Title : The african social economy and the misguided responses to COVID 19 in sub-saharan african cities: Equity and human rights issues
Abstract:
Background: Many African planners and government officials regard the continent's large informal sector as 'a chaotic jumble of unproductive activates' that should be removed through forced eviction and repression. For the future, government officials and planners, who aspire to international standards of modernity, and adopt the prescriptions of the global community, must learn to strike the right balance between the ideals of international standards, and the reality of local conditions and requirements. COVID 19 illustrates how this traditional prejudice against the informal sector was carried over in the top-down containment measures enforced during the pandemic. This caused considerable harm, and has raised serious equity and human rights concerns.
Methods: The paper is based on primary and secondary sources, official records, and on the author's experience and interaction with government officials and informal sector operators during and after the pandemic.
Results: The initial information about COVID 19, and its control were based on data from high and middle income countries. The aggressive control measures did not sufficiently take into account the local cultures and social economy of Africa, and therefore affected informal sector workers and informal settlements disproportionately. Most informal sector workers depend for their daily earnings on constant movement and interaction outside the home, and faced constant harassment by the police and other state officials who enforced COVID restrictions on movement. Informal settlements are usually overcrowded, with limited access to water and sanitation to comply with COVID protocols for social and physical distancing, hand washing, etc. Structural inequalities excluded informal sector operators from participation in the design and implementation of COVID-related policies, and from due access to the palliatives provided by government and humanitarian organizations.
Conclusion: With hindsight, the official response to the pandemic in most African cities was misguided. Many people died from hunger and damage caused by stringent COVID policies.For the future, government officials and planners, who aspire to international standards of modernity, and adopt the prescriptions of the global community, must learn to strike the right balance between the ideals of international standards, and the reality of local conditions and requirements.
