable 

As COVID-19 takes aim at our planet's most vulnerable neighbors, Humanity & Inclusion donors ensure that people with disabilities, people with injuries from conflict, children, women, and especially older people have the information--and even the soap--they need to stay healthy. Learn more about Humanity & Inclusion's vast COVID-19 response.

Begin a monthly gift today to help sustain this work and reach as many people as possible.

The most vulnerable individuals, including people with disabilities, are bearing the brunt of the lockdown imposed in response to COVID-19. It has left many without food or money. Humanity & Inclusion is helping the most vulnerable individuals, including Saima and her family, survive the crisis.

Saima has used a wheelchair since childhood. When she was only one-year-old, she contracted polio, causing her to become paralyzed. Today, she lives with her family in an impoverished area in Karachi, Pakistan. The lockdown has made their daily lives almost impossible to bear.

Reliant on humanitarian assistance

Saima husband’s is a day laborer. Since being forced to stop working a month ago, the family of five found themselves without enough to eat. Finding food is now an ordeal. Saima and her husband have to travel two hours from their home to a food distribution point in order to find enough to eat. They depend entirely on humanitarian assistance.

Health services have become inaccessible

A few months ago, when her son fell seriously ill, Saima was unable to take him to hospital for treatment. She had no other choice than to keep her child at home until he recovered, without medical assistance.

“I should have gone to hospital, but it is quite far in a wheelchair and I didn’t want to risk catching the virus,” she explains. “I have to use my hands to push myself in my wheelchair. So instead, I stayed at home with my son until his fever broke.”

Learning a new skill

Before Pakistan was hit by the epidemic, Saima was being trained by Humanity & Inclusion in embroidery and sewing. “Like most people with disabilities in Pakistan, Saima was completely excluded from the school system and job market,” says Sumaira Bibi, Humanity & Inclusion’s project monitoring manager in Pakistan. “Once trained, she will be able to make a substantial contribution to the family’s income.”  

With their combined income, the couple would have been able to send their children to the nearby school. Like the rest of us, Saima looks forward to the COVID-19 crisis ending. She told our team that she hopes the suffering fo the poorest in society, including people with disabilities, comes to an end. In the meantime, Humanity & Inclusion team is there for Saima and her family. We’re working harder than ever to ensure family’s like Saima’s have the care and support they need to get through this crisis.

Humanity & Inclusion works to protect the most vulnerable 

As of May 11, we count 161 new projects that aim to protect our beneficiaries and staff from the virus, and to help them during their countries' lock downs. As COVID-19 takes aim at our planet's most vulnerable neighbors, we're ensuring that people with disabilities, people with injuries from conflict, children, women, and especially older people have the information--and even the soap--to stay healthy. Learn more about our COVID-19 response.

Begin a monthly gift today to help sustain this work and reach as many people as possible.

Seven-year-old Samina lives in Pakistan. She is not able to walk, and cannot use her hands for certain tasks like bathing, combing her hair, or holding some objects. Samina used to be isolated due to her disabilities, but when Humanity & Inclusion invited her to be a part of a children’s group in her neighborhood, things began to change. 

Until the coronavirus hit. COVID-19 has forced Pakistan into quarantine, putting huge restrictions on Humanity & Inclusion's activities for vulnerable children, like Samina. Our team is still finding ways to ease the impact of the lockdown on children like Samina and her family, but the virus has effectively placed Samina back into her home. Into isolation. 

Before quarantine

Before the coronavirus, Samina was outside every day, playing with other children and making friends for the first time in her life.

Before our team provided her with a wheelchair, her friends would carry her around the playground so she could participate in the same activities as them. Physical therapists gave Samina rehabilitation care at the community-based center, and at home she did physical therapy exercises as many as four times a day to help improve her mobility and to use of her hands.  

Nine years ago, Samina’s family fled armed violence and has been living in displaced camps since. Her father is a daily laborer. “We are very poor,” her mother says. "We have never been able to arrange a medical treatment for Samina. But thanks to Humanity & Inclusion’s team, she was getting stronger.”

Support amid lockdown 

“All the improvements we have observed on her physical and mental condition in recent months risk to be wasted," says Sumaira Bibi, Humanity & Inclusion’s monitoring officer in Pakistan. "Samina felt very elated after each outside activity and we clearly observe a visible increase in her mental growth. Kids need to interact with children and play. By playing with toys, she was able to better move and use her hands and fingers. Such activities are essential for their well-being and growth. Samina also need to follow her rehabilitation exercises to ensure that her mobility will not be totally lost.”

Although our community workers cannot continue organizing children's activities during the lockdown, our teams are finding ways to provide vital support. “We have kept in contact with Samina's mother to help ensure that Samina performs her physical therapy exercises at home regularly," Bibi explains. “It is important to maintain her mobility. Sessions on health and hygiene, as well as social distancing are also being organized with Samina's family to help fight COVID-19."

Feeding a family

Samina’s father hasn’t been able to work for the past three weeks. They have very little to eat. Humanity & Inclusion donors ensure that her family will receive food, as well as a hygiene kit.

Like many parents, Samina’s mother and father find it very difficult to see their children so frustrated, depressed, and helpless during this global health crisis. Samina’s parents hope that the ongoing situation improves quickly so that she can meet up with the children’s group again. It’s not only fun for Samina, but it’s also one of the best therapies for her growth.

Humanity & Inclusion in Pakistan

Donor support has enabled our teams to work in Pakistan since the early 1980s, initially addressing the needs of Afghan refugees. Today, our mission has evolved to include issues that emerge from natural disasters. Learn more about our work in Pakistan.

Begin a monthly gift today to help sustain this work and reach as many people as possible.

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit Pakistan's Jhelum city in the province of Punjab Tuesday, Sept. 24, killing at least 38 people and injuring 646. Humanity & Inclusion plans to offer its expertise in post-earthquake response, and is currently evaluating of the needs of the more than 7,000 families affected.

Pakistan Authorities are addressing immediate emergency needs, distributing 570 tents, 1,000 blankets and 21 tons of food items. However many needs are still not covered, particularly for 500 severely injured people in need of trauma care and physical rehabilitation.

HI has been working alongside the government since the quake, and will carry out a specific needs assessment in Mirpur (Azad Jammu & Kashmir), on Saturday, Sept. 28.

Based on our experience in past emergencies, we expect that needs may include physical rehabilitation. “Following earthquakes, people who suffer from traumas, such as crushing, fractures and spinal injuries caused by collapsing buildings, need specific care," explains Mehdi Iken, Pakistan Country Director. "Our physical therapists regularly take over from surgeons in hospitals and provide post-operative care and rehabilitation sessions to limit the onset of disabling consequences of an injury.”

It's possible that Humanity & Inclusion will provide psychosocial support, and protection and inclusion services. The local team, which has worked in Pakistan since the 1980s, hopes to work with all actors to ensure that people with disabilities, and vulnerable groups have fair access to humanitarian assistance.

Photo: JATLAN, PAKISTAN—A view of a badly damaged house days after a powerful earthquake with magnitude of 5.8 hit the area in Jatlan town in the Mirpur District in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on September 26, 2019.

Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province sits adjacent to the Afghan border. Since the early 1980s, it's been home to unrest, religious extremism, and conflicts. These have had profound influences on local society. Among the most heartbreaking: children left with no safe places to play.

But recently it was the scene of a great celebration. At the center of a crowd stood nine-year old Shayan Khan, a boy with disability, and an active member of one of Humanity & Inclusion's children's clubs. Leaning on his crutch, he used his free hand to reach above his head to cut a bright red ribbon. The area's first playground was open!

The children rushed onto the playground! "The fact that they ignored the food and just wanted to make pots of clay, try out the truck tires and the swings, and run around, is the best evidence of success you can have," notes Tabriz Shamsi, program officer for Humanity & Inclusion Pakistan. 

“It was a bit of a challenge when it came to acquiring land that had easy access for all children and that was secure. We found a land in Jalozai, next to an orphanage known as Rashid Shaheed Foundation. The owner of the orphanage donated the land and HI teams constructed the playground with help of community members. The 200 children of the orphanage will each plant a tree to build a natural wall of protection around the playground.”

A powerful idea: inclusion

The inclusive playground does more than give kids a safe place to play. It's also introducing the idea of inclusion and helping parents and civil society understand that children with disabilities and those with developmental delays can also play—especially when playgrounds are inclusive.

“This is a big step forward," says Tabriz. "In this region, children with disabilities are generally kept at home. Parents and local organizations have a charity-based approach towards children with disabilities, meaning they are the passive recipients of aid. The idea of inclusion is rather new.

“We are very pleased that the opening ceremony was attended by high officials from several departments and by community personnel. The speeches had sign language interpretation, and stressed the importance of inclusion. The biggest moment was, of course, when Shayan cut the ribbon."

The playground construction is part of HI’s Growing Together Project that is financed by Ikea Foundation. Through play, the project aims to improve the lives of vulnerable children in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Thailand, including children with disabilities. Jalozai once held one of Pakistan's biggest refugee camps, and is still home many internally displaced families. The Growing Together project targets vulnerable children from those displaced families and from permanent residents.

HI is constructing five more playgrounds. The team continues to offer a range of activities for children, parents, the community, and local organizations, in order to promote inclusion and play. These actions support early child development, because play is a fundamental right and is essential for a child’s physical and mental health. The project also has set up children’s clubs where children of all abilities can play, learn and grow together. 

This literature review examined spinal cord injury survivors of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake in Pakistan, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

The effects of an earthquake in an urban area can be devastating. Often much is destroyed, including significant materials and human public health infrastructures, communication and transportation networks, as well as medical facilities. There are also vast individual risk factors to be conscious of, including pre-existing disabilities, extremes of age, chronic illness, and lack of mobility. 

Proper care and knowledge regarding spinal cord injuries is critical in any emergency response, such as an earthquake; on-scene spinal immobilization, intravenous access and maintenance of cervical alignment are critical. In addition, rapid referral to a multidisciplinary care facility with appropriate rehabilitation services is essential.  

Download the report:

Medical rehabilitation of spinal cord injury following earthquakes

Violence affects one in three women in their lifetime. Globally, women with disabilities are ten times more likely to experience sexual violence. Over the next three weeks, Humanity & Inclusion will address the violence against women with disabilities at the 71st session of the Committee[1] on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, organized by the United Nations in Geneva from October 22 through November 9.

25 years of work

Humanity & Inclusion implements projects to address violence in six countries around the world[2] by raising women's awareness of their rights and helping them build self-reliance. In Rwanda, HI provides psychological support to victims of physical and sexual violence, including women, and organizes discussion groups. In Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya, our team works to combat sexual violence against children, including children with disabilities, who are three to four times more likely to be at risk of violence.

Making it Work

HI launched the Making it Work Gender and Disability project to promote good practices in order to eliminate violence against women and girls with disabilities. The aim is to ensure that women's voices are heard and that the risks they face (violence, abuse, and exploitation) are taken into account in the projects implemented by other organizations in the fields of humanitarian action, human rights, feminism, and gender-based violence.

Publications

Gender and disability intersectionality in practice: Women and girls with disabilities addressing discrimination and violence in Africa

In June 2018, Humanity & Inclusion's Making it Work project published the report, “Gender and disability intersectionality in practice: Women and girls with disabilities addressing discrimination and violence in Africa,” which presents nine best practices for women’s organizations in six African countries. Women leaders with disabilities presented the report at the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York. 

Protection Against Violence Based on Disability, Gender, Age (2018)

Humanity & Inclusion works to prevent violence based on disability, gender and age and its disabling consequences in development and fragile settings, as well as to provide holistic care for survivors of violence, exploitation and abuse. HI’s goal is to ensure that people with disabilities and other at-risk groups are less exposed to violence and can live in dignity, independently, and with control over their own lives. View the flier here.

[1]This committee is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

[2] Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

As part of the Growing Together project, supported by the IKEA Foundation, Handicap International promotes early detection, stimulation, and rehabilitation sessions for children to prevent the onset of disabilities and improve their living conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh, Thailand, and Pakistan. Our teams teach parents, caregivers, and community volunteers how to stimulate young children and promote healthy habits through play and daily activities.

Humanity & Inclusion is committed to supporting people who are fleeing conflict and natural disaster. Whether they are sheltering within their own countries or residing in countries of first asylum as refugees, our teams are hard at work providing basic and specific aid to people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. Read about our work with refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) as well as our other projects in the 11 countries below.

This life-saving work is possible thanks to the generous support of our donors, as well as key funding agencies such as the U.S. Department of State, IKEA Foundation, among others.

Humanity & Inclusion is an impartial, international aid organization, and we act where needs are greatest. We do not work on refugee resettlement.