Scaling up COVID 19 Outbreak Readiness and Response Operations in Humanitarian Situations

This Interim Guidance addresses specific needs and considerations required in humanitarian situations, including camps and camp-like settings and the surrounding host communities, in scaling-up readiness and response operations for the COVID-19 outbreak through effective multi-sectoral partnership.

The Guidance is developed in alignment with the WHO COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (link: https://www.who.int/publications-detail/strategic-preparedness-and-respo…), and WHO Technical guidance for COVID-19 (https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technica…), particularly in relation to the following objectives:

1. Limit human-to-human transmission, including reducing secondary infections among close contacts and healthcare workers, preventing transmission amplification events, strengthening health facilities
2. Identify and provide optimised care for infected patients early
3. Communicate critical risk and information to all communities, and counter misinformation
4. Ensure protection remains central to the response and through multi-sectoral partnerships, the detection of protection challenges and monitoring of protection needs to provide response to identified protection risks
5. Minimize social and economic impact through multi-sectoral partnerships.

This Interim Guidance is intended for field coordinators, camp managers and public health personnel, as well as national and local governments and the wider humanitarian community working in humanitarian situations, including camps and camp-like settings, who are involved in the decision making and implementation of multi-sectorial COVID-19 outbreak readiness and response activities – the Guidance is therefore relevant for all Humanitarian Clusters and their partners.

Last modified: June 23, 2021

Language: English