As the Covid-19 contagion spread indiscriminately around the globe, it seemed to hit the most vulnerable communities discriminately: poor families were pushed further into poverty, and minorities faced increasing persecution. Muslim minorities in Sri Lanka were initially scapegoated for spreading the virus, exposing them to greater discrimination. In Bangladesh, the Dalit community was more vulnerable to misinformation because of isolation and lower literacy rates. Early Asia Foundation research found that the pandemic’s economic impact on women was particularly severe. Far from being a great equalizer as some had predicted, the global pandemic deepened already existing economic and social inequalities.

In response, The Asia Foundation launched a regional project across South Asia, funded by the European Union, to build the resilience of vulnerable communities in the face of the pandemic. The South Asia Regional Project to Strengthen Community Resilience to Covid-19 was premised on the need to reach communities disproportionately affected by Covid-19 and lacking access to outreach and support.