Theme: Livelihood Insecurity & Economic Impact

In 1956, my generation of women organised and mobilised 20 000 women across South Africa to march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Our protest action was against the oppressive system of apartheid. Today, as we commemorate the importance of the 1956 Women’s March in South Africa’s history, I want to assert that the struggles we faced then are not dissimilar to what today’s generation of women is being called upon to respond to.

COVID-19 has eroded some of the peacebuilding gains made in Liberia over the last decade and a half. The threat posed by COVID-19 to sustaining peace in Liberia has increased the need to strengthen regional and sub-regional collaboration and international cooperation to contain and mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

The measures taken by African governments to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic may have saved thousands of lives, but they have also left many struggling socially and economically in one way or another. In this turbulent moment, we need solidarity, inspired by ubuntu, so that we can be fully human together amidst COVID-19 for a common purpose of social protection, human dignity and economic stability.

Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu provides an overview of the AU COVID-19 Response Fund

In recent weeks, as some African countries have commenced with the easing of lockdown and emergency measures – mainly to address the devastating effects of the pandemic on economies – various issues and trends have started to emerge that impact the relations between citizens and institutions.

It has been more than 130 days since the first reported case of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Africa. When many were still trying to comprehend the outbreak of COVID-19, at the African Union (AU) we immediately adopted the ‘new normal’. The 13 consultations we convened with over 400 youth from 42 African countries were eye-opening on both the challenges and innovations by African youth in fighting the virus.

It is now clear that the elderly is the age demographic most vulnerable to COVID-19. It is estimated that the disease kills 13.4% of patients aged 80 and older, 8.6% of those in their 70s, 4% in their 60s and 1.25% of those in their 50s. However, this data comes primarily from developed countries with resilient healthcare systems. In less-developed countries, which have shorter life expectancies, high levels of pre-existing conditions known to worsen outcomes and generally weaker healthcare systems, mortality is likely to rise earlier.

The African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has highlighted that the continental body will focus on the economic, humanitarian and health dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this formula, the problem of Africa’s external debt is recognised as an important component of the economic dimension of the COVID-19 crisis.

There is no simple exit strategy for each African state. However, the UNECA report has prioritized the need to ensure that there are sound governance strategies that are put in place to respond to COVID-19.

The corona virus has demonstrated that we can do many things that seemed impossible before. We are now allowed to think it is possible to contemplate a different set of rules and norms. There is a dramatic return to Keynesian policies by those who once kept at arm’s length what they considered a sin: to recognize public services as public goods that are to be properly funded. Treating them as investments in social capital instead of as liabilities. There is now a recognition that the key role of the state is back.