Christian Aid has published a major new report highlighting the impact of Covid-19 on four countries, demonstrating the challenges faced by the poorest and most vulnerable around the world.

The report – published to mark Christian Aid Week in May – focuses on four countries where some of the poorest and most vulnerable populations face new challenges as a result of the pandemic: Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Gaza, and the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Sally Foster-Fulton, Head of Christian Aid Scotland, says: “This pandemic highlights, and threatens to deepen, the existing inequalities and injustices that Christian Aid’s work seeks to address.”

The challenge of maintaining social distancing and practising good hand hygiene in the world’s poorest countries was also highlighted by another Christian international development agency, Tearfund, as it appealed for help in its response to the virus.

“We are very concerned about some of the poorest countries, where life is already difficult and there is little infrastructure to deal with coronavirus,” says Graeme McMeekin, Tearfund’s Acting Scotland Director. “Living in a crowded household in a densely populated community, such as a refugee camp, and having to walk a long way for water, makes it much harder for people to take apparently simple measures such as social distancing and increased handwashing. These become incredibly hard asks, piled on top of an already challenging daily life.”

Christian Aid’s Covid-19 appeal is at www.christianaid.org.uk/appeals/emergencies/coronavirus-emergency-appeal, and Tearfund’s at www.tearfund.org/covidinfo