It has been more than 200 days since the outbreak of COVID-19 in December and every community around the world has been impacted. Our lives have changed. And we are learning new ways of supporting one another as economies slowly reopen.
In Africa, the number of cases has now surpassed 500,000. Since March, the virus has claimed 11 959 lives, overtaking the 11 308 lives lost in the world’s worst Ebola outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2016. And if these numbers are low compared to other countries, the impact of the lockdown and curfews on the livelihoods of local communities including vulnerable women in rural and remote areas has been devastating.
There is a mounting food security crisis due to lockdowns and curfews, which have restricted mobility and disrupted markets to grow, buy, and sell food. One partner in Senegal noted “If COVID does not kill us, hunger will,” says Ousmane Sarr, Communications Officer at RESOPP. In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that the world could see famines of “biblical proportions” if no action is taken. More than 60% of employed women in sub-Saharan Africa work in agriculture yet will most likely suffer from hunger if they are not protected from this potential threat.
Crossroads is mounting a COVID response with local partners to respond to urgent food security needs in vulnerable communities providing emergency food and sanitary supplies (soap, rice, grains, pulses, etc.) with education critical for prevention; as well as new support to women and girls at risk of gender-based violence. Women and girls make up the largest group of people exposed to contagion because of their role as caregivers. They are at the frontlines of the pandemic, bearing most of the responsibility for caring for the sick and elderly in their homes and communities. There is a real and present risk of high fatality rates from the disease in developing countries where health and sanitation systems are weak if contagion cannot be prevented. Now is the time to act.
Many of Crossroads partners are reporting increased incidence of violence and abuse of girls, with some countries reporting a surge in teen pregnancies. According to the UN, there has been a ‘horrifying global surge’ in domestic violence towards women and girls, linked to COVID-19 lockdowns. Women are experiencing a heightened risk of gender-based violence from abusive partners and increased isolation, separating them from the people and resources that can best help them.
School closures due to the lockdowns have also increased the risks for girls to be sexually exploited or forced out of school forever because of unintended teen pregnancies and early marriages. There is a need to act now to ensure specific protections for the rights of girls and young women. Cuts to education budgets and rising poverty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could force at least 9.7 million children out of school forever by the end of this year, with millions more falling behind in learning. And girls are more likely to be more affected than boys, with many being forced out of school, into the labour market -- as is already reported in Burkina Faso where we work -- or into early marriage.
Crossroads International with the support of its funding partners is mobilizing resources to help partners re-tool in the face of new challenges. Direct support for things like access to telecommunications can support the provision of essential services to local communities and help kickstart local economies. As information services move to digital platforms to accommodate physical distancing, our partners in remote areas need help to adapt and provide emergency outreach and counselling over the phone or online. As resilient leaders, farmers, caretakers, and business owners, women can help solve these problems: we need to invest in supporting them. Only by working together, by putting resources in women’s hands can we come out of this pandemic stronger than before.
-Wanjiro Ndungu, Manager Philanthropy, Crossroads International