22 May 2020
RedR Australia aligns with the UN plan for COVID-19 global response

On 25 March 2020 the United Nations launched a Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19.

The foreword by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres states: 

The world is only as strong as the weakest health system. The COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan aims to enable us to fight the virus in the world’s poorest countries, and address the needs of the most vulnerable people.

At RedR Australia, we are working tirelessly to align with the UN Global Humanitarian Response Plan by strengthening the resilience of countries around the world, and supporting their ability to contain and manage the health risks of COVID-19. 

RedR Australia and our partners stand ready to build preparedness, resilience and early recovery opportunities to counter the impact of COVID-19. We also work collaboratively to understand the long-term impact and implications for humanitarian need and the humanitarian sector.

Through targeted humanitarian deployments to WHO, WFP, OCHA, UNICEF, UNHCR and IOM, and partners, including national governments, RedR Australia is helping to ensure:

  1. The containment and minimisation of mortality rates
  2. The safeguarding of individual and community resilience, cohesion and recovery
  3. The protection of those most vulnerable

Working with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), RedR Australia currently has 60 deployees working in the field and from their home base. Over 29 per cent are responding to disease outbreaks, including COVID-19, and over 37 per cent are working on coordination including humanitarian affairs, emergency field coordination, monitoring and evaluation, and project management. These deployees are supporting our partners to develop crisis management mechanisms and systems that can support country responses during the global pandemic and beyond. 

Click here to read the UN Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19.