
COVID-19 response

97 497
lives directly affected
Timeline

December 2019
The first case of COVID-19 is discovered in Wuhan, China.
COVID-19 changed the landscape for anti- slavery work. Traffickers prey on vulnerability, which increased dramatically in 2020.
March/April 2020
March - June 2020
LOCKDOWN - Fearing for survival and to focus on their immediate environments, European and American NGOs scale down their operations overseas.

Between March and July, the most effective slavery prevention was to provide food and emergency supplies to high-risk groups. In response to sudden and dramatic unemployment, Arise pivoted from its usual programs to temporary emergency work. We provided 71 emergency grants to our frontline network to establish and resource food banks and delivery services.

June 2020 - March 2021
June 2021
After July, Arise looked to the medium term. We rolled out a transitional program of interventions designed to bridge the gap between lockdown and economic recovery. These interventions were closer to our usual model, creating sustainable resilience to trafficking through education, skills training and income diversification, together with emergency relief.

UNICEF reports that child labour has risen to 160 million – the first increase in two decades, due to the impacts of COVID-19.
November 2021
India becomes the global epicenter of the pandemic, reporting over 400,000 new cases in a 24-hour period. People search frantically for hospital beds and oxygen for their loved ones.

Sustainability and bridging grants:
Arise begins providing identified frontline partners with institutional strategic support, in response to global funding pressures exacerbated by COVID-19.
2022 onwards

Restored focus on long-run slavery prevention work, while observing and responding to new areas of need caused by the pandemic.

Emergency phase

49 795
individuals supported

families supported
9 553

37
cities/ areas reached
Duration:
March - July 2020
Countries:
India, Albania, Philippines
Responding to COVID-19 and the devastating effects of lockdown in high-risk communities through basic need provision. Most families were given weekly bags of basic nutritional foodstuffs and PPE.
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Transitional phase

24 705
individuals supported

27
grants given

grants given
26
cities/ areas reached
Duration:
July 2020 - March 2021
Countries:
India, Albania, Philippines
Supporting 6 - 8 month transitional programs to build resilience in high-risk communities, while extending emergency support where needed. Programs include education, skills training, income diversification and community- empowerment work.
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India Second Wave

19 824
individuals supported with emergency relief

3 317
individuals supported with transitional income generation activities

35
cities/ areas reached
Duration:
May - July 2021;
Aug - Dec 2021
Countries:
India
Safely supported some of the most vulnerable communities in India during their devastating second wave of COVID-19. When the second wave subsided, transitional grants for income generation activities were provided to allow high-risk families to gain sustainable, diversified income.
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Sustainability and bridging grants
Duration:
Dec 2021 - ongoing
Countries:
Albania
During COVID-19 many organizations moved away from providing core institutional support and international funding streams dried up. This meant that many in our frontline network faced problems funding their core activities, or costs such as paying rent for their service provision centers.
In the context of wider network and capacity building support, Arise provided substantial bridging grants to three of our frontline partners. Through these, they are able to support key staff, keep service provision centers open and maintain cars and equipment.