Google and Facebook are Supporting flood relief efforts in South Asia

Harvey has been a tragedy for so many but there has also been some horrendous flooding in South Asia, this week both Google and Facebook pledged money and resources for that tragedy. They have both pledged to donate $1m each to relief efforts across South Asia. It is estimated that the flooding and subsequent landslides that have killed 1200 people so far.

Both sites are working with Save the Children.

Google posted a powerful blog post Rajan Anandan, vice president, South East Asia and India at Google, said:

“This summer, millions of people have been affected by severe flooding and landslides across Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. At least 1,200 people are known to have died, and tens of thousands of houses, schools, and hospitals have been destroyed, leaving people in urgent need of support during and after flood waters recede.

Today, we are committing $1 million from Google.org and Google employees to Goonj and Save the Children for their relief efforts in India and across South Asia.

Support for Save the Children and Goonj

Save the Children (SC) is responding to the floods in all three countries, with the aim of reaching a total of 160,000 people. Their efforts include providing food and livelihood support, temporary shelter materials for those most in need, hygiene items, and water source restoration. Children are often the most vulnerable in crises like these, and SC is also focused on setting up child-friendly spaces where children can gain access to educational materials and playtime, in a safe space away from the devastation.

Local NGO, Goonj, aims to reach 75,000 families across 9 affected states throughout rural India. Their relief efforts include providing families with basic needs kits that include food, mats, blankets, and hygiene items. In the long term, they aim to help rebuild and revive community structures like roads, bridges, and schools.

SOS Alerts for South Asia Floods

Google’s Crisis Response team activated SOS Alerts for the flooding in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. These alerts include the latest news about the floods, an approximate map of the affected area, and local updates from Twitter and other resources.

These alerts are available on Search and Google Maps on mobile and desktop. The Crisis Response team will continue to monitor the floods throughout South Asia and provide additional information and alerts as the situation demands.

Our thoughts are with the people of the region.”

Favebook also made a similar post and also mentioned they were waiving the fees on all donations made via Faceboo to Save the Children:

“Facebook is contributing $1 million to local and international charities that are helping to rebuild communities affected by flooding in South Asia. We’re also partnering with Save the Children to waive all fees on donations made to support their relief efforts.

Save the Children is responding to the floods in the affected countries by providing shelter, food, water and other short term needs to those affected, as well as giving long term support to victims.

We’ll automatically waive fees on all donations made to Save the Children until the end of the campaign, which means 100% of your donation will support their relief efforts. Any donation made to Save the Children on Facebook is eligible.

For more information on Save the Children, please visit their Facebook Page.”

The tragedy of Harvey has very much fileld the news over the last few days but it is important to remember other parts of the world. The death toll from the south Asia floods may be as high as 1200 in a part of the world where it is more likely the poor will suffer disproportionately. It is great to see bigger companies getting involved in this but it wpu;d be great to see even more. I know for many it’s easier and feels more appropriate because Harvey is so much closer to home but with $157,000,000 already pledged by businesses towards the campaigns it might be nice if some companies could look at helping those in other countries in need from a similar, but even more devestating tragedy.

Links

https://www.facebook.com/help/288702544942317

https://www.blog.google/topics/google-org/supporting-flood-relief-efforts-south-asia/

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/south-asia-flood

http://goonj.org/

http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/30/news/companies/hurricane-harvey-corporate-donations/index.html

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