Question no. 03: What is the COVID-19 related disclosure found in last two years?

Which users are addressed in those disclosures?

Answer:

ActionAid Bangladesh was very proactive from the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic in
Bnagladesh. On 11 April, 2020, we attained a discussion on “humanitarian needs of
low-income and marginalized people, plus women and girls, at the centre of all its
interventions” arranged by International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO). In that
forum we formed a Covid-19 Crisis Management Team in the beginning of the outbreak.
The team is in constant communication with local partners and project areas. we
engaged our youth groups in activities to raise community awareness like making
announcements about corona virus prevention, distributing masks and leaflets, plus
providing other essential services. Additionally in that forum we requested government’s
specific action plan on following issues

1. Covid-19 relief operations while continuing social distancing the allocation of

adequate funds for its implementation.
2. Allocation of food support for daily-wage earners, street children, construction
workers, and other informal sector workers. This includes socially-excluded
groups such as Dalits, sex workers, persons with disabilities, and transgender
people.
3. To design medium-term program to support smallholder farmers and micro and
small business entrepreneurs in recovering the losses incurred due to the Covid-
19 outbreak.
4. ActionAid Bangladesh said the private sector should play a proactive role in
terms of resource mobilization and innovation of local technology to combat
Covid-19.
Ref: The Business Standard new on 11.04.2020

Besides, ActionAid Bangladesh ran some fruitful projects during the during hole Covid-
19 pandemic period to contribute in socio-economy in Bangladesh with the help of our
donors, partners and government. Some of these are described here:

 ActionAid Bangladesh stood by the COVID-19 patients and family members with
emergency supports including food and financial assistance. We have facilitated
young people to run emergency responses in their own communities. They have
raised awareness through social media and distributed food packages to 2800
families. They set up several hand washings zones in the community. we have
 also developed a community lead response mechanism to address Gender-
Based Violence during COVID-19. (Newsletter 2020 page 10)

 ActionAid Bangladesh deployed 406 young Volunteers across the country to

support their own community in fighting against Covid -19 pandemic. Among
these 406 we awarded 3 young volunteers “Bangladesh Volunteer Award-2020”
On International Volunteer Day.(Newsletter 2020 page 2)

 We have trained 25 local journalists to enhance their skills on crisis journalism

amid COVID-19 pandemic. The training was organized in Cox’s Bazar from 14 to
15 December 2020. (Newsletter 2020 page 2)

 ActionAid Bangladesh distributed exercise books to 15000 community children

during this pandemic, and in lockdown situation when the educational institutes
remained closed. We tried to encourage these little student to hold on to their
learning aspiration and continuing their studies from home, with Exercise books
containing colorful pictorial messages on the prevention of both physical and
social diseases such as COVID-19, harmful practice of child marriage and need
to prevent and other social messages.(Newsletter 2020 page3)

 we organized a virtual roundtable with The Daily Star to address the issues of
decent employment for the young people specially in COVID-19 pandemic
situation. Representatives from relevant government ministries and departments,
industries and private sector, young people and civil society contributed in this
initiative. (Newsletter 2020 page 7)

 ActionAid Global Platform Bangladesh (GPB) supported people with disabilities

through its platform ‘Ensuring Inclusive Environment for All’ (EIEA). Online and
offline activities were initiated during COVID-19 lockdown. These activities
included awareness campaign, impact survey, advocacy initiatives for relief
distribution and a hotline for the persons with disability. (Newsletter 2020 page 9)

 We all know that Cyclone ‘Amphan’ struck parts of Bangladesh during Covid-19
pandemic. ActionAid Bangladesh distributed food, drinking water, hand washing
equipment, medicine and sanitary napkins to the affected people through their
partner organizations. We also distributed dignity Kits among 8000 women in
Amphan affected districts of Barguna and Satkhira. (Newsletter 2020 page 9)

 ActionAid Bangladesh co-hosted a live radio show titled ‘Impact of COVID-19

Related Unemployment and Economic Insecurity on Young People in
Bangladesh: A Spotlight on Young Women’ on 29 November 2020 with
 ColoursFM. The aim of this radio show was to raise awareness among the
audiences on the Impact of Covid-19 on youth employment and economic
security with focus on young women, men and LGBTQi community. (Newsletter
2020 page 15)

 ActionAid Bangladesh Awarded Tanzid Basunia, Staff Reporter, Daily Kaler

Kantho and Farah Hossain, Reporter, Nagorik TV ActionAid Journalist fellowship
who published reports on the selected thematic areas of the fellowship. The
thematic areas of the journalist fellowship were; Women in peril during a
pandemic and Violence against women in the COVID-19 pandemic. It also
includes the themes as, the diversity of violence against women on digital
platforms and its impact on the COVID-19 pandemic, Loss of job of working
women due to COVID-19, Internal displacement and its impact, Increased
pressure on women's unpaid care work and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Newsletter 2020 page 16)

Usually in newsletter disclosures are not directly addressed to any users. But the
end users of the Annual Newsletter 2020 of ActionAid Bangladesh COVID-19 related
disclosures are our beneficiaries, partners, our mother organization, general
members, donors, different body of local Government work or linked with
development sector, and our stakeholders.

Disclaimer:

While studying the last three years annual reports of ActionAid Bangladesh we find
that the report years are 2019, 2018 and 2017 when the COVID-19 pandemic yet
not spread in Bangladesh. So we searched some others sources to get COVID-19
related disclosure of ActionAid Bangladesh. Here we use Annual Newsletter 2020 of
ActionAid Bangladesh and Bangladeshi news portal name The Business Standard to
found the disclosure.