It is difficult for residents of informal settlements to follow guidelines to prevent Covid-19 transmission, such as hand-washing, in the absence of access to water. It is governments’ responsibility to provide these basic services
However, on the ground many African governments are “firefighting” in the face of growing pandemic realities and panicking populations. Access to water is emerging as a key breaking point to the Covid-19 response. As the health guidelines dictate, this is critical in slowing the transmission. Access to water is a human right and it is the responsibility of governments to provide it.
Undoubtedly, interaction between governments and the communities has become a pressing point as some communities grapple with adhering to the solidarity message in practice. “We are all in this,” to borrow a phrase from the WHO director general’s media briefings on Covid-19; but this implies that we are all equally affected by the current situation.
We need to be critical of the resources and energy directed towards addressing the living conditions of vulnerable and poor people in society. The current urban development approaches and models that have perpetuated marginalisation of informal settlements. Yet a study conducted by Jiangzhuo Chen, Shuyu Chu, Youngyun Chungbaek et al, “” finds that ignoring the influence of slum characteristics may catalyse the speed of an outbreak and result in inappropriate interventions.
In the current crisis, we commend some African governments’ policy responses to the threat of the coronavirus, especially the temporary measures they have taken to provide informal settlements with water. For instance, in South Africa, the declaration of a national state of disaster isto provide water tanks and additional sanitation facilities to informal settlements, as well as providing food packages in response to the loss of livelihoods.
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