Coronavirus fallout: Brac allocates Tk 15cr for 100,000 low-income families
Brac has allocated a budget of Tk 15 crore to help low-income families in urban slums, semi-urban and remote areas whose livelihoods have been impacted due to the social distancing measures taken to stem the Covid-19 pandemic.
Each family will be provided Tk 1,500 as an emergency food assistance fund, starting from today, with 100,000 families to be covered in the first phase using Brac's own fund disseminated through its different programmes, according to a Brac press release.
"Covid-19 is a humanitarian crisis with a public health dimension. In countries like Bangladesh, it also has a dire economic consequence. According to World Bank data, only 15 percent of Bangladesh's population makes more than Tk 500 a day. Most villagers depend on remittances from the cities or abroad. Because this is a global crisis, people everywhere are out of work. Income has stopped," Brac Executive Director Asif Saleh said.
"Our emergency assistance will be targeted towards low-income families who have lost their source of income due to coronavirus. We will support 100,000 such families, however the requirements are far greater. I urge compassionate individuals and organisations to come forward and help us scale up the initiative to reach many more," he also said.
This initiative will be implemented in close coordination with the local public representatives and administration, particularly to avoid duplication, Asif Saleh added.
Low-income families in 12 city corporations, 8 municipalities, 38 sadar upazilas, haor villages, neighbourhoods and market areas near river ports, as well as host community living adjacent to the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, will receive this assistance. BRAC staff will carry out the operation with assistance from the local public representatives and communities.
Brac has also launched a fundraising appeal to scale up the effort and increase the coverage of their programme. Individuals and any organisation can donate. Details are available on their website.
Brac's assistance will enable a family of four to buy essential food items for two weeks.
Under the initiative, Brac's Urban Development Programme will lead the distribution among 61,000 families in 12 city corporations and eight municipalities, while its Ultra Poor Graduation programme will carry out the operation for 16,000 families of hawkers, rickshaw- and van-pullers and domestic helps in 38 sadar upazilas, according to the release.
The Integrated Development Programme will provide the assistance to 8,000 families living in haor areas, markets and neighbourhoods near river ports, while 15,000 families in the host community in Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas of Cox's Bazar will receive the assistance, it read.
The organisation is also driving a nationwide hygiene awareness and behavioural change campaign with its network of over 100,000 staff, volunteers and health workers with support of the local administration.
It will distribute protective wear and hygiene products -- including 568,095 units of liquid soap, bathing soap and sanitisers, and 106,519 units of protective wear such as masks and gloves -- to staff and community.
Also, 200,000 units of reusable masks and 2,000 PPEs have been produced through hygienic home-based production mechanisms and those have already been distributed. More masks are in production right now, the Brac release read.
Besides, the organisation is also running an extensive public awareness campaign through social media and mass media, involving eminent physicians and public health experts, policymakers, artists and Brac's senior leadership team, among others.
Details in this regard are available on the dedicated portal for the initiative.
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