Mercy Corps launches Resilience Fund to help global community fight COVID-19

16 April 2020

Edinburgh-based global organisation launches new fund to protect life-saving assistance and help most vulnerable around the world

EDINBURGH, UK. -- The global organisation Mercy Corps is issuing an urgent call to raise £20 million to support people around the world whose lives and livelihoods are most threatened by COVID-19. The pandemic, which has already spread to 210 countries worldwide, will have a disproportionate impact on those who live in the fragile and conflict-affected places where Mercy Corps works. 

Mercy Corps’ COVID-19 Resilience Fund will help provide essential aid to people and communities in order to protect themselves against the virus and to meet their basic needs. This includes providing communities with clean water, personal protective equipment (PPE) and cash to buy food for their families. It will also help communities recover economically and build resilience against future shocks. 

“For millions across the globe, social-distancing, self-isolation and even regular handwashing are a near impossibility. Having seen the impact that COVID-19 is having on families right here in Scotland, we are hugely concerned about its potential effects on already vulnerable people in the places where we work,” says Simon O’Connell, Executive Director for Mercy Corps. 

"In these challenging times, we are asking the Scottish people to rally behind their global community and give what they can to help us prevent the devastation to lives and livelihoods that this pandemic could bring.” 

Mercy Corps’ £20 million COVID-19 Resilience Fund will:

  • Protect against COVID-19. In Northwest Syria, Mercy Corps is providing clean water and soap to families to help prevent the spread of the disease as much as possible in cramped and unsanitary conditions. In Pakistan, we are providing personal protective equipment to medical teams.
  • Meet immediate needs. Mercy Corps is supporting families and communities to meet their most urgent needs. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, we are providing small amounts of cash to 15,000 vulnerable families to purchase urgently needed items including food and health care.
  • Prepare for economic shock. Mercy Corps will help communities to survive and recover from the economic impact of this pandemic. In Nigeria, we are connecting farmers and traders through WhatsApp groups, informing them of open trade routes and hygiene information so they can continue to operate.

Mercy Corps is working in over 40 countries, every one of them now impacted by COVID-19.

Anyone can donate to Mercy Corps’ efforts to provide emergency support to vulnerable families and communities during this crisis and beyond.