Responding to COVID-19

Our response is global, but there is critical need in India. Help provide life-saving essentials and more, in India and elsewhere around the world.

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Responding to COVID-19

Our response is global, but there is critical need in India. Help provide life-saving essentials and more, in India and elsewhere around the world.

GIVE NOW

Responding to COVID-19

Our response is global, but there is critical need in India.
Help provide life-saving essentials and more, in India and elsewhere around the world.

GIVE NOW

Update: COVID-19 crisis in India

Over 3,000 people are dying every day and a new, more contagious strain of the virus is infecting increasing numbers of children. Get the latest details on the situation and action World Vision is taking to help reduce the impact of the pandemic in India.

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A teenaged boy dressed in blue jeans and a blue shirt sits on a stoop writing in a notebook. He is wearing a protective face mask.

How we’re responding

Secondary impacts of the coronavirus could hit harder than the disease, putting the future of an entire generation at risk. In every community where we work, we’re responding by:

Scaling up preventive measures

We’ll expand our presence on the ground to coordinate our response with local health services and interagency groups. We’re reaching millions of people with preventive and risk communications to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Strengthening health systems

We’re adapting our established delivery platforms to respond at the community level by supporting health supply chains and mobilizing health workers. Our hope is to minimize the impact of the coronavirus on overwhelmed health systems.

Supporting children and families

We’re equipping families to support their children through this crisis. We’ll expand our focus on enhancing food security and livelihoods in order to prevent malnutrition, loss of family income and to strengthen local economies.

Collaborating and advocating

We’re working with governments, community networks, faith leaders and child-focused agencies to reach the most vulnerable girls and boys. Through advocacy and public engagement, we’re ensuring that all children are protected.

Where we’re responding (New updates!)

Our response spans over 70 countries where World Vision has a field presence. We’re focusing targeted support on situations of pre-existing vulnerability and fragility, where children are most at risk – conflict-affected countries, urban slums and refugee settings.

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An illustration of a world map showing the countries in orange where World Vision responded to the Covid-19 outbreak.

With COVID-19 threatening to reverse decades of progress in the fight against poverty, we’re calling on the Government of Canada to step up.

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Stories for You

COVID-19 effects on global child poverty Across the globe, COVID-19 is increasing the problem of child poverty, and threatening to undo 20 years of significant progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Children’s mental health needs surge due to COVID-19 A new study revealed that the number of refugee children who say they need mental health support has more than tripled because of COVID-19. Yet, mental health and psychosocial support services are too often perceived as non-essential or even a luxury.

Child marriage and COVID-19: What happens when no one’s looking? A World Vision report predicts a sharp increase in violence against children and child marriage , as a result of COVID-19. At least four million more girls could be married in the next two years. Find out why.

Resources

Family-friendly resources to help Canadians stay safe and healthy.

A person scrubbing hands with soap under a running water

COVID-19 Handwashing Guide

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A graphic showing a kids' activity bundle, with an illustration of a monkey, a mancala game and a tippy tap.

Children's Activities and Games

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A woman and a young girl are sitting at a table outdoors. They are looking at a mobile device together, which the woman is holding in her right hand.

Mitigating COVID-19 Stigma and Fear

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Frequently Asked Questions

Although the coronavirus is present in places where World Vision has existing development projects, we are grateful that that all children in our programming areas are safe with no known cases of the virus . We are working closely with our program staff around the world to keep children safe.

In support of public health recommendations outlined by the World Health Organization, some sponsorship program activities, such as sponsor visits, have been temporarily suspended. Other sponsorship activities continue but have been adjusted to accommodate the current circumstance and may take place with some delay. These activities may include sponsor queries, correspondence, gift notifications and gift deliveries. These temporary suspensions and delays may affect the information you receive from us in the coming weeks and months.

Our Child Sponsorship program empowers communities to support vulnerable children and their families through sustainable approaches. We employ local staff members and volunteers, who usually live within or close to the communities where they work. They are seen as friends, confidants and trustworthy partners. In response to COVID-19, they are supporting communities by amplifying public health messaging, supporting education initiatives, promoting child well-being and helping families as needed.

Please know that we are committed to keeping you updated on what World Vision is doing to help your sponsored child during this time and as information becomes available. As we continue to navigate the way forward in light of the pandemic, we want to thank you for your ongoing commitment to helping the world’s most vulnerable children.

Countries with effective health systems are in a much better place to monitor, identify and treat those with the coronavirus, as well as to prevent its spread. We are most concerned about countries where:

health systems and monitoring are weak, with large refugee or displaced persons populations;
people may already suffer with diseases which are common among the poor (such as malaria, TB, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS and Ebola);
conflict exists; and
immune systems are compromised by severe malnutrition.

People living in any of these contexts are at greater risk of spread and infection during a pandemic.

World Vision is undertaking the largest humanitarian response in our 70-year history to limit the spread of COVID-19 and reduce its impact on vulnerable children and their families. This response spans more than 70 countries where World Vision has a field presence, with the aim of reaching 72 million people, half of them children, over the next 18 months (beginning March 2020), raising US $350 million to do so.

World Vision Canada is responding in every country where we work, in one form or another. Our response to the most vulnerable people is centred on 28 countries, where we’re focused on prevention of transmission, supporting health responses and caring for children made vulnerable by this crisis.

We’re applying the principles of agility, flexibility, and real-time analysis in practice. Since launching the first phase of our response, we’ve been actively listening and analyzing feedback from children, families, staff and partners on the ground. Based on this, we’re adapting and reinforcing our approach to better meet the needs of children and communities.

World Vision calls on the Government of Canada to strengthen Canada’s global COVID-19 response and long-term international assistance efforts by increasing support for children and ensuring Canada’s response is informed by children and youth.

Up to 30 million children are in danger from the secondary health impacts of COVID-19, such as increased malnutrition, a lack of immunizations, and having immune systems weakened by other deadly diseases like measles, malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS or Ebola. Up to 85 million more girls and boys worldwide may be exposed to physical, sexual and/or emotional violence in the coming months as a direct result of the quarantine.

These secondary impacts will hit communities harder than COVID-19 itself. The aftershocks of the crisis could put at risk the future of an entire generation of children.

That’s why, alongside our critical health responses, we’re also expanding livelihoods support, food security, and implementing a variety of cash, voucher and savings interventions. We’re investing in child protection to reduce violence against children, provide mental health and psychosocial support to help families cope with stress, and do even more to support children in lockdown getting access to education. We continue to listen to families and communities, remain flexible in our programming, and adapt as the needs change over time.

World Vision’s principal role in the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain is to help prepare communities for vaccine uptake. This means ensuring that communities are: accurately informed about the nature and purpose of each COVID-19 vaccine; that leaders and champions are equipped to support their constituencies; and that public health decision makers understand vaccine acceptance barriers and the science of reducing vaccine hesitancy.

We will also ensure planning processes include citizens and are accountable to them, that allocation strategies are equitable, and that front-line health workers are supported to provide vaccine services with quality. World Vision’s work will build on our existing COVID-19 response in more than 70 countries.

World Vision is excited at the global potential for COVID-19 vaccines to improve and save lives. Vaccines will help protect the world’s most vulnerable people while restoring hope and livelihoods.

While our office in Mississauga is currently closed to the public, our staff in Canada continue with day-to-day operations. We are following all public health guidelines related to door-to-door canvassing, fundraising activities in malls, as well as our artist- and church-related events. We are closely monitoring the situation here at home and around the world, as the situation changes daily. We are led by government and local public health guidance, which includes travel and quarantine guidance.