Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Warmest greetings during the weeks of Passover and Easter. During holidays celebrating universal values of human freedom and hope, we are grateful for the tireless work of countless faith communities dedicated to bettering the lives of others.

USAID values the opportunity to partner with faith and community organizations in efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope the decades of work done, often shoulder-to-shoulder with many of you, has put countries across the world in a better position to respond to COVID-19. To date, USAID and the State Department have pledged nearly $500 million to combat COVID-19 internationally. USAID remains committed to helping our partner countries respond to this new threat. 

In today’s newsletter you will find stories of the inspiring work many faith and community organizations are doing, opportunities to collaborate with USAID, and resources that may be useful to you and your organizations, both abroad and at home, in responding to COVID-19 . In the weeks ahead we pledge to keep this information flowing from our office to yours: stories, opportunities, and resources.  

Thank you for your inspiring examples of battling COVID-19 on the front lines worldwide.

Most respectfully,

Kirsten Evans
Director
USAID Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives
Faith-based Organizations Responding to COVID-19
Catholic Relief Services

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and their partners are working in more than 30 countries to support high-risk populations, especially elderly people, vulnerable children, and caregivers.
For example, i n Bangladesh, CRS is following government guidelines to work with Caritas and traditional leaders to promote COVID-19 messaging. CRS and Caritas are assisting in the design of temporary triage structures for health centers, as well as temporary isolation structures and options for shelter modifications to accommodate home quarantine as needed. As the monsoon season approaches, CRS and Caritas are also preparing to make modifications that might be needed for evacuation activities and shelters.

Islamic Relief USA

Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA) provides relief and development regardless of gender, race, or religion, and works to empower individuals in their communities and give them a voice in the world. They have built a $2.5 million COVID-19 emergency response fund to support several initiatives, including:

  1. Working with partners and communicating directly with community leaders to devise a robust response to assist the most vulnerable.
  2. Providing food pantry grants and delivering Ramadan food boxes to replenish deteriorating food supplies for low-income and impoverished families in the U.S. They are also helping the Islamic Relief global family deliver these food aid boxes to families in need worldwide.
Jewish Distribution Committee

The Jewish Distribution Committee (JDC) is a humanitarian organization working in 70 countries to lift lives and strengthen communities. They rescue Jews in danger, provide aid to the vulnerable, develop innovative solutions to Israel’s complex social challenges, cultivate a Jewish future, and lead the Jewish community’s response to crises. JDC is addressing COVID-19 worldwide.
In Argentina, JDC is providing food, medicine, and monetary assistance to elderly Jews, people with chronic diseases, and families with children at risk.

In Central and Eastern Europe, Jews face looming poverty and increasingly turn to local welfare organizations for aid. JDC is supporting those communities by working with local partners to provide special services for the elderly, recruit volunteers, launch hotlines, and deliver food packages for families in need.

Samaritan’s Purse

 Samaritan’s Purse is an international Christian relief organization that has, since 1970, helped meet the needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine. Samaritan’s Purse has been actively responding to COVID-19 in their field offices around the world as well as in northern Italy and New York City.
In their 16 field offices worldwide, Samaritan’s Purse is training their teams to stay safe, continuing humanitarian efforts where access allows, engaging local government and religious groups to coordinate response efforts, and providing COVID-19 information and supplies to the communities they serve.

Corus International

Corus International is a family of faith-based organizations committed to ending poverty and building healthy communities in the world’s most challenging places. Longtime International NGO partners Lutheran World Relief (LWR) and IMA World Health (IMA) founded Corus in 2020 to spearhead new collaborations across the development, aid, public health, and private sectors.

Corus is drawing on IMA’s extensive health crises experience, including their responses to the last four Ebola outbreaks in Africa. IMA has well-established partnerships with governments at both the national and sub-national level, as well as health care networks across sub-Saharan Africa, such as the Africa Christian Health Associations Platform. Additionally, IMA is deeply embedded in local communities, providing services designed to strengthen social cohesion and mobilize faith leaders.

World Vision

World Vision is responding to COVID-19 worldwide by providing humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations and collaborating with religious leaders to support faith-based communities.

In Angola, World Vision plans to coordinate with church leaderships to create an interdenominational National Faith Leaders Council as part of their COVID-19 response.

In El Salvador, churches have adjusted their strategies to reach more people with both a message of hope and COVID-19 guidance, well beyond their congregations, through radio and TV programs as well as a mobile app.

Malteser International

Through initiatives that include USAID’s partner Malteser International , the Sovereign Order of Malta is addressing COVID-19 worldwide.

In Colombia, Malteser International has been tasked to develop protocols, coordinate response activities, and support entry screening in two departments serving host communities, migrants, Venezuelan refugees, and indigenous populations.

Throughout Latin America, Malteser International Americas is making house calls to senior citizens to share COVID-19 preventive measures. Malteser is also providing the elderly with critical hygiene items, such as soap.

Adventist Development and Relief Agency

The Adventist Development and Relief Agenc y (ADRA) is the international humanitarian arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. ADRA empowers communities and changes lives around the globe by providing sustainable community development and disaster relief. Many of ADRA’s international programs have been redirected to include a COVID-19 component, leveraging the infrastructure, personnel, and trust of the communities

ADRA is supporting vulnerable and under-served communities, especially low-income families, elderly people, individuals facing layoffs, and many more, to ensure they receive needed assistance. They are involved in the distribution of hand sanitizers, food kits, cash vouchers, face masks, as well as hygiene awareness and training.

CURE International

Since opening its first hospital in Kenya in 1998, CURE International has worked to help and heal children with physical disabilities in the world’s poorest populations. CURE also aims to nurture disabled children’s spiritual health since they have often been told their condition is due to a curse. Today, CURE has joined the global fight against COVID-19, addressing the crisis through their network of hospitals.

On March 5th, CURE enacted initial COVID-19 guidelines for the CURE hospital network, taking precautions to keep their patients and staff safe. Preliminary measures include collaborating with the national Ministry of Health, wearing masks, reducing patient flow, contingency planning, hand washing, social distancing, and managing co-workers and patients to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Resources and Opportunities
Additional COVID-19 News and Opportunities

  • CFOI would like to know how your organization has pivoted to address COVID-19. Please take a minute to tell us about your efforts at this link, and forward this request to faith and community organizations contributing to the COVID-19 response. 


  • We encourage potential partners to continue monitoring grants.gov and beta.sam.gov (new fedbizops) for new grant and contract opportunities related to COVID-19.

Deadline Extended: USAID Southern Africa Global Development Alliance Annual Program Statement

The USAID Southern Africa Global Development Alliance (GDA) Annual Program Statement (APS) addendum on Women's Economic Empowerment has been extended to April 20th, 2020.

 Organizations that seek to support women's economic empowerment and address gender-based violence in six countries in the region (Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa) are invited to submit two-page expressions of interest here . Organizations must confirm that private sector contributions can be leveraged.
Applications Open: USAID's American Schools and Hospitals Abroad

USAID's American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) Program's Fiscal Year 2020 Request for Applications (RFA) has been posted . Phase I submissions are due May 20th, 2020 4:00pm U.S. EST.
Questions? cfoi@usaid.gov