IOM Egypt Concludes “1,000s Of Kits for 1,000 Families”, a Week-Long Campaign to Assist Migrants by Providing Essential Items to Protect Their Physical and Mental Health During COVID-19.
Cairo, 9 June 2020 – As part of the “1,000s Of Kits for 1,000 Families” campaign, IOM Egypt organized a week-long collaboration with migrants and community leaders, where various awareness-raising events and distributions took place. The “1,000s Of Kits for 1,000 Families” campaign aims to support vulnerable migrants and their families throughout the different migrant communities in Cairo, whose vulnerability has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many of these migrants were already vulnerable prior to the pandemic, with limited safety nets and financial resources. Due to the impact of the measures taken to contain the pandemic in Egypt, their situation has become even more dire, many of whom losing their livelihoods and source of income.
IOM Egypt has distributed 1,000 food boxes, 1,000 hygiene kits, 1,000 awareness raising flyers on COVID-19, and 1,000 IOM hygiene and nutrition coloring books to 1,000 vulnerable migrant families from the Eritrean, Ethiopian, Sudanese and Yemeni communities in Cairo. This is intended to support them in meeting their essential and basic needs, and to raise their awareness and understanding about COVID-19, in order to help curb the spread of widespread misinformation. Additionally, 1,000 awareness raising flyers on mental health support during the pandemic were also distributed, in order to better aid migrants and their families on how to cope with stress during this pandemic.
The campaign took place over a week, starting on 9 June, in order to follow social distancing regulations and avoid over-crowding at distribution points. IOM staff as well as migrants wore personal protective equipment (PPE), and IOM staff were supported by focal points and community leaders to better manage the distributions.
Following the distributions, some of the migrants participated in filling a survey to measure their knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID-19, as part of a study conducted by the Ministry of Health and Population, the World Health Organization and other UN agencies. IOM ensured the representation of migrants in this study through the dissemination of the survey during these events and sharing the online version through the community leaders to be disseminated even further throughout the communities.
For more information, please contact Wigdan Mohamad at IOM Egypt, Tel: +20 1012 428 527, Email: wimohamad@iom.int
