Covid-19 advice and resources

To support your organisation through the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re sharing guidance, learning and resources that relate to international development, peacebuilding and humanitarian response.

Below is our regularly updated list of resources and guidance to support your organisation’s operations, fundraising, programmes, staff and volunteers.

We’re also responding to our members’ needs by mobilising and supporting the sector to endure this crisis. Find out more about our support and advocacy.

Operational advice

• Bond webinars on a range of Covid-19 topics. We’ve also posted the recordings of our past webinars on topics including medical advice and health, business continuity, mental wellbeing, travel and foreign exchange.
• Weekly information webinars and calls for Humentum members.
• Travel advisory notices and updates by date from Diversity Travel and a list of travel restrictions, flight operations and in-country screening operations from International SOS
• Bates Wells’ coronavirus hub offers insights on key employment issues, contractual obligations, immigration updates and real estate aspects of the new Coronavirus Act 2020.
• Information and advice for non-profit managers and trustees of charities in England from NCVO.
• Information for charities in Scotland from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).
• Information for Welsh charities from the Welsh Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), including advice from Public Health Wales.
• Information and advice for charities in Northern Ireland from the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA), including advice from the Northern Ireland Public Health.
• A weekly update for small charities from Small Charities Coalition, who are working with Charity Finance Group to push for emergency funding. They are asking small charities to contact them with questions to [email protected].
• Resources for civil society in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic put together by CIVICUS, includes responses from civil society around the world, advice for donors, resources for online activism.
• Covid-19 Resource Hub for Charities & Social Enterprises launched by Good Finance. It contains information, resources and tools designed to support charities and social enterprises navigating Covid-19.
• The UK government’s updated guidance to help with running your charity during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
• Updated advice, resources and guidance to support employers and people professionals in their response by CIPD.
• Tips for leaders in a crisis from Penny Lawrence and a organisational planning template for the Covid-19 crisis from Refugee Action.
• Keep up to date with coronavirus-related news affecting the charity sector on Third Sector’s live blog.

Funding and finance advice

• On Friday 1 May DFID released a letter to supply and civil society partners outlining their approach to managing existing grants and contacts during the Covid-19 crisis
• DFID has updated guidance on coronavirus for implementing partners with contracts, MOUs and accountable grants and set up a contact email for questions: PCDsuppliercovid19@dfid.gov.uk
• DFID’s Supply Partner Frequently Asked Questions, providing answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about the UK government and DFID’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the support available for supply partners.
• Guidance on Managing financial difficulties in your charity caused by coronavirus by the UK government.
• Charity Finance Group’s update on their meeting with the Minister for Civil Society, their call for an emergency fund for charities, and advice for charities on community events and public fundraising.
• Summary of advice on charity finances provided by CFG includes business continuity planning, investments and cash flow.
• Guidance for charities whose operations are impacted by coronavirus has been issued by the Charity Commission, including on filing annual returns, holding AGMs, operating remotely as a trustee Board and reporting serious incidents. Their telephone helpline: 0300 066 9197 is open Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm for charities who have an imminent annual return and accounts filing deadline.
• Coronavirus information hub for charity tax and finance professionals launched by The Charity Tax Group covers topics from VAT tax referrals and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
• A funder pledge was issued by the London Funders announcing increased flexibility in their grants and support for the sector. Signatories include Comic Relief, Esmee Fairbarn, Joseph Rowntree, Lloyds Bank Foundation and others. They have also set up a Covid19 Funders online platform.
• The Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) have outlined what foundations are doing in light of Covid-19.
• Advice for planning NGO finances during a crisis from Haysmacintyre. They also have a dedicated web page to collate, analyse and provide insights on the various financial, tax and accounting measures and initiatives being announced.
• A new Covid-19 aid fund to anticipate and respond to critical virus-related humanitarian needs in low-income countries set up by the Start Network.
• Covid-19 funding updates are being collated by the Directory for Social Change.
• Bond’s funding opportunities page lists donor updates and upcoming funds and grants.
• How UK aid is being used to combat the Covid-19 pandemic by Bond looks at UK government funding.
• Grant funding scheme for vulnerable supply chains set up by the government is called COVID-19 Vulnerable Supply Chains Facility (VSCF) for garment and agricultural businesses with vulnerable supply chains in developing countries.

People and HR information

• Recorded webinar on keeping your staff and organisation safe from Cigna.
• A comprehensive employer response guide by The Chartered Institute for Institute for Personnel and Development includes a collection of downloadable resources including a checklist on managing coronavirus; business continuity plan; pandemic emergency plan; controlling infectious diseases in the workplace policy and employee letter template on absence and pay.
• information on good practice for UK employers, including sick pay and coping with illness occuring in the workplace provided by ACAS.
• ACEVO has been working in partnership with other membership and infrastructure bodies to represent your interests, including advocating for financial support to help charities weather this crisis.
• Remote Resources during the Coronavirus and a comprehesive list of tools for online collaboration.
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): returning to the workplace guide by CIPD.
• COVID-19 Legal Updates for NGOs and social enterprises on the latest legal developments in response to the COVID-19 crisis provided by Advocates for International Development (A4ID).

Personal safety and travel advice

• Travel advisory notices and updates by date from Diversity Travel and a list of travel restrictions, flight operations and in-country screening operations from International SOS
• Travel information hub launched by Key Travel, provides the latest travel advice, updates on borders opening, links to airline policies and more.
• NHS guidance for the general public on good hygiene practice and action to take in case of suspected coronavirus.
• WHO information on protecting against infection, including videos, myth-busters, advice for health workers and downloadable posters for the workplace.
• UK government latest advice for UK travellers to other countries, including links to FCO advice by country.
• WHO advice on the status of coronavirus cases in affected countries.

Humanitarian response resources

• Responding to COVID-19: Guidance for humanitarian agencies by ALNAP is a Rapid Learning Review outlining 14 actions, insights and ideas for humanitarian actors to consider in their COVID-19 responses.
• Covid-19 Humanitarian is an open-access web-based platform promotes the exchange of field-based COVID-19 program adaptations and innovations, facilitating learning among organizations in different sectors and contexts.
• Covid-19 Africa Information Centre launched by Amref is a one-stop hub that brings together the latest data on confirmed coronavirus cases and free downloadable resources for community sensitisation.
• Covid-19 Response Portal holds a vast collection of guidelines, tools, papers and lessons learnt from across and beyond the ALNAP Membership which are relevant to responding to the current Covid-19 pandemic.
• Gendered Implications of Covid-19 Outbreaks in Development and Humanitarian Settings is a policy brief by CARE International calling on development and humanitarian organisations, national governments, and international donors to consider the gendered implications of the pandemic.

Human rights and civic space resources

• Covid-19 Civic Freedom Tracker monitors government responses to the pandemic that affect civic freedoms and human rights, focusing on emergency laws.
• A statement by CIVICUS calling on states to put human rights at the centre of COVID 19 responses urging release of political prisoners and human rights defenders and not using emergency measures to further restrict civic space.
• UN OHCHR provide guidance on Covid-19 and Human Rights.
• Article 19 provide resources on Covid-19 emergency powers and misinformation.
• ICNL’s page on Coronavirus and Civic Space presents key resources and information on how international law provides a framework to uphold human rights during crisis response.
• Covid-19 and the disability movement to support a disability-inclusive response to the crisis and share the most recent updates and resources as they become available, from International Development Alliance.
• Amnesty International’s preliminary observations on Covid-19 and human rights and other resources.
• Guidance for supporting and protecting older people in low and middle income countries is provided by Age International.
• Human Rights Due Diligence and COVID-19: Rapid Self-Assessment for Business by UNDP.
• Ensuring the public’s right to know in the COVID-19 pandemic report by Article 19, intended to assist governments, civil society, and media in identifying key information and data that should be released.

Safeguarding resources

• Resource and Support hub guidance on Safeguarding Against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment (SEAH) for aid organisations delivering programmes to assist countries affected by COVID-19.
• IASC Interim Technical Note: Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) during Covid-19 Response provides recommended actions for reducing risks, prevention, establishing safe and accessible reporting mechanisms.
• Global Mentoring Initiative checklist on safeguarding for local and national CSOs during Covid-19 response aimed especially at local and national CSOs and helps organisations assess their PSEA processes during the Covid-19 response.
• Resource and Support hub on Covid-19 and safeguarding in the aid sector is a collection of materials, resources and guidance on safeguarding in the context of Covid-19.
• Short guidance on the CHS commitment to PSEA during Covid-19 produced by CHS Alliance.
• How to communicate safeguarding and PSEA messages to communities during Covid-19. Also available in Portugese, Arabic, French and Spanish.

Country-specific info and situation reports

• UK government information for the public, with daily updates on cases.
• WHO daily update of cases worldwide.
• Useful dashboard visualisation of cases for monitoring cases in programme countries.
• John Hopkins University CCSE resource hub on latest research into coronavirus.
• Epidemiological data from the JHU CCSE is available from Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) in CSV format.

Other useful resources, podcasts and webinars

• Migrants’ contribution to the COVID-19 response by ODI shows examples of reforms, new initiatives and campaigns from across the world on migrants’ contributions to the COVID-19 response.
• Coronavirus Evidence Collection, Evidence Aid’s bank of summaries of relevant research, which are available in English and other languages.
• Covid-19 – Government measures, ACAP’s dataset of the measures adopted by governments to reduce transmission of Covid-19.
• The Coronavirus Tech Handbook is a crowd-sourced library for technologists, civic organisations, public and private institutions, researchers.
• 3 ideas to communicate sensitively in the Covid-19 crisis by Maryam Mohsin.
• Support resources during the Covid-19 outbreak collated by CONCORD.
• Resources and access to translators without borders for developing communication strategies in response to Covid-19.
• New podcast World vs Virus: How the world can navigate the Covid-19 Coronavirus by the World Economic Forum.
• Online course Fundraising in the Time of the Coronavirus for NGOs around the world looking at how you can help, where to find funding, networking and proposals and applications is being run by Philanthropia.
• The Covid-19 Learning Pathway (Open Access) course enables humanitarians, including local responders, to be best equipped to respond to the global pandemic Covid-19 (Coronavirus) by Kaya and Save the Children.
• GeoPoll report on knowledge and perceptions of coronavirus in Africa as it spreads to South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
• Business survival in the age of Covid-19 podcast looks at how organisations should adjust their business models.
• Getting ahead of the next stage of the coronavirus crisis by McKinsey and Company.
• Nigeria-based nonprofit Follow the Money is compiling a list of all the pledges and funds donated to minimize the spread of the virus in Africa. It is also tracking how the money is spent by contacting donors and government agencies for detailed information on spending plans.