How to Support Charities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Many charities have launched emergency coronavirus appeals, so we look at the work some of our key partner charities are doing and some of the simplest ways you can support them during COVID-19.

What work are charities doing during the pandemic?

Oxfam

Oxfam is working in a number of areas to stop the spread of the virus and provide vital support to those in need.

Some of these actions include:

• Providing families with essentials like clean water, soap and information on how to stay safe and healthy.
• Providing food to vulnerable people.
• Supporting frontline medical and aid workers.

Oxfam’s work on hygiene is particularly vital – they are distributing hygiene kits and information and providing hygiene training in more than 60 countries. They are also working within crowded spaces such as refugee and displacement camps in Yemen, Syria and Rohingya to improve access to sanitation. 

They aim to reach 17 million people with hygiene advice, 900,000 with hygiene kits and 700,000 people with food.

You can find out more about how Oxfam is responding to coronavirus on their dedicated information page.

UNHCR

UNHCR have scaled up their work to keep refugees and internally displaced people safe by responding to the coronavirus with life-saving support, including water, medical care and hygiene materials.

They are procuring or delivering the following items:

• Masks
• Gowns
• Oxygen concentrators
• Refugee housing units
• Hospital tents
• PPE and medical items

Their work also includes ensuring that the rights of forcibly displaced people are protected during the pandemic, including the right to seek asylum, and working to prevent sexual and gender-based violence.

You can find out more about how UNHCR is responding to coronavirus on their dedicated information page.

UNICEF

UNICEF is working with families across the world to ensure that children have the best chance of staying healthy and continuing their education during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

They are aiming to meet the needs of children by building water and hygiene facilities, delivering life-saving health supplies, and keeping them connected to education. They are also helping to deliver COVID-19 vaccines in certain regions. 

You can find out more about how UNICEF is responding to coronavirus on their dedicated information centre.

WaterAid

WaterAid has been working throughout the pandemic to provide clean water, sanitation and good hygiene to people across 28 countries. 

The key aspects of their work on COVID-19 include:

• Installing handwashing facilities and ensuring access to essentials like soap, water, hand sanitiser and disinfectant.
• Promoting protection through mass public hygiene campaigns.
• Working with water, sanitation and hygiene service providers.
• Supporting governments in coordinating their responses.

You can find out more about how UNICEF is responding to coronavirus on their dedicated COVID-19 response page. 

How can you support these charities during COVID-19?

Donate directly

One way you can support these charities during their fight against coronavirus, if you can afford it, is to donate directly to them. You can do this online and they have options for one-off donations or a monthly recurring donation.

Share their stories on social media 

If you don’t have the money to donate to these charities on a regular basis, one way you can support their ongoing work is to share it on social media. All four of the charities mentioned here have regularly updated news sections that highlight their work and you can alert other people to the good things they are doing simply by talking about it on social media.

You can also keep an eye on the SearchScene social media pages for updates, as we often share stories from the charities we support. You are also welcome to repost these!

Switch to SearchScene

One of the simplest ways to support the fantastic work by all of these charities is by switching your main search engine to SearchScene. We are a charitable search engine that donates 95% of profits to well-renowned international charities such as Oxfam, UNICEF, UNHCR and WaterAid.

By using the heart icon at the top right of our pages, you can select the charities you want to support. You can change these at any time, and every search you make counts as one vote. We then take the aggregate votes for each charity on our list and divide our charitable contributions between them accordingly.