Our grant to iPartner India in April has provided 270,000 meals to families in India for whom coronavirus has caused great hardship and hunger. A total of 900 families received support, in the form of food packages containing enough healthy essentials to make meals for one month.
Our funded food packages were distributed in ten cities, including Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata and Mumbai, to families experiencing many different challenges. Over 90% of India’s workforce takes part in the informal economy, which offers little job security in times of crisis, and Covid-19 has prevented many people from being able to work. Many recipients of the food packages work in cottage industries or are daily wage labourers for whom business has dried up, while others belong to marginalised groups such as the homeless, sex workers, and indigenous communities and have struggled as a result of lockdown.
The project also distributed other essential items responding to the needs seen on the ground, including hygiene kits, online counselling sessions and Covid-19 awareness sessions. As part of this, iPartner provided personal protective equipment to 1,450 to frontline health workers with our funding.