The latest news and views on
The coronavirus pandemic is a global issue, with far reaching consequences and demands a worldwide response. Join our online community to keep up to date with the situation, support our response as we help the world’s most vulnerable people, access resources to help you, and keep connected whilst in lockdown.
Join the conversation on social and sign up for email updates
First hand perspectives from teams around the world
Watch video updates from our colleagues in East Africa and India
News
World Economic Forum, 30 June
8 steps towards a sustainable economic recovery
Arab News, 30 June
Women on ‘precipice’ in developing countries amid COVID-19
World Economic Forum, 22 June
The plight of Peru demonstrates the danger of COVID-19 to developing countries
BBC, 22 June
Are more women dying of COVID-19 in India?
Spotlight Nepal, 13 June
Practical Action and Mercy Corps show enormous gaps in flood preparation
Sharing our knowledge
Coronavirus resources
Our experts have curated a collection of free resources for you to download and share, relating to our three stage response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Find out moreFollow the story
Subscribe to Small Talk, our email newsletter, to stay updated on the big issues and how our innovative work is helping people to tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges.
If you are happy for us to provide information about our work, fundraising activities and ways to get involved by email please provide your details.
We respect your privacy
We take protecting your personal information seriously. We will never sell or swap your details with another organisation. We aim to provide you with a great experience of Practical Action and to communicate with every supporter in the best way possible. To do this, we may analyse your data and obtain further information about interests, preferences and level of potential donations using publicly available sources. We sometimes ask carefully selected companies to do this for us.
You can find out more about how we collect and use your personal information by reading our privacy notice at www.practicalaction.org/privacy. To change how we manage your personal information or opt out of receiving communications from Practical Action call us on 0800 389 1624 email myprivacy@practicalaction.org.uk
Human ingenuity at work
Read about the long term impact of our work to help people tackle the problems that make them particularly vulnerable in the face of a global pandemic.
Clean Toilets Change Lives
Safe pair of hands, Kenya
Making water work
Donate today
Thank you for your invaluable support at this challenging time. In a world facing the terrible coronavirus threat, improving hygiene and access to clean water and sanitation services in poor communities has never been more vital.
Follow us on social media
Disasters are not inevitable.
When extreme climate threats hit vulnerable communities, they turn into disasters. Costing lives and livelihoods, driving people from their homes in an attempt to survive, forcing them to sell assets they rely on for income, and threatening food supplies.
BUT if those most at risk are forewarned and forearmed, while the underlying problems are addressed, communities can move from vulnerability to resilience and opportunity.
A great example of this is our work with communities in Bangladesh. Every year, monsoon rains cause the three major rivers to swell, resulting in devastating floods. Sandbars emerge as the rivers recede, but they were considered too infertile for even the most skilled farmer to tend.
We’ve introduced a technique called sandbar cropping that allows pumpkins to be grown on the sandy, barren soil left behind when flood waters recede. As well as giving a high yield and being packed full of health benefits, pumpkins can be stored for up to a year, meaning people have a crop both for their families and also to sell.
With the extra income they earn, they can send their children to school, buy livestock and become more resilient to the monsoon climate!
Increase in extreme weather events pose major threats to vulnerable communities. But it is possible to help people thrive despite disasters and climate change.
At Practical Action, we refuse to accept that vulnerability is normal and disasters inevitable. We want a world that puts climate action and people's needs centre stage. A world where communities are able to manage future risks, minimise their impact and adapt to the changing climate. Have a look at our website to find out more.
fal.cn/39AnK
Rising temperatures will cause more deaths than all infectious diseases – study
fal.cn
Poorer, hotter parts of the world will struggle to adapt to unbearable conditions, research findsGreen is the new grey!
What’s the best way to help communities protect themselves against disasters like floods and landslides?
For decades, the answer has been massive, expensive, grey structures that fight against nature and all too often fail to take into account the needs of the most vulnerable.
We’re doing things differently – working with communities and with nature to build small-scale solutions using locally-available materials.
When it comes to disaster resilience, size isn’t everything.
Read more: fal.cn/39xFa
Meet Rongali, a 70-year-old farmer in Nepal. Rongali has lived his whole life in Bangalipur, a tight-knit community of 135 households.
Flooding from the nearby Aurahi river used to regularly destroy property and crops in this area. Rogali could only watch as his precious harvest was washed away year after year. Climate change means that the flooding has increased in severity and frequency during his lifetime.
We helped the people of Bangalipur build a biodyke along the river. This green embankment looks natural – because it is. Made out of locally-available bamboo and rattan, it’s almost indistinguishable from the river bank. But it has a vital role in protecting homes and farmland from floods.
“We worked for 25-days straight to build this biodyke. This year there has been no soil erosion at all” Rongali says.
From vulnerability to resilience – proof that green solutions can protect both people and the planet.
#AnythingButNormal
Abbie Wells, Engagement Officer at Practical Action, urges the media to work with INGOs as a force for change in the aftermath of Covid-19.
"What the world needs now is INGOs, private sector, governments and institutions to work in collaboration and partnership to forge a new world order that protects and benefits those that have suffered the worst effects of Covid-19."
fal.cn/39tbq
fal.cn
Abbie Wells writes about Practical Action’s new campaign and urges the media to work with INGOs as a force for change in the aftermath of Covid.
Indeed, increase in extreme weather events pose major threats. But disasters are not inevitable. If those most at risk are forewarned and forearmed, while the underlying problems are addressed, communities can turn vulnerability into #resilience. https://fal.cn/39CpN
#TED speakers have ranked our founder's book 'Small is Beautiful' as the top20 books to read this summer! "I've returned to Small Is Beautiful recently, to be nourished by his argument for economics as if people mattered."- S.Sanford https://fal.cn/39yhE @think_gen @TEDTalks
