Over 150 organisations come together to form COVIDActionCollab to help marginalized

To combat the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, organizations and networks representing the public, private, civil society, academic and other sectors have come together to form the COVIDActionCollab (CAC), as per the CAC’s official release.

The purpose of this collaboration is to support various stakeholders - civil society, private sector, academics, networks, foundations and governments, to rapidly and cost-effectively prevent new infections, diagnose early, treat appropriately with care, and mitigate negative impacts on livelihoods and well-being.

The Collaborative is ideated by the Catalyst Group, a social impact platform. The governing council for the CAC has 11 members who steer and guide the collaborative.

Speaking on the strategy adopted by the Collaborative, Shiv Kumar, Co-founder, Catalyst Group said,“The Collaborative is driven by three strategies: Deliver high impact package of services to key communities (12.5 million), where the collaborative members have a direct presence or reach, complementing the government; Setup and operate an information exchange and build capacities of key partners and actors; Solve critical challenges which can have a high impact on response with solutions such as competent resource estimation, nuanced telehealth and tele-counseling networks, infrastructure for community surveillance and more.”

The Collab consists of more than 150 organizations, reaching over 12.5 million people, including the poorest, vulnerable and marginalized across 16 states and 100 districts in India. The Collab will also expand to other countries like Nigeria, Tanzania on request.

In an official release, the Collab mentioned that over 20 tools, protocols, and frameworks have been developed for Covid-19 response while several Social Protection Schemes/Programmes have been conducted through helpdesks.

The Collab informed 900 volunteers have been enrolled of which 200 have active projects. 70 vendors who supply life savings materials are identified and on-boarded for members to access.

Further elaborating on the aim of the COVIDActionCollab, Shama Karkal, CEO, Swasti said: “The collaborative is driven by the belief that by pooling expertise and resources, it can address the problem of Covid and use this opportunity to make the world a better place. The team is undertaking comprehensive and coordinated action, with poor, marginalized and vulnerable people and their communities at the very centre of the response.”

The Collab further mentioned that over the past one-month social protection worth ₹10 crore have been delivered to poor and vulnerable communities.