Global Highlights

• UNFPA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic focuses on the continuity of sexual and reproductive health services (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response, risk communication and community engagement, and provision of lifesaving supplies including contraceptives, maternal health drugs and supplies, and personal protective equipment (PPE).
• UNFPA is working with partners worldwide to support SRH/GBV services, risk communication, and supplies. This includes providing PPE and training staff in maternity wards, setting up mobile clinics to reach vulnerable communities, and procuring life-saving SRH commodities. The integrated GBV/SRH mobile teams also provide psychosocial support services such as individual counselling and consent-based referrals. Since April, UNFPA has procured US$16 million worth of PPE for 86 countries.
• As of 31 August 2020, UNFPA-supported programmes had reached millions of people, including an estimated 10 million women and 5 million young people aged 10-24, in 52 countries covered in the UN-led global humanitarian response plan (GHRP). More results can be viewed in the latest GHRP progress report here.
• A UNFPA survey shows that GBV services, in-person and/or remote, have been maintained with fewer disruptions than in the previous reporting period. Provision of remote services and other alternative modalities are helping to reach more people. The tele-psychosocial services in Pakistan and the Dominican Republic, and psychosocial services provided in quarantine sites in Somalia are examples of successful outreach. However, some countries have seen a substantial decrease in the uptake of GBV services, which UNFPA is working to address through awareness raising and community engagement. 
• UNFPA has developed a body of technical briefs to guide work in countries, in the context of the WHO global strategic preparedness and response plan, UNFPA COVID-19 global response plan, Global Humanitarian Response Plan and the UN Secretary-General’s policy briefs on COVID-19 response.