The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in Maharashtra was confirmed on 9 March 2020. Since then, the state remained a prominent hotspot. Urban metropolitan regions of Mumbai, Pune, Thane and urban cities like Nagpur and Nasik have reported maximum number of cases in the state.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown greatly disrupted lives, specifically for the urban poor. It, therefore, became very clear early in the lockdown that large-scale interventions would be required to address the COVID-19-induced challenges. To support the Government in its endeavour to save lives and reduce the impact of the pandemic, UNICEF Maharashtra, along with its strong network of development partners and corporate donors, formulated and coordinated several eff orts across cities of the state to facilitate targeted actions to redress the impact of COVID-19 at the community level.

This report is an attempt to present an overview of the work jointly done by the State Government, UNICEF and development partners to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, particularly for the cities of Maharashtra.