AWD Report 2020
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region faced several crises in 2020. Aside from COVID-19, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are battling the worst locust invasions in decades, which led Somalia declared a state of emergency in February.134 On 30 March 2020, IGAD’s Heads of State convoked a virtual extraordinary summit, formulated an IGAD Regional Response Strategy to pandemic diseases and established an Emergency Fund for the control of pandemic diseases and the strengthening of health systems in the region.135 Within the East Africa Community’s (EAC’s) 2012 legal and institutional framework of the Governance of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Community, Partner States exchanged knowledge and established a plan for the fight against COVID-19 on 25 March 2020.136 On 15 April 2020, EAC deployed nine mobile laboratories and COVID-19 test kits to all Partner States, as part of its Mobile Laboratory Project.137 Meanwhile, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) convened an emergency virtual meeting on 6 April 2020, adopted Guidelines on Harmonisation and Facilitation of Cross Border Transport Operations across the Region During the COVID-19 Pandemic and put in place a Regional COVID 19 Trade and Transport Facilitation Cell.138 It recommends its 16 Member States put in place national transport facilitation cells.139 The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) mapped out the trade sector response and its Member States established uniform standards to minimise disruptions in supply chains.140
7.9. African Women’s Leadership in the Fight Against COVID-19 Women played an important role in tackling Ebola. In Sierra Leone, the Ugandan epidemiologist Dr Monica Musenero became a central figure in the fight against the disease. She was recently appointed as a presidential advisor on COVID-19, before the first case had been reported in the country.141 A study has shown that women traditional leaders are often very involved in mediating between their communities and the health system and are more likely to engage with women and children and educate themselves and their community to comply with health directives in epidemics.142 Thus, women traditional leaders played a crucial role during the Ebola epidemic in Liberia and, more generally, in the promotion of health care in Botswana, Ghana and South Africa.143 African women have shown leadership in the fight against COVID-19. Namibia’s Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa supported the national response against COVID-19, which focused on prevention, closed borders early and led vigorous campaigns that reached even remote indigenous communities.144 Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, a Ghanaian member of parliament, sensitised women in her community to the importance of good hygiene, which mobilised them to spread the message further and become informal community leaders themselves.145 Blen Sahilu, an advisor to the Ethiopian president, has spread information using social media and subsequently reached mainstream media to raise awareness of the virus’ threat. Thus, she mobilised multiple groups to spread awareness in various languages to all age groups using leaflets and posters.146 At the local level, Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr not only adopted immediate measures like awareness campaigns to minimise the impact of the virus but also sought long-term improvements in the city’s health infrastructure.147 Women’s leadership outside of politics has also led to policies being formulated to address the gendered impact of the pandemic. The Corporate Social Responsibility Department of the Central Bank of Egypt, which is headed by a woman and whose employees are mostly women, has started in conjunction with the Federation of Egyptian Banks to supply funding for monthly cash transfers for irregular workers. This has addressed problems in cash flow in the informal work place.148 The Tunisian Ministry of Women, the Family, Children and Seniors and the Tunisian Solidarity Bank have teamed up to offer domestic workers loans repayable at a preferential rate.149
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