AWARDEES’ and their ORGANIZATIONS’ RESPOND TO COVID-19 CRISIS

MAGSAYSAY AWARDEES and their ORGANIZATIONS RESPOND TO COVID-19 CRISIS

Amidst the uncertainty, confusion and despair caused by the global pandemic, humanity's Greatness of
Spirit prevails. Here are some of the efforts of selected Ramon Magsaysay Awardees in response to
the fight against COVID-19.

Awardees leading the response to help the poor, marginalized sectors, migrant workers

Awardees leading local government’s response in Seoul and in Delhi

Awardees Leading the response to help the frontliners

And as the world is in dire need of good news, we will be sharing more efforts from our other Ramon
Magsaysay Awardees in the coming weeks. All articles were sourced from the Awardees or their
organizations’ websites.

We encourage everyone to share their stories in fighting COVID-19. What is your way of giving? We
hear how others are donating funds to aid the frontliners, extending aid to their local food banks,
checking up on a friend or an elderly neighbor to make sure they are safe, or working with community
leaders on helpful initiatives. Indeed, our collective effort, can create a large ripple effect of hope in
our community and across the world.

Leading the Response to Help those Impacted by the Pandemic and Lockdown—
The Poor, Marginalized Farmers, Migrant Workers

HARISH HANDE, 2012 Magsaysay Awardee from India, Founder, SELCO Foundation

Information sharing and other interventions by

SELCO
• During the first week of the lock down-
SELCO teams conducted an extensive
qualitative study by reaching out to 200+
end users, 30+ enterprises and 15+
financing agencies among other
stakeholders. The SELCO foundation has
launched a portal for COVID19 response on
its website that links directly from the
website homepage. This page will
consistently house the weekly updates on
the knowledge and implementation work
ongoing in response to the pandemic. The
page was created on the request of multiple stakeholders wanting to view and share the channel
that SELCO had opened up for leveraging its network to be able to effectively respond to the crisis.
• SELCO in partnership with Public Health Foundation of India, Center for Chronic Diseases,
Healthcare without Harm and Shakti Foundation held a webinar in which close to 400 health care
professionals and sustainability champions participated. The conversation took place in a critical
time when state governments and professionals needed to hear from each other on the
approaches taken toward building resilient infrastructure and health systems in response to
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 current and future needs. Speakers also included state health leaders and key personnel from
national and regional COVID task forces.
• A Webinar was hosted with 80+ clean energy driven Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), 20+
finance and business planning experts with a special guest speaker from a National Bank (Ministry
of Small and Medium Enterprises – MSME). This webinar was held in Hindi and was critical to begin
solving immediate questions and concerns of enterprises. Discussions on inventory, supply chain,
manufacturing and most critical finance and business planning were matched with strategies that
need to be put in place, as well as the gaps and issues that need to be highlighted. The report of
the webinar with micro and small clean energy and technology enterprises has been
published for the sector to be able to take key insights from, especially for practitioners working
with micro, small and medium enterprises. In Addition, resources collated for COVID-19 related
finance, schemes and funding and opportunities for clean energy driven SMEs is now made
available to all entrepreneurs.
• Dealing with COVID19-Guidelines for People with Disability: As SELCO works with a network of
partners who are champions on caring and creating opportunities for the disabled, the lack of
access to need-based specific information for the institutions and champions was apparent.
Through its network of champion doctors and disability experts, SELCO developed a toolkit with
guidelines (as social distancing and other priorities for such high-risk institutes are very different
from general guidelines). SELCO developed the guidelines with and for Association for People with
Disability and Voices of the World – two institutes where it has now been actively implemented.
• Key solutions case studies across multiple instances were highlighted, some of them include: solar
powered sewing machine units now producing masks, solar lighting and mobile charging for police
and security checkpoints and supporting in the interim plus connecting migrant populations or
other extremely vulnerable end users with organizations like Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives
(APPI) and ZOMATO for immediate relief and aid.

ANSHU GUPTA, 2012 Magsaysay Awardee, India; Founder of GOONJ

• Goonj distributes food gathered locally,

putting local farmers directly in touch with
consumers. Through its supply chain, Goonj
delivers weekly ration kits consisting of rice
or flour, pulses, spices, oil, soap, and other
needs to feed a family of four for seven to
10 days.
• Goonj hopes to serve 1 million people,
focusing on migrant workers who have
been hardest by the pandemic.
• Goonj is also giving grocery kits which
include wheat, rice and spices.
• Goonj started a fundraiser called
#RahatCOVID-19, encouraging everyone
(people who contributed material, friends, volunteers, partners, admirers of their work) to do their
share and build this campaign in their own network of family and friends.

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• 15 women of the Goonj Foundation are
working round the clock to make cotton
masks for poor people. From making
400-500 masks daily, they have now
increased production to 1,200 masks, on
target to achieving 1500 masks per day.

DOMPET DHUAFA, 2016 Magsaysay Awardee (organization) from Indonesia

• Dompet Dhuafa (Wallet of the Poor) (DD) and its

provincial branches have begun the distribution
of essential goods to daily workers in 32
provinces in Indonesia, who are affected by the
lockdown.
• The Dompet Dhuafa Disaster Management
Center (DMC) team carries out cleaning and
spraying of disinfectants in public areas, schools,
offices, and houses of worship: mosques,
churches, temples, and other places of worship.
• The DMC also installed disinfection/sterilization
chambers for medical check-up of gravediggers
in cemeteries who have been exposed to COVID-
19-infected cadavers.
• DD has launched a COVID-19 fundraiser, to help
pay for hospitals to buy medical supplies, cover
the daily needs of families in isolation because of
the coronavirus, as well as for disinfection of
public areas.
• In Australia: The Australian branch of Dompet Dhuafa has launched an initiative to feed hundreds
of homeless people in Australia. Twenty-five (25) Indonesian volunteers gave away 300 food
packages to underprivileged citizens out on the streets, at high risk of falling into indigence and
hunger.

PRATEEP UNGSONGTHAM HATA, 1978 Magsaysay Awardee

from Thailand, Founder, Duang Prateep Foundation

• The Duang Prateep Foundation (DPF) led by Khun Prateep

Ungsongtham Hata has been working with at least five non-
governmental organisations (NGO) and volunteer groups to
provide necessity items including mask, hand sanitizer, soap
and canned food for the needy.

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• With the support of donors, the foundation was able to put
together gift bags for the elderly and disabled. The
Foundation staff went to the communities to personally
distribute gift bags to those who were bedridden and those
too old to travel.

• Another donor, the

Gulf Group, provided
2,000 pre-packed
meal boxes per day
to 27 communities
recommended by
DPF in Bangkok to be
distributed by DPF to
people with
disabilities, bedridden individuals, the elderly, the poor and
families with young children.

BANGLADESH RURAL ADVANCEMENT COMMITTEE (BRAC) OF FAZLE HASAN ABED

1980 Magsaysay Awardee from Bangladesh

• BRAC’s field officials working under different programmes across the country have been instructed
to join the force of its health programme and act as health volunteers in different awareness
campaigns for Coronavirus prevention.
• Aside from working in the fields, BRAC is using its social media platforms to raise awareness.
Relevant content on proper handwashing and
respiratory hygiene is being regularly promoted
through BRAC Facebook page and blog. BRAC has
also set up a dedicated web
portal http://www.brac.net/COVID-19/ on
BRAC website where people can access concrete,
reliable and updated information.
• Besides operating mass awareness campaign
reaching to millions of people, BRAC has started
manufacturing over 200 thousand pieces of
reusable masks through its hygienic home-based production method for community use as part of
the organisation's extensive campaign against COVID-19. It is also exploring and building its
capacity to manufacture personal protective
equipment (PPE) and hopes to go into large scale
production once the process is perfected per
scientific standards.
• BRAC has also stopped collecting installments
from its microloan borrowers and had disbursed
cash to those in need in 20 cities of the country.
Low-income families in urban slums, semi-urban
and hard-to-reach areas, whose livelihood have
been impacted due to the social distancing
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 measures of COVID-19 pandemic was provided with BDT 1,500 (per family) as an emergency food
assistance fund.
• BRAC also distributed 7,500 food packages, hygiene products, masks and gloves door to door to the
extreme poor communities and daily wage earners, who have been without work since the
government imposed a country-wide "general leave."
• In Urban slums and public hotspots, BRAC has set up hand washing stations and has undertaken a
disinfecting campaign in public transportations in partnership with city corporations.
• BRAC is also partnering with Psychosocial Health and Wellness Centre (PHWC) and Kaan Pete Roi in
launching a nation-wide tele-counselling platform titled "Kaan Pete Roi" for persons in distress,
owing to the panic created by COVID-19.

RYAN CAYABYAB, 2019 Magsaysay Awardee from the Philippines

National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab launched FB live

concerts with local artists to raise funds to support the
urban poor of Metro Manila affected by COVID-19.
Dubbed as “Bayanihan, Musikahan” the series aired via
Facebook Live from March 19 until April 15. The
fundraiser featured a number of top Filipino talents
performing live in their respective Facebook pages. It
also aired on the concert series’ official Facebook
page and in Cayabyab's Facebook account. In less than a
week after being launched, the “Bayanihan, Musikahan”
series has reportedly raised at least P13.8 million.

GAWAD KALINGA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC., 2006 Magsaysay Awardee

(organization) from the Philippines

• Gawad Kalinga has mounted Operation “Walang Iwanan, Walang Hawaan” (Leave No One Behind
But Leave Covid-19 Behind). The goal of the campaign is to bring relief and help to those in need
while managing the transmission of the virus to a minimum (if not zero).
• Gawad Kalinga identifies poor communities across the country that are the most vulnerable
economically due to the current crisis.
Depending on the location of the targeted
community, the mode of relief distribution
could either be thru Cash Transfers, Food
Vouchers or establishment of Food Banks.
• For poor communities in urban areas and
places with connectivity, cash will be
transferred digitally to a family beneficiary
through established electronic money
platforms like GCash or PayMaya to
supplement existing relief distributions in the locality.
• For rural communities where electronic cash transfers are not feasible, distribution of relief packs
through a voucher system is being implemented. Gawad Kalinga negotiates with local grocery
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 stores near the targeted community to purchase the required food items. Family beneficiaries
claim the food packs from the grocery store using both the vouchers (SMS format) from GK and the
government-issued Quarantine Pass.
• For selected areas where actual handling of inventory is the only option, GK sets up Food Banks
where nearby family beneficiaries could redeem food items using also vouchers and government-
issued quarantine passes.

Leading Local Government’s Response

PARK WON SOON, 2006 Magsaysay Awardee from South Korea; Currently the Mayor of Seoul

Transparency and speed have been the key factors that helped Seoul City Mayor Park Won-soon and
South Korea “bend the curve” against coronavirus infections through pre-emptive countermeasures:
• From the early stages of the outbreak in mid-February, the Seoul Metropolitan Government began
operating the 24-hour Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.
• It shared information including COVID-19 confirmed case status, confirmed patients’ movement
history and screening clinic information through a website and via emergency text alerts.
• Efforts were made to
communicate with foreign
residents in different
languages including the
translation of screening clinic
information, COVID-19
infectious status and disease
prevention guidelines.
• Shuttle buses were made
available to foreign students
from the airport who had
arrived from a country with
confirmed cases and offering
temporary accommodation to
international students who
showed symptoms.
• Temperature checks were
done at all immigration ports
of entry.
• Drive-through screening stations for quick testing were provided.
• Testing of 15,000 samples were done daily.

ARVIND KEJRIWAL, 2006 Magsaysay Awardee for Emergent Leadership, India;

Currently the Chief Minister of New Delhi

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal assures his Delhi constituents that all steps are being taken to contain
the spread of COVID-19 virus in his area. Delhi has 1154 total cases and 24 deaths as of April 13.

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• Kejriwal launched a
WhatsApp helpline for
people to enquire about
COVID-19, food banks,
shelters among others.
• The Delhi government
started a massive
sanitation drive in the
city’s COVID-19
containment zones,
declared as ‘Red Zones’
and the high-risk zones, identified as ‘Orange Zones’; 34 hotspots in the national capital have been
identified as COVID-19 containment zones.
• He launched a comprehensive plan named `SHIELD` to control the spread of coronavirus in Delhi:

S - sealing of localities, to control the movement of people

H - home quarantine

I - isolation of COVID-19 patients and tracing of contacts for isolation too.

E - essential supplies for door to door delivery service.

L - local sanitation on a regular basis.

D - door-to-door checking of any person having symptoms of coronavirus, for their samples to
be taken.

Leading the Response to Help the Frontliners

TZU CHI FOUNDATION of SHIH CHENG YEN, Founder; 1991 Magsaysay Awardee from Taiwan

Responsive Measures in Taiwan

• As per the Taiwanese government’s request,

surgical mask manufacturers on the island sped up
their production to relieve a shortage of masks.
Taiwan’s armed forces were mobilized to help at
factory production lines to increase the supply. At
the invitation of the Tainan city government, Tzu
Chi volunteers pitched in to help as well. They
joined the production lines at a mask factory in
Tainan, working a daily shift from eight in the
morning to four in the afternoon.
• The official website of the Tzu Chi Foundation
started publishing a daily reminder from Dharma
Master Cheng Yen to help reduce anxiety and fear that has accompanied the spread of the
coronavirus. A daily prayer event was launched at Tzu Chi facilities around the world, with
volunteers and employees praying at the same time every day for blessings for the world.

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Aid to Medical Workers
• Tzu Chi volunteers in countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, the USA, China, and Russia
prepared hospital supplies and had them delivered to hospitals in areas hit hard by the epidemic.
The supplies included isolation gowns, safety goggles, surgical caps, medical gloves, and bed sheets
for hospital beds.
• Volunteers in China gave gifts of medical supplies and
nutritious foodstuffs, including multigrain powder and
oatmeal, to front-line medical workers.
• Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation,
headquartered in Taiwan, has so far donated some 4,000
masks to the Vatican Pharmacy to ensure “the safety and
protection of those Catholic nuns, priests and workers
who are committed to providing comfort, guidance and
spiritual relief in times of fear and anxiety.”
• Tzu Chi USA is sending medical supplies to hospitals and
medical centers across the country, and giving charity to
those most vulnerable, like the homeless, elderly, and the undocumented. They are supporting
healthcare workers around the country by sourcing, purchasing, and sending medical supplies in
the safest ways possible, and opening up its charity services to those most critically impacted by
the pandemic – including those with low-income, the elderly, the undocumented, and many more.
This may be through food, supplies, cash relief, and much more.

HRH MAHA CHAKRI SIRINDHORN, 1991

Magsaysay Awardee, Thailand
Founder, Chaipattana Foundation

In Thailand, the Chaipattana Foundation at the

behest of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn,
has established a fund to receive donations to
battle the coronavirus outbreak. Princess
Sirindhorn, as its executive chairperson, has
instructed the foundation to to accept donations
from the public and distribute them to hospitals
and medical personnel to buy equipment to treat COVID-19 patients. The fund is named "the
Chaipattana Fund to fight against COVID-19 [and other diseases]".

SYED ADIBUL HASAN RIZVI, 1998 Magsaysay Awardee,

Pakistan, Founder, Sindh Institute of Urology and
Transplantation (SIUT)

• SIUT established a Corona Clinic on the 18th of

March 2020.
• In the midst of the biggest medical emergency, SIUT
extends its services to combat Corona Virus with
free screening and testing along with fully equipped

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 isolation wards and COVID-19 ICU. Its dialysis
service is available 24/7.
• A separate 50-bedded isolation ward was
established for corona patients, where mild to
moderate patients will be admitted.
• Since then over 3000 people have been
screened for Corona virus. Over 300 have been
screened in the last two days.
• SIUT is also providing timely medical treatment
to immune-compromised cancer and
transplant patients.
• SIUT corona virus “Helpline” (021 99215469) is
also playing an important role in assisting
public round the clock, where doctors provide them information about preventive measures and
guidelines.

BABA AMTE’S family supports the healthcare

sector thru Baba Amte’s community hospital
for the poor. MURLIDHAR DEVIDAS AMTE (+),
1985 Magsaysay Awardee from India, Founder
of Maharogi Sewa Samiti (MSS)

The third generation of the family of late

Murlidhar Devidas Amte, better known as Baba
Amte, has continued his legacy of social work.

• Members of Maharogi Sewa Samiti have

dedicated a manufacturing unit to produce
multi-layered, reusable and washable cloth
masks.
• Sharing the design with government, MSS
has now received a bulk order from
government for 40,000 masks; 3,600 have
been manufactured and 1,390 distributed,
as of April 6.
• MSS is also producing two pouches to go
with the masks to ensure sterilization. The
pouches are meant to segregate them
accordingly. MSS has received many orders
also from groups of migrants and ground
staff.

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MAHABIR PUN, 2007 Magsaysay Awardee from Nepal, Founder of National Innovation Center

Since the coronavirus outbreak in Nepal, Pun and his team from
his National Innovation Centre are working day and night to
support the country with various protective gear for frontliners.

• He and his team have been producing Personal Protective

Equipment (PPE) in Nepal and distributing them along with
mask, gloves and goggles to the doctors.
• They have started working on PPE booth-making in
Bhaktapur. The booth will be made of aluminum and the
cost for it is borne by various groups.
• Already finished PPE booths were sent to Maharajgunj-
based Teaching Hospital, Army Hospital, Bir Hospital and
Bhaktapur Hospital in Kathmandu valley. Some more
booths were sent to Kailali, Pokhara, Butwal and Birtamod.

EDHI FOUNDATION, FOUNDERS ABDUL SATTAR EDHI AND BILQIS BANO EDHI
1986 Magsaysay Awardees from Pakistan

• Edhi Foundation, a
relief agency founded
by the
internationally-
acclaimed social
worker, Abdul Sattar
Edhi (deceased) and
now being managed
by his wife Bilqis, is
importing
coronavirus testing
kits, which will be
provided to the
government and
charity hospitals in
the country's remote areas.
• Using its fleet of 1,500 ambulances the foundation also distributes food rations among needy
families.
• The charity has made available its ambulances to transport the suspected COVID-19 patients to the
hospitals and quarantine centers across the country. It is working 24/7 to assist the government in
battle against coronavirus.

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CYNTHIA MAUNG, 2002 Magsaysay Awardee, Myanmar, Founder, Mae Tao Clinic

Mae Tao Clinic has been taking steps to prepare, prevent and respond to
the COVID-19 emergency to protect both patients and staff. Actions such
as providing personal protective equipment (PPE), patient care supplies,
and ongoing staff training are essential, yet create an increased burden
on an already overstretched and under resourced health care clinic. Mae
Tao Clinic is asking for donations and support during this especially
difficult time.

Mae Tao Clinic founder and director, Dr. Cynthia Maung says the
response to COVID-19 requires a strategic plan that considers the migrant
and refugee community in Mae Sot who have less access to information
and resources.
• Mae Tao Clinic has upgraded hand washing facilities and are
focusing on hygiene promotion. Staff numbers have been reduced and subsequently so have
cases.
• All non-emergency procedures have been closed. Mae Tao Clinic relies on a community of
volunteers to provide coronavirus-related information to their communities.
• Mae Tao Clinic is monitoring the situation closely and encouraging parents and children not to
travel.

UNILAB Inc. co-founded by HOWARD Q. DEE, 2018 Magsaysay Awardee from the Philippines

• Unilab Inc., the

pharmaceutical firm co-
founded by Howard Q. Dee
has quietly released some
P665 million worth of
donations to its partner-
institutions, with the amount
seen to surge to a billion
pesos in the next few weeks
as its response to the
country’s COVID-19 crisis.

• It has delivered to its

partners P317 million worth
of essential medicines and
vitamins; personal protective
equipment (PPE) sets which
consist of coveralls, isolation
gowns, face shields, N95 and
surgical masks, gloves and
shoe covers worth P192 million; alcohol, hygiene and basic protective kits worth P45 million;
support for COVID-19 test kit development worth P50 million; and P11 million worth of ventilators.

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• Unilab has also supported the fundraising drives of civil society groups for the underprivileged
communities with donations worth P50 million.

• It also demonstrated its excellence in execution by closely coordinating with the Department of
Health and the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) in identifying the types of critical support
required by priority recipients, especially the frontliners and vulnerable sectors. Currently, more
than 400 hospitals nationwide have already received support from the company.

• By partnering with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), University of the
Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) and other government and private organizations,
Unilab is also working on the possibility of significant increase in the country’s capacity to do
testing, which is an important component of the drive to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Fe Del Mundo Hospital, co-founded by Dr. FE DEL MUNDO (+)

1977 Magsaysay Awardee from the Philippines

Fe del Mundo Medical Center has

responded to the need for more private
hospitals to care for COVID-positive
patients. The Center has an initial 30 bed
capacity and is prepared to admit mild to
moderately severe cases. The hospital
management is also looking to increase its
bed capacity.

***

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