蜜桃交友

By Lydia O鈥橩ane

This week, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) in the UK launched a Coronavirus Appeal to raise funds to help vulnerable communities who are at risk, as the coronavirus pandemic spreads in countries already dealing with instability and conflict.

The is focusing its attention on six fragile states: Yemen and Syria; Somalia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The appeal also takes in Afghanistan, as well as the world鈥檚 largest refugee camp, in Cox鈥檚 Bazar, Bangladesh.

One of the charities that is part of the DEC Appeal is the UK based Catholic Agency For Overseas Development, or CAFOD.

Since 2012, the agency has been working on the crisis in Syria, one of the vulnerable countries hit by both conflict and the Coronavirus.

Last week the mainly rebel-held province of Idlib in the north-west of the country registered its first coronavirus case. This confirmation has raised fears of an overwhelming situation in crowded camps.

So far, the country has recorded 477 cases and at least 22 deaths from Covid-19.

Sarah Burrows is CAFOD's Emergency Response Officer for Syria. Speaking to Vatican Radio, she said, 鈥淪yria is one of the countries where there鈥檚 been conflict for many, many years, and now on top of that they have the Coronavirus鈥�.

Before the spread of the pandemic, more than 12 million people had been forced to leave their homes, 鈥渆ither displaced within Syria, within the borders, or they鈥檝e fled the country.鈥�

She also pointed out that even before the pandemic, 11 million people there were in need of humanitarian assistance.

Urgent needs

鈥淣eeds are especially high in Syria and other areas where there are refugee camps and in countries that are suffering conflict鈥�, said Ms Burrows.

One of the priorities, she said, 鈥渋s to make sure that the displaced families and refugee families are protected; that they have access to clean water, to soap, to handwashing stations and also that they鈥檙e able to receive the information they need to know how to keep safe鈥�.

Another need at this time, she pointed out, is that people don鈥檛 go hungry, 鈥渂ecause so many people have lost jobs, their income and their livelihoods鈥�.

CAFOD Response

At present, CAFOD is working with local aid experts on the ground in unregistered camps for people displaced inside the country. The Emergency Response Officer explained that they are constructing hygiene and sanitation facilities, as well as distributing PPE鈥檚 to prevent further spread of the virus.

Over the last number of months, millions of people around the world have been adhering to lockdown and social distancing measures. But, as Ms Burrows pointed out, many people in Syria don鈥檛 have a home, and social distancing is almost impossible if you are living in a refugee camp.

Church Network

鈥淥ne of the amazing things about the Church鈥�, she underlined, 鈥渋s that it鈥檚 global and so we鈥檝e got this huge global community network which CAFOD is part of.鈥� 鈥淲e鈥檙e able to reach people in some of the most remote and war-torn parts of the world鈥� we鈥檙e also able to reach people quickly, and we can do this because of those Church networks鈥�.

Burrows also noted that Church leaders and other faith leaders play a really vital role in emergency response, and are very much a part of the community that CAFOD is supporting.