Volunteers of the Red Cross chapter in Aruba distribute food to vulnerable persons. Photo by Red Cross Aruba.
THE HAGUE--The Netherlands Red Cross announced on Wednesday that it will need at least 19 million euros (US $20.5 million) for this year to provide coronavirus crisis-related assistance in the Dutch Caribbean.
The Red Cross chapters on all six islands are active. Volunteers in Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and Saba are distributing basic-needs packages that include food products. Information is being given on all islands to help prevent the spreading of the coronavirus.
There are groups on the islands that reside close to each other and in a number of cases have less access to running water and soap. The Red Cross is assisting in the area of hygiene, water and medical support. The organisation also gives psychological-social support to persons in need.
In a press release, the Red Cross explained that a large part of the population usually earns its income from the tourism sector. The coronavirus and the lockdown measures have brought tourism to a halt and there is almost no more work in this sector.
“The Red Cross expects that the results in the tourism sector will have a long-lasting effect. For the assistance on the islands, the Red Cross anticipates that it will need at least 16 million for this year,” it was stated. For the Kingdom combined, including the Netherlands, the organisation will need about 30 million euros.
The Netherlands Red Cross is executing the largest humanitarian aid operation in the Kingdom since the 1953 Dutch flood disaster that caused large parts of the Netherlands to be submerged by water, causing more than 1,800 deaths and the displacement of many more people.
The Red Cross is assisting in preventing the spread of the coronavirus and helping the most vulnerable and ill persons in the Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean. This will cost about 30 million euros. The organisation anticipates that a few hundred thousand persons will find themselves in a precarious situation in the coming period. A special bank account, Giro 7244 has been opened for donations.
“In the past weeks, an immense effort has been made to suppress the coronavirus,” said Red Cross Director Marieke van Schaik. “Together, we have kept the boat afloat and this will be the case for a while. We need to make sure that, as a community, we get through this crisis, that our health care personnel endure and that the most vulnerable persons are cared for – now, not next week and also not in three months.”
In the Netherlands, the Red Cross volunteers support the local public health departments, general practitioners’ stations, hospitals, care hotels and ambulance services. Homeless and other vulnerable persons are aided. Food cards are provided to vulnerable persons in society. Food boxes are prepared together with farmers. A hotline has been set up, and volunteers help people by going to the supermarket for them or walking the dog.
The Red Cross has made an estimate of the cost of continuing and expanding the assistance. Provisions are needed such as camp beds, bed covers, hygienic kits, food boxes, and protection and disinfection supplies. Aid workers have to be trained and actions need to be coordinated. “This will enable the Red Cross to keep providing assistance to health care workers and the vulnerable persons in our Kingdom.”
