The global COVID-19 Pandemic, already considered one of the greatest humanitarian crises of our times, once again places the theme of human rights and the defence of life to the centre of discussions.
The state of global calamity refocuses our eyes and our actions and demands urgent decision making. Although the pandemic threatens everybody’s lives, it impacts most forcefully on groups and populations that already confront social, economic and racial inequality and which live with constant vulnerability: populations whose human rights are denied, whose access to health and sanitation services, guarantee to the right to food and food security are all seriously compromised.
CESE continues to support initiatives from grassroots movements in the struggle for resistance and the guarantee of rights, but now it is prioritizing emergency and humanitarian initiatives in the fight against the advance of coronavirus. Initially, approximately BRL 500 thousand was made available through the Fund to Support Small Projects to selected organizations, from all of Brazil’s regions, which operate in territories of vulnerability, prioritizing communities in urban peripheries, traditional populations, indigenous peoples, homeless families, fishermen and women, quilombolas and immigrants.
Priority support items are: food products (these could be staple food baskets) and water; cleaning and hygiene products (soap, detergent, bleach, alcohol hand gel); and protection items, such as gloves and masks.
Dimas Galvão, CESE’s Projects and Training Coordinator, notes: “since the end of March, the team has been in contact with a significant number of partner organizations and social movements from various regions around the country in order to identify what is happening in their territories of operation to face the challenges posed by the pandemic”.
Based on this information and taking into consideration the populations most vulnerable in this context, as well as in priority regions, a decision was taken to send a letter to 30 previously-contacted organizations, inviting them to present an emergency project addressing this issue.
Galvão continues: “With the funds we are making available at this time, we will be able to support approximately 30 initiatives – with amounts ranging from BRL 10 to 20 thousand – focused on strengthening family food support and the purchase of hygiene and cleaning items. To speed up the process and guarantee that the funds arrive as quickly as possible, we have simplified our project and reporting frameworks, as well as our internal operational procedures for analysis and decision-making.
Isolation and domestic violence
Another extremely important aspect, and one which demands greater visibility, is the significant increase in domestic violence within the Coronavirus context. Women in close confinement continue to accumulate office tasks and those they perform at home (caring for the family and domestic tasks) – while remaining exposed to domestic violence, since they are forced to live with their aggressors for a greater amount of time. All this is aggravated by the fact that this is a difficult context in which to report cases or request help.
CESE’s communications are therefore also focused on an approach to gender justice and related complaints. Since March, posts on our institutional social networks outline how black women will be more affected by the pandemic.
Fundraisers for resistance
As the contamination worsens, our communication channels have also been focused on publicizing online campaigns and fundraisers from the movements and social organizations. Many collectives have formed to confront the crisis, focused on collecting staple food baskets, hygiene and cleaning materials and financial resources to support families who already had no income. We have added a permanent page (https://www.cese.org.br/solidariedadeaosmovimentos/) to CESE’s site, which is updated daily with cards from the campaigns of grassroots movements and organizations around the country. We have also published statements and texts from interviews with the affected populations on our social networks (Facebook and Instagram).
According to Sonia Mota, CESE’s Executive Director, speedy decision-making is required to confront this pandemic context. “Thanks to the speed of the team and the coalitions we are involved with, it has been possible to identify groups and movements that needed support at this initial moment. We also rely on good dialogue with and the flexibility of the agencies that support us, which has enabled the redirecting of resources. If has been a collective act of solidarity”.
“CESE is following World Health Organization guidance and maintaining social isolation, with the entire team working from home, focused on their commitment to fulfil our mission to strengthen grassroots organizations. We are certain that we will only overcome this pandemic by joining forces”, is the assessment of CESE’s Executive Director.