^{6 July 2020}

RISE is doubling down to support the program’s informal settlement residents in Makassar - the capital of South Sulawesi, which has become one of the country’s leading provinces in coronavirus cases.

This month the RISE Indonesia team are phoning and checking in on every household to see how they are coping with skyrocketing cases in their city, and what support they need. This follows the recent delivery of food staples to Makassar residents as a symbolic gestures of support for many who have lost their jobs as a result of the recent city shutdown, and are struggling to afford basic items.

With the RISE office at Hasanuddin University closed since mid-March, our team is working from home, making calls from their living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens. They are also tracking positive cases by comparing RISE community maps with the local government’s daily updated case maps.

The upcoming phone call survey is a first step to potentially rolling out a more extensive phone survey later in the year to continue RISE's research even in the face of the COVID-19 constraints, build an evidence base around the impact of COVID-19 on informal settlement dwellers, and also build resilience into RISE systems, so that when the next crisis strikes RISE has the infrastructure to continue working efficiently.