The coronavirus pandemic is pushing everyone to reassess their daily routines. There already is a whirlwind of predictions on what will come next, and what this might mean for the economy, politics, or for social interactions as we know them. Most of such predictions may be just speculations, and some may indeed materialize. The fact is we mostly don’t know. What we do know, however, is that a post-coronavirus world is coming, which will be different from that of yesterday.
This COVID-19 pandemic has launched another period of crisis and uncertainty all across world and in Pakistan as well. In a short time, our lives have changed. Globally there are over two million cases and significant loss of life. Over three billion people are living under some form of lock-down. If we talk about province Sindh, businesses, schools, shopping brands and all public places have been forced to close from past 2 months.
Due to frequently lockdowns, people who are fully dependent on daily wages, have no source of income to survive. In interior Sindh, situation is extremely worst. People do not have food supplies, no medication and even they are out of financial resources. However, civil society actors are rising to the pandemic challenge in myriad small and large ways. They are filling in gaps left by governments to provide essential services, spread information about the virus, and protect marginalized groups.
During this situation several organizations came into action and donated multiple food items in interior and urban part of Sindh mainly in Khairpur, Sukkur, Rohri, Shiekharpur, Nausherferoz, Hyderabad and even in Karachi. I want to pay credit to organizations who are seriously donating in underprivileged and marganalized communities of interior Sindh. Their field staff continues to fight the pandemic on the frontlines and serve humanity in several areas of Sindh. But sadly, despite the incredible work that civil society does, it remains under attack in Pakistan.
Civil society activists also urge the Sindh government to converge all its energies, resources and efforts to confront the twin menace of COVID-19 and poverty in the province
As I am visiting the rural communities and interacting with the people, I hear from them that the district administration didn’t did justice with them. In a village there are 300-400 homes but the government distributed 50 food bags. Moreover, one thing is very important that few local government union council chairmen distributed Rs2,000 in villages and in return asked the villagers to take oath in Masjid that they are poor and they are in dire need. Importantly, during my visits I felt that the pandemic has also exposed entrenched inequalities: widespread discrimination, structural inequalities, historical injustices, lack of access to healthcare and other basic services, vulnerability of workers, fragile or wholly inadequate health systems and increasing domestic violence in different villages of interior Sindh.
While talking with few civil society representatives they were on view that they are fundamental in building a rights-based post-coronavirus world. They are playing a remarkable role during the pandemic by providing the necessary guidance on the protection and promotion of human rights; monitoring and tracking compliance, urging governments to fulfill their human rights obligations and providing services, being among the first responders in crisis situations.
Civil society activists also urge the Sindh government to converge all its energies, resources and efforts to confront the twin menace of COVID-19 and poverty in the province. All measures should be employed to secure the lives of all frontline soldiers, including doctors, health assistant, nurses, lady health workers, sanitary workers, and police by providing them all required PPEs and other support. At the same time, the Sindh government also needs to adopt a comprehensive mechanism for ration distribution from district to union council level to assuage miseries of masses amid a prolonged yet much needed lockdown.
I believe that at communal level what needs to be done is to inculcate the spirit of raising awareness and campaigning through disseminating reliable information, providing guidance, and technical assistance to control coronavirus. This can be done through NGOs and social actors.
My question to my civil society fellows is if COVID-19 is demanding that we reassess some very basic social interaction practices, such as shaking hands or hugging, is civil society destined to morph into something else? More poignantly, in an age when social distancing may become an everyday norm, perhaps for years to come, what will happen to large gatherings mobilized by civil society organizations? What will happen to social movements, street protests? If the very basic precondition behind organizing protests and social movements is pulled under our feet, how are the people’s voices going to be heard?
Human instinct to speak up is undoubtedly going to find a way to be heard yet again. What is also quite likely to happen is that a lot of such activism will be bound to be transferred further onto the virtual world. Social media, apps, smartphones etc. have already played important roles in galvanizing protests such as those in Egypt’s Tahrir Sqaure. Such civic activism is bound to accelerate further in future all across the world.
At the end, I appeal to the Sindh government and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to take on board CSOs as they are essential actors in designing and delivering humanitarian responses. They are particularly important in ‘last mile’ delivery and in reaching the most excluded communities. They should be at the table for the shaping of provincial priorities and the design of humanitarian schemes. Their presence would serve to safeguard the poorest and most excluded people and ensure that the design of approaches is informed by an understanding of community livelihoods, vulnerabilities, coping mechanisms and the specific challenges facing women and marginalised and excluded groups.
The writer is a social and political activist. He can be reached at [email protected], tweets at Salmani_salu