COVID 19: STORIES OF HOPE
East African countries face significant vulnerabilities linked to underlying socio-economic fragilities, including high levels of economic insecurity for large sections of the population and weak social protection systems which prevent access to treatment. Both formal and informal economies are being hit hard by the crisis. In addition, economic downturn has caused substantial implications for gender equality, closing schools and day care centres, increasing childcare and having a negative impact on working mothers. A recent study in Uganda indicates that three quarters of businesses have shut down due to the restrictions occasioned by COVID-19. Most of these businesses are micro-enterprises, with a significant impact on those with high female employment. Other emerging concerns are the media sensationalizing, creating fear and panic, and hastily implemented public health measures to achieve social distancing that cause stigmatization, and greatly reduce access to essential health services and basic food necessities for the poorest and most vulnerable populations.
Furthermore, pandemics have historically seen women and girls at risk and dying, not from the pandemic necessarily, but from a lack of access to vital sexual and reproductive and maternal care services that are neglected by overwhelmed health systems. This is especially true for adolescents, as evident from the Ebola crisis in West Africa that saw up to 40% increase in teen pregnancies. The Covid-19 pandemic risks exacerbating unmet needs for contraception among adolescents across Eastern Africa. In addition, women, youth and marginalised groups are at risk of experiencing multi-faceted impacts of the pandemic, including increased incidents of Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV).
In Kenya, over a third of crimes reported since the onset of COVID-19 are related to domestic and sexual violence. Additionally, there is an increase in violence against children that is driven by several factors including financial hardship due to loss of livelihoods, confinement at home, that leads to heightened levels of stress, uncertainty, and fear, all of which creates stressful environments that precipitate violence. Children are at heightened risk of all forms of violence as family members in highly pressured situations may resort to violent discipline, emotional abuse, child abuse, transactional sex, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and child marriage.
Across all contexts, there is an urgent need to rapidly expand in-country preparedness and containment capacity to support under-resourced health systems and slow the spread of the disease, while also minimizing the socio-economic impact of the crisis, particularly for vulnerable communities and young people. Some of the most critical challenges are:
Ad-hoc and unsustainable coping strategies in response to the negative impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in vulnerable communities,
Weak and fragmented health care delivery system in response to COVID-19 pandemic in vulnerable communities,
Adolescents and youth facing disproportionate challenges, due to barriers in accessing Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) services, life skills support, and employability skills development.
To address the challenges outlined above, the overall objective of the project is to improve systemic, gender-sensitive responses to overcome health, economic and social vulnerabilities caused by COVID-19 pandemic in East Africa. This overall objective will be achieved through the following intermediate outcomes:
Coping strategies to the COVID-19 pandemic for vulnerable men, women and youth, strengthened;
Health care delivery system for effective management of COVID-19 pandemic in target communities, strengthened; and
Access to adolescent and youth friendly health services, life skills, and livelihood opportunities increased.
Project Partners
The Aga Khan Development Network
The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), Aga Khan University (AKU) and Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS), as part the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), have been supporting human development in East Africa for over 100 years and in Mozambique since 1998. AKDN has over time closely collaborated with country- specific government health sectors to ensure improvement of health indicators through systems strengthening approaches that will continue to be evident in this and future collaborations. Our programmes are characterized by long-term commitment to the peoples and countries of the region and strong local and international partnerships.
AKF seeks to improve the quality of life, promote pluralism and enhance self-reliance in poor and marginalized communities. In East Africa, AKF works to enhance agriculture and food security, promote early childhood development and access to quality education, improve health and nutrition, advance economic inclusion and strengthen civil society. Across a range of national and local platforms and networks, AKF has invested in nearly 5,000 formal and informal CSOs, including Village Development Organisations (VDOs), Farmers Organisations and a myriad other civic group working on a vast array of issues. Among these are over 2,000 Community Based Savings Groups (CBSGs) in Tanzania, the Juntos! Civil Society platform established by AKF in Mozambique, and the disability platform in Uganda, reaching almost 200 membership organisations, and the Yetu initiative with over 700 CSOs in Kenya.
