Although clearly unique, our response is based on decades of experience and what we have learned responding to previous disease outbreaks, including Cholera in Haiti, the Zika virus and Ebola outbreaks in both West Africa and more recently the Democratic Republic of Congo and includes:
Our Approach
Using our global reach
With an active presence in over 90 countries and more than 37,000 staff, we have an established presence, extensive networks and significant relationships with civil society and local governments within vulnerable communities which we are leveraging to maintain humanitarian and development operations in some of the most impoverished and vulnerable communities in the face of COVID-19.
Within this global effort, World Vision’s COVID-19 Response aims to support at least 72 million people through our US$350 million response.
Leveraging our local partnerships
Because of our extensive 70-year history serving the world’s most vulnerable through transformational development and long-term commitment to communities, we have an established presence, extensive networks and significant relationships with civil society and local governments within vulnerable communities.
We have been focusing on transformational development and therefore have effective relationships and long-term commitment to communities, civil society and local governments and extensive networks of community volunteers and leaders, including more than 220,000 community health workers and 400,000 faith leaders (globally) who have direct and indirect contact with the communities where we are working.
Reaching the most vulnerable
Existing humanitarian needs will grow exponentially across many counties.
Millions of children are displaced, living in urban poverty, conflict or large, overcrowded areas, with limited access to health care. Children can and will be directly affected by this virus — directly and indirectly. Our Aftershocks report highlights that the secondary effects of the crisis are putting at least 30 million children’s lives at risk.
Being an influential voice for vulnerable children
Through its advocacy, public engagement, and partnerships World Vision has been able to inform global and national policy, mobilise support for humanitarian action by governments and the general public, as well as form strong partnerships to achieve positive change together.
Strengthening the voices of children and civil society, active advocacy and engagement with decision makers will be at the heart of World Vision’s COVID-19 response. Jointly tackling the challenges and collaborating with national governments, donors, UN agencies and the private sector will be critical to global success. We are in this together.
Adapting to a new way of working
This is the biggest response we have ever undertaken. It requires new ways of working. Agility, flexibility, use of digital technologies, accelerated data collection, consulting with the communities we serve, real-time analysis and remote management of our programs.
To support this, we are draw on our unique fragile context programme approach (FCPA) to enhance our adaptive programming, agility, and innovation on initiatives, such as the Collaborative Cash Delivery (CCD) Network to enhance programme reach and impact, as well as on critical livelihoods support tools, such as World Vision’s global Savings for Transformation (S4T) platforms.
Addressing the secondary effects of COVID-19 on children
We will be allocating more than half of our US$350 million appeal to urgently address the secondary impacts of COVID-19 on children and their families.
Initial analysis indicates that secondary impacts of COVID-19 will hit communities harder than the disease itself.
Working with Partners
Around the world, our dedicated staff are implementing health, education, livelihood, and food security programmes in more than 70 countries to support vulnerable children and families impacted by COVID-19. Many of these programmes are made possible thanks to our generous institutional and government donors, and private corporate foundations.