Lessons from a Pandemic Funder
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When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, threatening the lives and livelihoods of people around the world, philanthropists and non-governmental organizations alike confronted a monumental challenge—meeting a new onslaught of dire and incalculably pressing needs in poor and marginalized communities, on top of the pre-existing issues we were already tackling in the course of our global human rights and humanitarian work. Suddenly, sickness, economic collapse and a slew of new authoritarian threats were at the doorsteps of our grantee partners around the world.
There was nothing to do but act. With our decades of experience in funding humanitarian efforts, American Jewish World Service (AJWS) responded nimbly in implementing a rapid response that emerged from our core strategy of supporting local leaders to do what they do best. We placed marginalized communities at the center of our efforts, asked the local leaders we support what they needed to wage effective local responses and provided them with flexible short- and long-term support to reach those most deeply affected by this crisis, especially communities with fewer resources and support.
Nearly a year later, we are certain that our longstanding approach of trusting local people to implement their own solutions remains the best way to advance human rights—and is indispensable in the age of COVID. And as a new U.S. administration takes charge and the world begins to distribute a vaccine while the pandemic rages on, we believe that this local approach to humanitarian aid and social change must be integrated into new U.S. and global responses.
The building blocks of localized aid: trust, urgency and longevity
At AJWS, our humanitarian response strategy is undergirded by a deep belief that crafting and deploying effective disaster responses and advancing social change in their aftermath requires respecting the agency of local marginalized communities and the activists who lead them. While officials in Europe, the U.S. and in national capitals are tempted to shape global and national responses from afar, we believe that vulnerable groups such as racial, religious and ethnic minorities, LGBTQI+ communities, women and girls, persons with disabilities and others must be at the table as leaders shaping local responses. Without them, our funding is simply a Band-Aid—providing a temporary fix that soon falls off. Instead, we trust our local partners to lead their communities and pursue response strategies that will last.
We also increase effectiveness and longevity by providing short-term support focused on immediate needs, while staying for the long term to support efforts to uphold the human rights that are often violated during crises. The following are our best practices for short-and-long-term disaster funding that effectively advance human rights.
Short-Term Guidelines
Providing short-term immediate support is an indispensable first step, because communities cannot focus on fighting human rights abuse when pressing needs for food, shelter and medical care aren’t met. Here are our principles for short-term relief:
1. Give people cash.
Communities reliant on the informal economy are dependent on cash transactions, even in non-pandemic times. During disasters like COVID, the need for immediate cash funds is even more pressing. Cash allows grantees to purchase what they need while providing them choice, control and dignity. This approach also builds trust between local humanitarian workers and the communities they serve, while stimulating the local economy.
2. Fund fast.
When approving crisis-response grants, we get money out the door in 48 hours. Immediate needs can’t wait, and we prioritize supporting local partners whom we know can get these funds to those in need without delay.
3. Keep it simple.
Our application forms are straightforward and concise, allowing partners to focus on responding to the crisis rather than fulfilling complicated grant requirements.
4. Be flexible.
During emergencies, we trust our grantees to reallocate funds they’ve received from us and empower them to pivot away from pre-planned projects when lives are at stake.
For example, when the pandemic emerged, Humsafar Trust—a partner in India that operates a support center for abused women and girls—was suddenly faced with responding to a new threat. When India entered lockdown on March 24, 2020 with only a few hours’ notice, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from some of India’s poorest communities were left with no income, food or shelter—many of them hundreds of miles from home. Seeing the immense need, Humsafar immediately decided to distribute emergency food aid to vulnerable communities. We fully supported this new use of AJWS funds, which met an immediate need and enhanced Humsafar’s local leadership and credibility for the long term.
5. General operating support is essential in a crisis.
We allowed all of our partners to shift our funds from specific projects to general operating support to pay critical budget lines like staff salaries and office rent, along with costs for their new remote work setups. Funding these essentials ensures that these organizations will survive the crisis so they can return to their core work.
Long-Term Guidelines
After our short-term response to a disaster, AJWS continues to support recovery for months and even years. Staying for the long term is essential because disasters exacerbate existing inequities, almost always igniting human rights abuses like violent persecution of minorities, government corruption or gross neglect of the poor and vulnerable in society. In almost every instance, whether it be a deadly virus like COVID-19 or an earthquake or conflict, marginalized people find themselves forced to defend their human rights under fire, and steady funding is essential to their success.
Here are our principles for effective long-term support:
1. Support projects that stand up against authoritarian abuses of power.
The human rights of marginalized people are frequently trampled when disasters and crises strike, because the chaos is a prime incubator of abuses of power. Corrupt governments frequently misappropriate aid from those who are most vulnerable to their supporters, and it’s common for police to crack down on citizens under the guise of “protection.” Funders should prioritize grantees who monitor and root out such abuses, ensuring that vulnerable communities are not neglected or scapegoated during emergencies.
For example, just outside Kampala, Uganda, in March 2020, a local mayor and police raided a homeless shelter for LGBTQI+ youth and, using violence, arrested 23 of its residents on false charges of “spreading COVID-19.” AJWS grantee Human Rights and Awareness Promotion Forum (HRAPF) mobilized emergency legal support and fought relentlessly as the youth were held without bail and violently harassed for nearly two months. On May 19, the charges were dropped and the young people were finally freed.
2. Ensure accountability of governments in distributing resources.
National, regional and local governments must be held accountable for how humanitarian aid is distributed and for making healthcare accessible to the most vulnerable populations. In the Dominican Republic, for example, COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise, making the country one of the most severely affected in the Caribbean. The high death rate is intrinsically tied to the extreme fragility of its under-resourced healthcare system. In a nation of 10 million people, there are only 250 ICU beds, and hospitals in poor areas are even more grossly under-resourced.
To press for a more equitable distribution of resources, AJWS grantee-partner ADESA (Right to Health Alliance) and its supporters advocated that the nation’s leaders do the following: ensure that vulnerable people will receive state support during the pandemic, implement widespread and free testing, increase the healthcare system’s capacity by employing all available health professionals, document the services provided by hospitals and primary care units, and assess the working conditions of medical staff.
3. Build capacity for communities to build back better and sustain themselves.
At AJWS, we have a firm commitment to supporting local economies and assisting our grantees to create their own local food resources. Sustainable agriculture supports local farmers and enhances local employment while helping end dependence on food aid and fossil fuels.
For example, in Uganda, hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled conflict in neighboring countries are facing a perilous food shortage, as food scarcity is increasing at an alarming rate during the pandemic.
Early on in the pandemic, our grantee Rural Initiative for Community Empowerment—West Nile (RICE-WN) provided direct food aid to alleviate this emergency. In recent months, it has turned to implementing longer-term solutions. It is currently distributing seeds and farming equipment and training refugees to grow their own food. And it is purchasing a grain grinder to enable the population to grind and sell their own grain to generate income to meet other pressing needs.
4. Recognize intersectionality—disasters are doubly devastating for already vulnerable groups.
When we support communities during crises like COVID-19, we always look for overlapping vulnerabilities that the crisis might exacerbate. For example, people with disabilities are always at risk for human rights abuses, but during this pandemic, they are especially vulnerable due to their lack of mobility and dependence on caregivers, which both limit their ability to socially distance.
To help this community, AJWS funds organizations like Initiative Solidaire des Actions de Développement (ASVM), which works with people living with disabilities in the Casamance region of Senegal, a poor and neglected area where many citizens lost limbs during past decades of civil conflict. During the pandemic, ASVM has distributed basic necessities such as food, sanitary kits and critical health information to this community, filling an important gap.
5. Create trust and connection through local messengers.
Access to credible science-based information is vital in times of health crisis. It’s common for those in marginalized communities to mistrust their governments and mainstream news outlets, especially in countries ruled by authoritarian regimes that suppress free speech. In these contexts, the most effective way to get critical information to communities at risk is to convey it via trusted local community media outlets and organizations.
In Haiti, for example, where the government has discouraged the use of masks and the populace is distrustful of any communication from their leaders about safety measures, AyiboPost, an AJWS grantee that publishes socially conscious journalism, has distributed videos, articles and social media posts educating Haitians about preventing infection. Their impact has been immense: Between March and July 2020, AyiboPost’s COVID-19 education campaign reached over 600,000 people—more than 5% of the country’s population. And an article exposing ineffective COVID-19 tests sold by several private medical laboratories led to a significant decrease in their use. Schools across the country are using AyiboPost’s videos to explain the pandemic to children, and the narration of these videos has even been broadcast on rural radio stations.
6. Address gender inequality as integral to disaster response.
Gender inequality is a fundamental fault line in all societies, and crises exacerbate the long-term challenges faced by women, girls, LGBTQI+ people and all those who suffer from gender-based violence. According to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), within the first six months of COVID-19 lockdowns, cases of gender-based violence rose globally. We have seen this in every country that we fund.
Take the example of Senegal, where lockdowns and economic distress led to an uptick in domestic abuse. To address this nefarious byproduct of the pandemic, AJWS grantee Association des Juristes Sénégalaises (AJS) launched a multifaceted response. As one of Senegal’s oldest and most distinguished grassroots organizations focused on women, AJWS grantee Association des Juristes Sénégalaises (AJS) understood that gender-based violence is a deeply complex problem—particularly during a time of crisis—and requires a range of solutions implemented by local people who know and have the trust of the community.
AJS opened help lines for women to report domestic violence and provided psychosocial support to survivors. It also distributed food aid to ease economic strain during the crisis that can lead to domestic violence. And it raised public awareness about this issue via the radio, an important communications channel in Senegal.
Before COVID hit, AJS led a successful nationwide campaign to change existing laws so that rape would be legally recognized as a major crime in Senegalese courts. With the newly strengthened legislation that AJS fought for and won, and additional support from AJS during the pandemic, women in AJS’s communities have been empowered to speak out to reduce violence—knowing they have the support they need to recover and pursue justice.
7. Protect the safety and security of grantees working in risky environments.
Protecting our grantees is fundamental, especially in countries where human rights abuses are rampant. For example, in Haiti, we are reluctant to list our courageous grantees publicly. These partners, some of whom we began funding following the 2010 earthquake, provide aid in crises, even as they continue to fight for human rights and the rule of law. AJWS also helps secure their safety by supporting training for safety, security and risk reduction.
Finally, there is one major principle that we adhere to in both the short and long term:
Focus on personal well-being.
We never forget the people behind the organizations. During a crisis, it’s essential to provide the same level of support to the first responders you fund as you do to the communities they serve. For example, in Central America, our partners are facing profound personal and professional challenges. The executive director of one grantee in El Salvador lost multiple members of her family to the virus in a matter of weeks. We provided support to cover basic food staples, PPE, healthcare and a portion of the funeral costs for her relatives.
Seeing the full humanity of grantee partners creates trust, strengthening our long-term partnerships with those on the front lines of systemic change.
Samantha Wolthuis is the Associate Vice President for Programs at American Jewish World Service (AJWS), where she oversees all of AJWS’s humanitarian crisis portfolios in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. She is the Chair of the Humanitarian Response Working Group for the Movement for Community-led Development and is a member of the advisory board of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at Brown University.
