CGAP's Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 16, 2020 –  As we endure an unprecedented global health pandemic, CGAP is holding in mind the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the most vulnerable people in our societies, those for whom it is our mission to help build more sustainable lives. The well-being of the poor people we serve and of our families, friends, members and partners is our primary concern. To prevent any unnecessary spread of the disease, all CGAP staff are now working from home and have cancelled all travel. We are using virtual tools to continue business and communicate with our key stakeholders. Our annual meeting, usually held in May, has been postponed until September. These changes may well temporarily curtail some of our research and affect its sequencing, but we remain fully committed to delivering on our work program.

This crisis underscores the importance of developing healthy, sustainable and resilient communities, better able to cope with shocks such as these. Digital technologies can play an important role in enabling us to continue aspects of our economic lives, and we will learn more about the role digital financial services can play in a crisis in the weeks ahead. But we are all too well aware that these tools today are unevenly distributed, and the impact of the disease and the measures taken to contain it will vary immensely. Many of the people we serve will not have the luxury of working from home.

While we navigate these uncertain times, the challenges they present cause us at CGAP to redouble our commitment to ensuring that financial services deliver value to poor people, help them through crises and enable them to prosper.

----

Updated Information

April 16, 2020: Read CGAP CEO Greta Bull's Essay on CGAP's Response to COVID-19 >>