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Catalyst Management Services (CMS), a part of Catalysts Group, has ideated COVID Action Collaborative, partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to support India’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
USAID will provide $3 million over two years to support the COVIDActionCollab (CAC) partnership, which was formally announced on Wednesday through a virtual conference.
As per the CMS official release, the funds will be used to provide comprehensive support on health, livelihood, and social protection for vulnerable communities.
More than 150 civil society organisations, development partners, and private sector organizations attended the virtual launch event. At the event, participants discussed the importance of leveraging collective expertise to build resilient communities.
At the launch event, Dr Manohar Aghnani, Additional Secretary-Policy, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said: “Covid-19 has created disruptions in our life but it has also provided us an opportunity to learn to be more resilient and be prepared for the future.”
‘Unique opportunities’
Commenting on the partnership, he added: “While the government can support scaling of interventions, collaboratives such as COVIDactionCollab can help the government in developing customised interventions for vulnerable communities. COVIDActionCollab presents a unique opportunity to complement and supplement the efforts of the government. On behalf of the Government of India, I would also like to thank USAID for supporting the collaborative and India’s efforts to fight the virus.”
Speaking about the collaboration, Sangita Patel, Director, USAID/India Health Office, said: “USAID has been responding to the Covid-19 pandemic in India with decisive action. The US Government, through USAID, has provided India with $13 million to train its healthcare workers, increase India’s detection and response capacity, disseminate public health messages, and provide critical care and management.”
She added: “The #COVIDactionCollab aligns very closely to the core principles of USAID to be able to reach the most vulnerable and partner with the private sector in an inclusive manner. We are glad to be partners in this Collaborative.”
COVIDActionCollab (CAC) is a people-centric, partnership led, multidisciplinary platform to support the most vulnerable communities who have been disproportionately affected by the virus to survive and thrive.
Long-term effects
Members of civil society, private sector, government, academia, and individuals are pooling their expertise to bring relief and recovery and help build community resilience, focusing on both the short term and the long-term effects of the pandemic.
CAC said it has over 287 partners and has a presence across all 28 states and 8 union territories of India.
It further claimed that it has already given support to three million people and provided services to 1.5 million in the past seven months.
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