By Akanimo Sampson
Easter Kumbana heard about the dangers of the rampaging coronavirus. But, he could not afford the basic items needed to protect himself and his family from the disease.
Luckily, he was able to benefit from an outreach programme in Zambia that distributed thousands of face masks and hand sanitizer to vulnerable communities. The programme also spread the message about the outbreak through a communications campaign that included radio advertisements and posters promoting social distancing.
According to Kumbana, who lives in Kanyama on the outskirts of the capital Lusaka, “I had no money to buy face masks and hand sanitizers because the little money I had was needed to feed my children, so I am extremely happy to be assisted with sanitizer and facemasks.”
The African Development Bank quickly sprang into action when the COVID-19 virus emerged in Zambia. The Bank realigned its water, sanitation and hygiene activities within the Lusaka Sanitation Programme towards COVID-19 mitigation.
The aim was to engage communities and provide them with vital information on the virus and, where possible, share hygiene products to keep residents safe during the initial phase of the outbreak.
As part of the Bank’s initial response, the Zambia country office led several awareness activities, including information sessions for the general public to discuss target areas of the Lusaka Sanitation Program and to promote behaviour change towards improved sanitation and hygiene.
Bank outreach also included the distribution of hygiene products to the most vulnerable communities and the production of messages to distribute in the entire capital city of Lusaka.
In the most densely populated communities, more than 800 households received daily public service announcements. An additional 19,000 persons were reached through posters and personal communications at water points. Over 600 water tap attendants turned into coronavirus prevention ambassadors.
The hygiene supplies targeted public spaces, including health centres, places of worship, water points, markets and vulnerable communities. Certain semi-urban areas surrounding Lusaka were also included, such as the districts of George, Kanyama, Chawama, Kamanga, Matero, Kaunda Square and Chainda.
“This project is good for not only the water tap attendants but for the community as well. The tap attendants were able to sensitize the community and did so by demonstrating, using the materials that were given by the Bank,” said Josephine Moono Chihongo, a community development officer at the Lusaka Water Supply and Sanitation Company.
“Today when you go to the community water collection points, no one draws water without a mask and without sanitizing their hands. This shows us that there is behavioural change among the communities,” she said.
The COVID-19 community awareness campaign is now a continuous exercise, part of WASH education campaigns in Lusaka. The key message focuses on the importance of staying safe by practicing social distancing and washing hands thoroughly and often.
“We have seen change in the community and people are now following the guidelines that have been set because they now understand that the disease is deadly and they need to take care of themselves,” said John Nyambe, a community water point attendant in Kamanga.
The Lusaka Sanitation Program is a $243 million multi-donor program, jointly funded by the African Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and German Development Bank. The Bank provides $50 million of the total funding package.
Easter Kumbana knew the novel coronavirus was a deadly and highly contagious disease, but he could not afford the basic items needed to protect himself and his family from it.
“I had no money to buy face masks and hand sanitizers because the little money I had was needed to feed my children”, said Kumbana, a resident of Kanyama, an impoverished community on the outskirts of the Zambian capital Lusaka.
Kumbana and other Africans were at the heart of the African Development Bank’s multi-billion dollar Covid-19 Response Facility announced a year ago. The goal was to help millions across the continent deal with the health and economic consequences of the pandemic.
“These are extraordinary times, and we must take bold and decisive actions to save and protect millions of lives in Africa,” Bank President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said when the Bank announced the Covid-19 Response Facility. “We are in a race to save lives and we will leave no country behind.”
At the time, there were around 3,000 coronavirus cases on the continent. A year later, the number of infections has surpassed 4 million, with more than 118,000 lives lost. The focus is now on vaccine justice for Africans.
Only 2% of Africans have received COVID-19 vaccines, mostly under the COVAX initiative(link is external), which is the primary source of novel coronavirus vaccines in Africa. The African Union estimates that at least 60% of the continent’s population need to be vaccinated in order to develop herd immunity and to prevent the disease from becoming endemic.
Aside from the health impact, the continent is also grappling with its worst economic recession in half a century.
About 30 million Africans were pushed into extreme poverty in 2020 as a result of the pandemic and it is estimated that another 39 million Africans could fall into extreme poverty in 2021, according to Bank analysts.
By April 1, 2021, the Bank had approved a total of $4.1 billion for all operations under the COVID-19 Response Facility, and disbursed a total of $3.7 billion (90% overall disbursement). Funding has also gone to the World Health Organization, which received $2 million in emergency assistance to reinforce its capacity to help African countries contain the pandemic and mitigate its impacts.
A special $20 million package went to the five Sahelian countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger to strengthen their national capacities to stop the spread of COVID-19. It will also help them limit its social and economic impact.
This is a region where the pandemic is causing an unprecedented emergency on top of multiple crises.
In the days before the African Development Bank’s response facility, it announced a $3 billion social bond to support its COVID-19 funding efforts.
Apart from funding, the Bank has promoted policy and knowledge management events focusing on the disease and mitigating its impact across a variety of sectors. The Bank’s African Development Institute launched a series of informal discussions to help African countries deliver informed responses to the pandemic. Topics have included health, regional integration and agriculture policies.
Kevin Urama, senior director of the African Development Institute, said the sessions bring together global experts from around the world to offer “reality checks for each policy option proffered.”
“Our objective is to build more resilient African economies in the post COVID-19 world”, Urama said.
