Following the rapid spread of the Corona virus (COVID-19), the impact of the pandemic is being felt across the globe. In Africa, 33 of 54 countries have confirmed cases of COVID-19, leading to a sense of uncertainty and pushing governments to adopt precautionary measures that are changing our daily lives and routines. We are finding it difficult to get used to sudden school closures, self-isolation and social distancing. At Urgent Action Fund-Africa (UAF Africa), we prefer to speak of “physical distancing” because we recognize that social detachment shatters our feminist beliefs about the usefulness of collective and community care at this critical moment. At UAF Africa, we note that if some of the proposed national risk mitigation measures are not adopted in a methodical manner, they could result in cases of constitutional rights violations. We are aware of the fact that the majority of the precautionary measures proposed are applicable only by privileged people. This is happening in complete disregard of the fact that Africa has a high concentration of populations who face disproportionate socio-economic and health vulnerabilities.
In Africa, people who live on the margins of society, such as women in rural and urban slums, women refugees and prisoners, women in the informal economy such as street vendors, caregivers and professionals gender, women with disabilities as well as those living with HIV & AIDS among other chronic illnesses and transgender people that we all know, face structural obstacles to access information, water, soap, disinfectants and protective equipment to protect themselves and their loved ones. These are the same groups of people who fall into the low-income bracket and therefore lack basic social safety nets for health and housing services.
Recognizing the unavailability and weakness of health systems since tested by previous cholera, HIV & AIDS and Ebola pandemics in Africa, we already know that this COVID 19 will be no different from others in its impact. At UAF Africa, the question we ask ourselves is how do national and public health authorities think that marginalized and vulnerable people in our societies will be able to isolate themselves in crowded cities and communities? How will informal workers, domestic workers, sellers, caregivers, sex workers and all women in the informal economy be able to maintain “social distancing” when they cannot afford to isolate or miss work and see their livelihoods literally suspended without any national assistance focused on the implementation of adaptation measures? What will be the effects of the pandemic in areas with little or no access to water and lighting to see who we share space with? These are challenging times, then, that require us to work as a collective to find creative and sustainable solutions, tailored to our diverse contexts and constituencies.
It is with this in mind that UAF Africa is already striving to strengthen its rapid response grant mechanism to ensure the protection, respect and promotion of the dignity and rights of women as well as transgender people. during this time of crisis .
As a Women’s Fund working with structurally marginalized groups and individuals, we firmly believe that we and our grantees, partners and ourselves will overcome this pandemic. Historically, UAF-Africa has supported women and transgender groups to turn the tide, during the HIV and AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. We were present during the various Ebola crises in the DRC and West Africa and during the 2014 crisis, The Fund provided essential financial and technical support and conducted a rapid assessment survey in Liberia to explore the effects and gender dimensions of the Ebola epidemic . This investigation was essential in gaining a gender perspective on some of the psychological, social and economic changes created by the Ebola pandemic and on local responses to the epidemic. UAF Africa then generated information in the form of articles targeting public health, media organizations and policy makers . At UAF Africa, we publicly celebrate the courage of women’s and transgender rights activists and female social justice leaders who are on the frontlines of pandemics and related multidimensional struggles.
Scheduling our grant cycle for COVID 19 applications
As the Pan-African Feminist Fund for Women’s Rights, we will continue to use our rapid response grant mechanism to support our grantees during this rapidly growing COVID 19 pandemic. More specifically, we already support initiatives such as:
i) Develop and widely disseminate gendered messages and information about the disease;
ii) Simplify and/or translate complex information about COVID 19 that is shared by governments and public health experts into simple, local languages;
iii) Conduct action research/document the effects of the pandemic on women and transgender groups
iv) Create awareness/education on COVID 19 at the local level targeting informal sector rural/urban slum communities and other at-risk groups. Furthermore, we will support strategic, sustainable, bold and unique initiatives that will be proposed by our constituencies across Africa.
UAF Africa would like to assure its current beneficiaries that we will walk and work with you during these difficult times. The grantmaking team is ready to fully discuss changes in the implementation of your activities. Specifically, we encourage you to contact your respective granting officers to discuss the possibilities of:
- Shift your activities to align with the current environment and challenges.
- Postpone or cancel certain activities, particularly those related to physical meetings.
- Delay certain corollaries of the grant such as reporting.
- Discuss how some resources may have already been used in preparations for meetings and campaigns that will no longer take place.
The UAF Africa grant team is available to receive your requests/proposals 24/24, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year. We will acknowledge receipt of all grant applications within 24 hours and resources will be allocated to successful recipients within 72 hours, once necessary verifications have been completed. For more information on our rapid response mechanism, we ask that you review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) at https://www.uaf-africa.org/what-we-do/rapid-response-grantmaking/ – at the bottom of the page or send us an email and we can chat to clarify any issues, particularly regarding the support we are offering in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UAF-Africa staff are available to answer your questions and concerns. You can contact us at proposals@www.uaf-africa.org with the title Changes to the implementation plan . Alternatively, you can contact our Grantmaking Program Coordinator directly at Carol@www.uaf-africa.org. Additionally, you can call us at +254 732 577 560.
Our organizational structure facilitates the rapid response model
UAF Africa operates as a virtual organization with two anchor offices in Harare and Nairobi. The Fund benefits from a strategic physical presence in 5 regions of Africa; Kampala Uganda, Nairobi Kenya, Bujumbura – Burundi, Yaoundé – Cameroon, Dakar – Senegal, Abuja – Nigeria, Addis Ababa – Ethiopia and Harare Zimbabwe. With such an “on the ground” support network, we have our finger on the pulse of COVID 19 to ensure we are leveraging the intelligence we gather from our networks on how best to support women’s rights activists and transgender people, organizations and movements during this crisis.
The well-being and safety of staff
The safety and well-being of our staff are important to us. To meet state adjustments and guidelines, office staff are working from home and receiving the necessary support to ensure our work continues without inconvenience. As a Feminist Fund, we are innovating by responding to the crisis. This has seen our HR team working hard to provide for the needs of our members and enable a balance between their personal and professional lives – particularly for employees with their children at home following school closures, as well as the extra attention that caring for the elderly and disabled requires. This requires staff to engage in conscious planning, flexible hours and communication with co-workers and family members for effective continuation of work. We believe the only way to beat this pandemic is to collectively share how we are doing personally, organizationally as communities. In this way, we learn and strengthen each of our collective strategies of resistance and resilience.
UAF Africa staff is available to answer your questions and concerns. You can contact us at proposals@www.uaf-africa.org with the title: Modifications to the implementation plan . Alternatively you can contact our Grantmaking Program Coordinator at Carol@www.uaf-africa.org or contact us on +254732 577 560 and ask to speak with the Grantmaking Team.
Our social networks are available
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urgentactionfundafrica/
Twitter: @UAFAfrica
Instagram: @uafrica1
‘ Cross the river with the others and the crocodile won’t eat you’
So let’s ensure the safety of our friends, families, colleagues and countries. We encourage collective and community well-being during this season. Together we will overcome this pandemic
In solidarity,
The UAF-Africa Team
