The corona crisis is becoming more and more widespread. Attention is still focused on infections and death rates in connection with Covid-19 in Europe. However, the international dimensions of the dangerous virus are slowly coming to light. terre des hommes schweiz-Program manager Gabriela Wichser provides information on the situation in the southern partner countries and explains why the crisis also presents an opportunity.
Switzerland is in crisis mode. What are you most concerned about at the moment?
Like all of us, the current situation is challenging me in my private life. However, I am much more concerned about the situation of people in those countries of the global South where we work with local partner organizations, i.e. in southern Africa and Latin America. I am particularly concerned about what consequences the coronavirus epidemic will have for the poorest of the poor in the world.
At terre des hommes schweiz we ask ourselves: What new needs is the crisis creating in our partner countries and what measures can we as a Swiss organization, together with our partners, take to contribute to the health and prospects of young people and their families?
How do you go about it?
We are in constant contact with our coordination offices in the project countries and with the local partner organizations in order to get a serious overall picture of the situation on the ground as quickly as possible. We are only at the beginning here and unfortunately we cannot rely solely on official information from the governments of those countries.
We want to know: Are the schools closed? Are the buses running? Has the government called on the population to take hygiene measures? Is the government information transparent and credible or is the health situation being played down?
We have already had to stop individual projects or we have scaled back activities, for example in Peru, where the number of coronavirus cases is currently rising and the country is in lockdown mode like Switzerland. Schools are closed and public transport is affected. Most stores are closed and people are being urged to stay at home.
What will be the next steps after the situation analysis?
We are in the process of developing an action plan. First of all, we need security measures for our national coordination offices, such as deputies and home offices, so that we can stay in constant contact with each other even under the new circumstances.
terre des hommes schweiz works in the field of sexual and reproductive health in southern Africa. HIV/Aids rates are still alarmingly high in this region of the world. What does it mean when the coronavirus pandemic hits countries like Tanzania or Zimbabwe?
This would be catastrophic, as the healthcare system in southern Africa and Latin America cannot be compared with the Swiss healthcare system. Take Mozambique, for example: one year after Cyclone Idai, many people are still living in emergency shelters and in close quarters. How can social distancing be maintained?
The majority of people in southern Africa have poor access to the healthcare system. There are far too few and too few well-trained healthcare staff. Many health facilities lack the most basic things: electricity, modern infrastructure and materials. Many people have no access to the healthcare system at all.
If many people fall seriously ill in our partner countries, there will always be a lack of capacity to treat them. There are very few intensive care units in southern Africa. The information system is also fragile in countries that struggle with widespread corruption and where violence is the order of the day. Take Zimbabwe and Nicaragua: neither government has yet reported any cases of coronavirus infection. Here we have the impression that the state is playing down the risk.
How do you assess the economic consequences for developing countries and regions that are or will be affected by the coronavirus?
At the moment, it is impossible to predict what lies ahead. But an economic crisis in the industrialized countries will have a double impact on countries in southern Africa or Latin America, which also have international trade relations. It is likely that we will first strengthen our own system before investing in countries in the global South. These in turn will be further weakened by the pandemic in their own countries.
Another point is: In southern Africa, more than half of the population lives from the informal economy. They grow their own vegetables to sell at the market or earn an income from a roadside food stall. They have no protection against unemployment or social welfare.
terre des hommes schweiz works for and with young people. Adolescence can be quite resistant to advice. How do you want to win over young people in southern Africa and Latin America as role models in the fight against the spread of the epidemic and its consequences?
Exactly, it’s not easy to make young people believe that they should stay at home instead of meeting up with friends. Thanks to our many years of experience in youth work, we know how to work well and effectively with young people on an equal footing. We rely on the peer-to-peer approach, i.e. when young people talk to young people. This youth-oriented approach, which may seem succinct, can be a great strength in a crisis situation.
In conclusion, it is difficult to know how we can do good in the current difficult and complex situation. What is your advice?
It is very important that we in Switzerland follow the official measures. Together we have it in our hands. If we follow the instructions and show solidarity with our fellow human beings near and far, we can overcome the crisis together. We need to show solidarity, especially with older people and those who are at risk or ill. We can go shopping for others or call our grandmother and ask how she is.
However, solidarity and support does not stop at the Swiss border, but is a joint learning process for a healthy and just world.
In our many years of work, we strengthen young people and local communities. This often involves precisely those values that are currently booming in our country: Solidarity and helping each other out in the neighborhood. It is overwhelming to see all the humanity happening around us. This reinforces my impression that this major crisis can also have a positive effect on a small scale.
Interview: Anna Wegelin
