Rapid-Response to COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis
JOWI-F members subscription funds, individual members contributions and in partnership with:
Kenya Orphans Fund and Uganda Project (KOFUP) UK:
April 2020 to Date (ongoing)
In partnership with the above United Kingdom (UK) based Charity, JOWI-F undertook to implement an emergency rapid response to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis in Siaya and Kisumu Counties of Kenya effective April 2020. Additionally, the same Counties of Siaya and Kisumu were affected by flooding due to heavy rainfall experienced in the Country during the same period of Covid-19 pandemic crisis leading to displacement of vulnerable families, households (HH) and homesteads in the community. Using our household “Vulnerability Assessment” tool, tailored to emergency response to very needy and deserving HHs, a total of 80 OVC and other Vulnerable HHs with an estimated population of 600 (adults and children) benefitted from the initial support (as at May 2020). The Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis rapid response included a 3-packaged support/intervention per affected family/HH as follows:
Shopping basket with assorted food and basic household items for long lasting items and face masks;Cash disbursement of KES 2,000 per month per Vulnerable HH for an initial 2 months. This was disbursed through Safaricom mobile telephone mobile money transfer platform (Mpesa). JOWI-F deliberately used the standard GoK monthly Social Cash Transfer rate of KES 2,000 in order to align itself to the standard Government practice. The cash disbursement was meant to cushion the beneficiary HH in their daily purchases of perishable items not supplied in the shopping basket like vegetables, tomatoes, onion, bread, etc.; andEstablishment of a Smart HH kitchen garden and provision of basic seedlings as appropriate that included, but not limited to, indigenous vegetables, tomatoes, onions, arrow roots, sweet potatoes, etc. This was timely with the rainy season and was meant to wean-off the above cash transfer intervention (ii) above. This intervention was also going to help members of the HH have less visits to the markets and shops that would have otherwise exposed them to contracting Covid-19.
Covid-19 Contextual Analysis
Kenya confirmed its first Covid-19 case on March 13, 2020. Two weeks later, the number had risen to 31, and at Nine weeks (May 5, 2020) the Country had reported over 550 cases with over 24 mortalities. Amid fears of a major outbreak, the Government of President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a series of sweeping measures to slow the spread of, and sustain transmission of Covid-19 in Kenya including: Shutting borders and suspending all International passengers’ air travel, except cargo flights; closed all leaning institutions and asked GoK institutions, businesses/companies to allow staff to work from home, “with the exception of employees working in critical or essential services” and as well imposed a down-to-dusk Curfew. The pandemic immediately and directly affected production, created supply chain and market disruption, resulting into financial impact on firms and financial markets. Social distancing reduced the available labour force in Counties experiencing the pandemic. According to Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Economic Affairs in Kenya, there are businesses that placed employees on standby; some on half pay, others with no pay, thus the whole sector of businesses went down.
The Corona virus containment measures are expected to bring additional economic hardship in a Country where only 17.9% of HH have an internet connection and informal labourers account for 83.6% of the total workforce. These are mainly rate workers, day labourers and informal traders —and many of them are under heavy pressure to keep working in order to be able to put food on the table. While urged to maintain physical distancing, the majority of Kenyans live hand to mouth and have barely been able to stock up on food and other essential HH items. Meanwhile, in a Country where labour laws are as weak as they are unheeded, many workers have either been let go or sent on unpaid leave as nearly all sectors of the economy —including tourism, flower and horticultural exports, Kenya’s key foreign exchange earners —have taken a beating.
Education systems have been completely disrupted. All the schools including colleges have been shut down and a few have resorted to online classroom. This arrangement can only favor children in the urban setting while children in the rural and slum areas remain disadvantaged.
Situation is dire in Kenya public health facilities. The Country has only 200 intensive care beds for its entire population of 50 million, this compares unfavorably with countries in the West with 34 ICU beds for every 1000 population. Urban communities throughout the Country have health facilities that are overcrowded, not well equipped and understaffed, while in rural areas, poor roads and unreliable transport make it difficult for people to access health care. The frontline health care workers experience intensive stress arising from events resulting from Covid-19. No proper mechanism is in place for care of the care-givers.
In many communities in Siaya and Kisumu Counties, including informal settlements, people live together in close quarters, which makes social distancing, a critical prevention strategy, more difficult. Thousands live without access to clean running water, which makes frequent hand washing all but impossible.Adding to these concerns, current flooding in the Two County even a further impact as cold weather increases viral activity. Further, the GoK has declared wearing of face masks mandatory yet no effort has been made to have the face masks available for free to Kenyans leaving millions of HHs with no choice but to squeeze them in their already squashed budgets. Poor HHs have resorted to sharing the face masks to avoid running into problems with the enforcement team (the Police), lest they are arrested and detained in quarantine facilities, sometimes at their own cost and leading to stigmatization.
Communities living in densely populated slums in urban areas, and flood displacement camps are especially vulnerable. In these areas, people rely on community facilities, such as shared water points and communal toilets, and are dependent on private vendors rather than water piped in from a water utility. Even when there is access to water, it is often intermittent and only available a few hours per day.