Responding to acute humanitarian needs during the Covid-19 Second Wave in April-May this year, SEEDS has made all out efforts in reaching out to around 30,000 individuals. Timely and needs based assistance by matching resource needs to affected people, the organisation could assist in saving over 15,000 lives. With an aim to Share The Burden, of our healthcare workers and Government efforts, we established 11 Covid Care centres in 9 districts, a 120 bedded hospital in Dhemaji , supported over 15000 people through vaccination adoption drive and established a pan-India 24×7 national helpline. Till date we have reached with over 180 Oxygen Concentrators to healthcare facilities in remote regions, and in the process of setting up 2 oxygen plants in District hospitals. In an effort to save maximum lives in the fight against Covid-19, SEEDS has been following a four-pronged strategy to mitigate its devastating impact by Setting up Covid Care Centres, Stepping up the vaccination drive, running a 24×7 national helpline number to provide verified leads of specific services, stepping up the vaccination drive and augmenting critical supplies to Government Covid hospitals. Additionally, we there are continuous efforts to promote awareness on Covid Appropriate Behaviour across the activities.
To extend support and be a part of the initiative, visit: https://www.seedsindia.org/covid19-secondwave/
Cyclone Yaas caused large scale losses to sources of drinking water along the Bay of Bengal coast in Odisha and West Bengal due to massive flooding and ingress of sea water. SEEDS is reaching out to over 2,00,000 people affected addressing their immediate needs of safe drinking water. That the cyclone struck at the time of pandemic has only worsened people’s suffering. SEEDS is supporting with dry ration, safe drinking water, covid care essentials and other necessary home utility items in Balasore, Bhadarak, districts of Odisha and East Medinipur, 24 South Paraganas districts in West Bengal.
To lend a hand and support, visit https://www.seedsindia.org/cycloneyaas/
SEEDS with support of Microsoft ran a campaign to increase awareness about heatwaves and the risk in vulnerable communities from East Delhi as part of its ‘Sunny Lives: AI for Humanitarian Action’ project. The campaign was designed in the form of a digital contest that received overwhelming participation from school children who not only understood heat related risks but also took cost-effective and easy to implement actions to make their homes cooler. Under the campaign, advisories on stages of heatwave warning sent to roughly 50,000 at risk individuals, dos and don’ts during heatwaves and the interventions possible to increase the thermal comfort in houses were sent out in the form of engaging videos and posters. The participants were quizzed on the same. In the next stage, shortlisted candidates calculated their heat risk based on the vulnerability of the built environment and family members. In the final stage, participants shared small actions undertaken despite the Covid-19 lockdown to reduce their heat risk. Announcement of 30 champions would happen soon!
Take a look at the advisories here https://www.seedsindia.org/beattheheat/
SEEDS has been conferred the Business World’s future of design award in the ‘Space Category’. The second in a row recognition comes after the organisation was recognised with the most prestigious, Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabhandhan Puraskar 2021 in January this year. The acknowledgement recognises SEEDS efforts towards its build back better approach that is helping communities become resilient to disasters.
The highlighted our work with the most vulnerable communities in Assam that are hit by floods almost every year as the monsoon brings heavy rain. The devastating floods of 2017 led to loss of lives and livelihood, displacing thousands. Partnerships formulated a collaborative effort to design and build 81 core houses. Architects and artisans worked together to develop disaster-resilient construction techniques. These houses have already faced three floods after construction and have successfully survived. This clearly demonstrates the relevance of integrating indigenous knowledge with contemporary building technologies.
Know more on our initiative here https://www.seedsindia.org/portfolio/india-flood-response-2017/
The Bihar Sustainable Livelihood Development initiative, supported by Heifer International is aimed at empowering the small and marginal farmers with sustainable livelihood opportunities. This is to build them into a resilient community against the adverse social and natural conditions. The initiative also includes enabling communities to form Self Help Groups (SHGs) led by Women Small Holder Farmers (WSHF); improve production with enhanced animal management practices, and alternate livelihood sources like kitchen garden and backyard poultry. Promoting trade through developing family and community level business plans and sell produce collectively is also a focus area. The intervention is currently being rolled out in Vaishali, Sitamarhi, Muzzafarpur, Samastipur, Madhubani and Darbhanga districts of Bihar.
The Covid-19 induced lockdown, leading to collapse of the informal sector markets, has impacted a large number of low income and migrant workers and their families. SEEDS, in an effort to provide safety-nets and livelihood recovery for migrant workers in micro-enterprises hit by Covid-19 lockdown is working towards their resilient recovery. This is being done by supporting vulnerable micro-enterprises with services including credit linkage, up-skilling and re-skilling, market linkage and local aggregation to offer value added services. Effective field surveys were conducted in cities of Kerala, East Delhi, Bihar, and Uttarakhand to identify affected enterprises. Apart from providing relief kits in the primary stage, financial support was also provided to the owners and workers of these enterprises. SEEDS is now in the process of enrolling the identified enterprises on Udyam, the official website for MSME registration by the government of India. Post registering the enterprises will be able to avail subsidiaries and special MSME loans provided by Government and non-government institutions. They will further be supported in enrolling their products on various e-commerce platforms to improve demand for their products and help them earn better.
“For media, it is important that they are being used a pressure point by the NGOs. We can work altogether with NGOs as we reach the field before anyone. We can share the credible information with the development societies that they can work and serve to the vulnerable according to it.” -Himanshu, Reporter
SEEDS engaged with journalists through media workshops for institutionalising community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) in Dehradun and East Delhi in March this year. This was organised with support from The Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR). The workshops were focused on the vital role of both electronic and print media in the context of circulating knowledge and information in various phases of disaster management. The sessions started with the introduction of CBDRM and the basics of media reporting in a disaster incident. Through presentations and interactive exercises, we emphasised on the fact, how an active media partnership in communities that are vulnerable to disaster risks help create awareness and contribute towards capacity development within the communities.
Get all answers to all your questions on CBDRM here https://www.seedsindia.org/portfolio/institutionalising_sustainable_cbdrm/