In South Sudan’s Juba County, the HI team has identified more than 5,200 people with disabilities as well as very frail people who need support as the coronavirus makes its presence known. Vulnerable among the vulnerable, most are already displaced from their homes, and face numerous barriers to staying safe from COVID-19.

It is not easy to access information if you live in one of the world’s poorest countries. As the Covid-19 pandemic devastates communities around the globe, HI is showing vulnerable individuals, including people with disabilities, how to protect themselves from the virus.

Day after day, HI is adapting its work to help protect the most vulnerable from the rapid spread of the Covid-19 epidemic. Priority is being given to prevention messages and assisting the most fragile individuals, including the offer of psychosocial support.

HI is adapting two of its projects in Madagascar to fight the spread of COVID-19. We are training local relief teams to protect people in the areas where we work. Our goal is to assist people with disabilities and vulnerable individuals.

Our teams are making changes to the way they work in order to slow the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the field wherever possible. This includes reviewing their current response and implementing new projects to protect people from the virus and deal with the impact of the crisis, with a focus on people with disabilities, children, women, and isolated and older people.

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads to countries already affected by poverty, conflict and natural disasters, HI is adapting its response to the health crisis.

HI is assessing its scope for action and plans to use its expertise in emergency situations and its experience of past epidemic situations to protect the most vulnerable.

Although Europe is now the epicentre of the Coronavirus pandemic, the virus continues to spill across continents and countries, causing widespread disarray. The number of affected people increases daily. Given this unprecedented and dramatic situation, HI is taking special measures to protect its teams, maintain its operational capabilities and continue assisting the most vulnerable.

25- year-old Osama was living in a nice house with his family in the south of Syria until his neighbourhood was bombed in 2012. His 13-year old little brother died and the family had to flee. A missile fragment entered one of his 12th vertebras, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Last Monday in Geneva, more than 70 States met for the second round of negotiations for a political declaration against the use of explosive weapons in urban areas. HI was there to recall the urgency of protecting civilians.        

HI has deployed emergency mobile teams to provide rehabilitation and psychosocial support to vulnerable displaced people in conflict-affected areas.

The Trump Administration should announce today a deadly landmine policy shift

HI partner organisation Action On Armed Violence (AOAV) releases figures on explosive violence casualties in 2019.

The international campaign, "16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women" will take place from November 25—December 10. On this occasion, three HI specialists shed light on HI’s commitment to ensure the full protection of women and girls, especially those with disabilities.

Haiti has not been spared in the last 10 years. A devastating earthquake in 2010 followed by a powerful hurricane in 2016 has compounded serious political instability that continues to paralyse the country today. In 2010, HI deployed one of its largest humanitarian aid operations in Haiti. It still makes a major contribution today to strengthening the local physical rehabilitation network.