Yogyakarta – Center for Population and Policy Studies (CPPS) UGM helped vulnerable communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
CPPS UGM collaborated with several disaster response action associations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, including Dapur Umum Melawan COVID-19 (Public Kitchen to Fight COVID-19) and Tolong Sesama Lawan COVID-19 (Help Others to Fight COVID-19).
In collaboration with Dapur Umum Melawan COVID-19 initiated by Solidaritas Pangan Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta Food Solidarity), CPPS UGM distributed the donation in the form of Vitamin C and Vitamin E to the elderly and children in need in Gubung Kidul Regency, Sleman Regency, and Kotagede, Yogyakarta.
Meanwhile, in collaboration with Tolong Sesama Lawan COVID-19 initiated by interfaith, cultural, and professional networks in Yogyakarta, Central Java, and Bali, CPPS UGM also provided food stalls and distributed them to informal workers who were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, the team of CPPS UGM directly involved in distributing 290 food packages to a number of families in need in Yogyakarta on 10-11 April 2020. In detail, 160 food packages were distributed to Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta City, and Bantul Regency, and 130 packages were distributed to the Sukoharjo region as well.
Basilica Dyah Putranti, a volunteer of Tolong Sesama Lawan COVID-19 as well as CPPS’s researcher, explained that such disaster response action aims to help those who are in need and to mutually reinforce communities so that they can rise from the global health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There is no need to wait for government assistance, everyone is basically blessed with a conscience and a sincere desire to help others who need help. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global disaster, it’s us who should help each other to get up together from adversity,” she said.
She added that the spread of COVID-19 is very fast and the vaccine has not been found, so one of the most likely efforts to not be easily infected by COVID-19 is to maintain body immune, one of them is to regularly take vitamin C and vitamin E.
In addition, an effort to fight the spread of COVID-19 is to do physical distancing. This significantly affects the decline in economic activity and volume, especially for those who belong to lower-middle income groups, the majority of whom work in informal sectors with daily wage. This group also does not have assets and savings that can be relied upon while facing the lost or decrease their income.
“In addition to the high percentage of informal workers (around 55 percent) in Indonesia, they are also one of the most affected groups in the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we distribute food donation in the hope that it can ease the burden on those in need,” she added.
As a referral research institution in population and policy, according to her, CPPS UGM is supposed to always ground the discourse that it builds into the most practical and strategic actions needed in a crisis situation.
Triyastuti Setianingrum, CPPS UGM Finance, Asset, and HR Manager, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has many implications that affect various aspects of life, such as economic, social, cultural, religious, and political. Therefore, good cooperation and awareness of all parties is needed to immediately get out of this condition.
“Therefore, CPPS UGM is moving together, hand in hand to fight the COVID-19 pandemic by donating and collaborating with various parties to help those in need,” she said. According to her, this action is also one of the implementations of Tri Dharma Perguruan Tinggi (Three Pillars of Higher Education), that is community service.
In addition to hold collaboration with some parties, she highlighted that CPPS UGM also had a plan to provide assistance in the form of basic foods given to internal and external parties of CPPS UGM.
Moreover, CPPS UGM also had a scientific agenda related to COVID-19, such as holding online seminars and publishing the Special Edition of Jurnal Populasi on COVID-19.
