People in Need and USAID have supported 80,000 Ethiopians in the fight against COVID-19
Published: Jan 25, 2021 Reading time: 3 minutes
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 25th of January - People in Need (PIN) has received $400,000 from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance to mitigate the public health consequences and humanitarian impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the most vulnerable internally displaced persons, returnees, and host communities in Ethiopia.
The goal of this COVID-19-centered project – which provided assistance to people in the Gedeo zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region and the West Guji zone, in the Oromia Region – was to improve hygiene and sanitation in healthcare institutions, reduce the risk of virus exposure and transmission, provide essential hygiene supplies, and increase awareness through public hygiene campaigns. The project ran from August 31st 2020 to January 31st, 2021.
Support for health centres and households
Local healthcare institutions, which bear the burden of containing the spread of infectious diseases, require reliable infrastructure to effectively minimise infection risk. To this end, PIN constructed water storage tanks and hand-washing stations, and rehabilitated latrines in eight healthcare institutions to help them reduce infection rates and operate in a clean environment. Hygiene kits including soaps, hand sanitisers, jerry cans, mops, water buckets, and disinfectant bleaching solutions were also distributed to these institutions serving more than 72,000 people.
Additionally, water and sanitation materials including jerry cans, wash basins, plastic buckets, and soap were distributed to 1,408 households (9,240 individuals) from eight target districts and 17 kebeles in both the Gedeo and West Guji zones. These households were selected based on vulnerability to the epidemic and financial need, and included women and children, people with disabilities, the elderly, single-headed households, and large families.
Supporting Ethiopians in the fight against COVID-19
Altogether over 80,000 Ethiopians were supported in the fight against coronavirus pandemic. Birke Butu, a 70-year-old woman who received a hygiene kit, said: “I have almost nothing in my home and I don’t have the strength to work and earn money, so these items will help me a lot.”
Awareness-raising campaign
PIN has also conducted awareness-raising campaigns on public health and hygiene in eight districts. Some 340 health extension workers, together with health development armies tasked with improving health outcomes, were trained to promote awareness about COVID-19 in target communities, reaching an estimated 72,000 beneficiaries.
People in Need
People in Need (PIN) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation founded in 1992 on the ideals of humanism, freedom, equality, and solidarity. It has gradually become a mature humanitarian aid organisation, striving to provide aid in crisis regions around the world. PIN is currently one of the largest non-profit organisations in Central Europe, often working with affected people in complex conflict settings and hard-to-reach areas.
USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance
USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) provides life-saving humanitarian assistance - including food, water, shelter, emergency healthcare, sanitation and hygiene, and critical nutrition services— to the world’s most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach people.
For more information, please get in touch with:
Manaf Abdeen, PIN Ethiopia Country Director, +251.916828852, manaf.abdeen@peopleinneed.cz
Ato. Mesfin Gizaw, PIN Ethiopia Head of Emergency, +251.960403676, mesfin.gizaw@peopleinneed.cz
