Mobility is central to the functioning of our society. This is just as true in Switzerland as it is in southern Africa, where many people rely on public transport to get to work, school or access medical services. Due to the global rise in energy prices, already expensive transportation prices are now becoming a luxury good. This also has an impact on the work of our partner organizations in southern Africa.
All partner organizations of terre des hommes schweiz are dependent on affordable transport. In Zimbabwe, a liter of petrol now costs USD 2.79 per liter. For a nurse in rural areas with a low average income of USD 60 per month, this is an unimaginably high sum. If you compare this with a minimum income of CHF 4,000 in Switzerland, the proportional price per liter is CHF 119.
Mobile healthcare services are becoming more expensive
In any case, few Zimbabweans can afford their own vehicle and are reliant on public transport. Nevertheless, inflation is making itself felt. Siphosenkosi Siziba is also feeling the effects. She is a youth worker at our Zimbabwean . “Everyone here in the country is feeling the price rise. We are too. Because many people couldn’t afford to go to hospital or a health post before, we regularly organized mobile health services and brought nurses to the communities. We don’t just have to pay for the fuel for the ambulance. The nurses also have to get to the ambulance first. These transportation costs are now barely affordable.”
Effects on the quality of work
This is just one example of how project costs have increased. Many of our partner organizations work with home visits in sometimes very remote regions, for example to help HIV-positive young people take vital medication or to offer psychosocial support to victims of sexual violence and their families. Tayson Mudarikiri, National Coordinator of terre des hommes schweiz in Harare, is aware of the dilemma faced by many organizations: “Many are trying to compensate for the price increase by reducing the frequency of visits. This naturally has an impact on the quality of our work and projects.”
React flexibly to the reality of everyday project work
When the terre des hommes schweiz team last visited the project regions in May 2022, rising energy and food prices were a key issue. Thanks to our approach of working at eye level with local offices and staff and thus being close to current local needs, we are also able to respond quickly and flexibly to needs and contextual changes. In this way, we were able to react quickly to the current situation together, so that mobility remains guaranteed to a large extent and is sufficient for meaningful and efficient project implementation. This also makes our work credible and trustworthy for the work on site.
The rising costs in the energy sector and the associated food sector will continue to occupy us in the coming period. Would you like to help us continue our work? We look forward to your support.
