Civil society organisations (CSOs) played a key role in helping people most in need as countries grappled with the Covid-19 pandemic, CIVICUS said in a recent report.
The report, titled, Solidarity in the Time of Covid-19, highlighted the crucial role of activists, civil society organisations (CSOs) and grassroots organisations during the pandemic.
Development Diaries understands that, across Africa, civil society responded rapidly to provide food and vital sanitary items to communities adversely affected by lockdown measures.
They also helped people whose livelihoods disappeared overnight, providing essential services when there were gaps in the provision of health care and psychological support.
According to the report, civil society also stepped in when official communication channels failed to give people accurate information about how to protect themselves and their families from Covid-19.
By using creative methods, such as street art, and working in diverse languages, CSOs were able to disseminate important information to different communities that the state was unable or unwilling to reach, the report noted.
In South Africa’s Cape Town, an NGO, Ikamva Labantu, mobilised to provide food and hygiene parcels to more than 1,000 older people, according to the report.
Additionally, the Ndlovu Youth Choir worked to dispel myths and misunderstandings about Covid-19 and shared basic health guidelines through their music.
It noted that another CSO, Grassroot, used WhatsApp to connect and train community organisers to lead a local response.
From one country to another, civil society, the report noted, rose to the challenge, campaigning for policies to protect excluded groups and establishing remote services to help vulnerable communities.
‘Despite emergency conditions, people asserted their civil rights by protesting. In April, about 1,000 residents of Tafelsig East in Cape Town protested against local government failure to provide them with food parcels’, the report said.
‘In May, people near the Seraleng mining community in Rustenburg protested about the dire socio-economic situation they were placed in due to the pandemic. July saw protests against schools reopening.
‘These and the many other protests showed that people needed to find ways, despite pandemic restrictions, to demand that their voices be heard and needs be met’.
The Johannesburg-based global civil society alliance urged governments to work closely with civil society outfits to ensure better and more just societies.
Source: Daily Maverick
Photo source: International Labour Organisation
