Some scholars say that the earliest great vestige of human evolution was not the discovery of fire or the invention of the wheel. As anthropologist Margaret Mead said to a student: “It is a fractured, healed femur.”  

In the animal kingdom, a fractured bone means death. The first bone that was healed marked the beginning of humanity. Caring for others is a sign of evolution and in the context of a health crisis, cooperation between people and  institutions to save the greatest number of lives is the greatest exponent of humanity and evolution.   

It is just a month since the WHO declared the coronavirus a global pandemic, however, the consequences of COVID-19 already point to a shift in paradigms.  

In this scenario, the European Union is already working to provide a solid response to the spread of the coronavirus and its consequences. According to the European Commissioner for International Alliances, Jutta Urpilainen: ‘As TeamEurope, we must be united.The European Union and its member states are responding.We are working hard to contain the spread of the coronavirus, both in Europe and beyond.’

As members of that #TeamEurope, the FIIAPP is already developing specific actions to fight the global pandemic, at home, in Europe and further afield.  

One example of this is the work of the cooperation projects that the European Union finances and the FIIAPP manages. A job that has been redirected in accordance with the countries’ needs regarding the  mitigation of the effects of the pandemic. 

To mark International Health Day, which was celebrated this month, which this year has gained a special significance, it is important to explain the specific and direct measures the projects have developed to combat COVID-19. Different measures, but with a common objective, that will enable us to achieve the mission we are all talking about: #esteVirusLoParamosUnidos.  

Bridging the Gap: Accessible information.   

Among the top searches on the internet in recent weeks are ‘quarantine’, ‘confine’ and ‘virus’. The health crisis has caused a boom in our thirst for information and, therefore, the Bridging the Gap project is working to adapt such information for people with disabilities. The project is working with the Paraguayan government, which has launched a special accessible communication service about COVID-19 for people with disabilities. Bridging the Gap has worked on two areas: firstly, developing a communication service that connects deaf people with hearing people and organisations or services that they may need through a chat; and secondly, it has also contributed to purchasing equipment and software for the communication department of the National Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SENADIS). These improvements have also been possible thanks to the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the implementing agency of the Bridging the Gap project in Paraguay.

EL PAcCTO: COVID channel 

How is each State addressing the fight against the pandemic? The EL PAcCTO project has launched the COVID channel, a tool for the security, justice and prison systems of Europe and Latin America, enabling them to exchange information and experiences. The objective of the information channel is coordination, cooperation and prevention of COVID-19 to guarantee the health of the population. Regarding the security forces, a colonel from the Civil Guard has been appointed to coordinate the COVID channel with several Latin American countries and to share information on the needs caused by the health crisis in Spain.  

EL PAcCTO: Support for AMERIPOL: against fake news 

Hoaxes and fake news are spreading like wildfire through social networks. The World Health Organization is calling this problem an “infodemic“. The state of alarm has also caused an increase in the use of technologies, which is adding another internet related problem: cyber attacks. The current situation has led to the proliferation of new types of scams. In times of crisis and insecurity, many cybercriminals are taking advantage of the vulnerable situation to scam people when shopping on line for masks or medicines, for example.  

In light of this situation, the project to support Ameripol proposed the holding of video conferences channelled through the Executive Secretariat and the Ameripol UNAs, to spread and encourage best practices from the European Union in the context of the spread of COVID-19. A video conference has been organised on detecting misinformation campaigns aimed at social and political destabilisation, as well as anticipating new types of cybercrime and scams by individuals who are using COVID-19 as bait to swindle people and steal their personal and banking information. 

EUROsociAL+: social cohesion against Covid-19 

 EUROsociAL+ has implemented tools   which are especially useful to strengthen the management of emergency measures required by the coronavirus. The programme is receiving and responding to requests for support from Latin American countries needing to adopt urgent measures in matters such as early warnings to avoid gender violence which is exacerbated by confinement, social protection systems, unemployment funds, transparency in institutions and the migrant population.   EUROsociAL+ is encouraging the adoption of a gender approach throughout the programme and the accompanying public policies to improve the physical, economic and political autonomy of women; an approach that focuses on carers; carers ( 70% women ) who, according to programme sources, are systematically invisible, underpaid and

who are proving essential to saving our lives.   

FIIAPP is still working, at a distance, without leaving anyone behind.  

By Cristina Blasco, ( @cbm_cris ). FIIAPP communication team. 

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are the sole responsibility of the person who write them.