Grant awarded to International Rescue Committee (IRC) COVID Response

The Foundation is pleased to again support the  IRC during these difficult times.  The International Rescue Committee was founded in 1933 by Albert Einstein to aid Germans suffering under Hitler. More than 80 years later, they are working in over 40 countries helping people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict or disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future. The IRC responds to some of the world’s worst crises, delivering aid that saves lives while paving the way for long term recovery.

Funds will support their preparedness, prevention and response efforts designed to stanch the spread of the virus and mitigate the multifaceted negative impacts of the outbreaks on the world’s most vulnerable families and communities. the grant will benefit the world’s most vulnerable people such as refugees, internally displaced families and members of communities that host them in 34 countries. Funds will be specially used in 3 areas: supporting staff safety, ensuring the continuity of critical existing programs, and conducting frontline response to the COVID-19 pandemic. More specially funds will be used to scale up their frontline response to the pandemic, establish COVID-19 isolation units, support infection prevention and control efforts, conduct community level testing and contact tracing, educate communities and provide technical global and regional support to the field. Funds will be spent over a 2 year period as the effects of COVID-19 will be lasting. Funds will primarily be spent in South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.