Emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic

India is the second most populous country after China with about 1.2 billion people and is the seventh largest country in the world with an area of 3,287,000 km². The highly contrasted country has enjoyed growth rates of up to 10% over many years and is one of the largest economies in the world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of 1,644 billion US dollars. But only a small percentage of the Indian population has benefited from this impressive economic boom so far, as the majority of people in India are still living in abject poverty. More than 800 million people in India are considered poor. Most of them live in the countryside and keep afloat with odd jobs. The lack of employment which provides a livable wage in rural areas is driving many Indians into rapidly growing metropolitan areas such as Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore or Calcutta. There, most of them expect a life of poverty and despair in the mega-slums, made up of millions of corrugated ironworks, without sufficient drinking water supply, without garbage disposal and in many cases without electricity. The poor hygiene conditions are the cause of diseases such as cholera, typhus and dysentery, in which especially children suffer and die. Poverty in India impacts children, families and individuals in a variety of different ways through:

• High infant mortality
• Malnutrition
• Child labour
• Lack of education
• Child marriage
• HIV / AIDS

AIM OF THE PROJECT:

The objective of the intervention was, therefore, to give temporary emergency food and health support to the identified beneficiaries, delivering packages full of: food (rice, mustard oil, lentils, wheat, powdered milk, salt, sugar, tea and spices), hygiene items (masks and cleansing soap).