The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to have long-lasting consequences on economic and social conditions, stemming from the disease transmission control policies, and their profound negative impact on businesses and livelihoods in Pakistan. Economic projections have already been revised downward, driven by shocks to both demand and supply, and sharp declines in the circulation of goods, services and people, not only in Pakistan but around the world.
According to a research conducted by the United Nations University, the academic and research arm of the United Nations, this economic fallout is expected to reverse a decade of global progress in reducing poverty, and in some regions the adverse impacts could result in winding them back to where they stood thirty years ago. The government recently handed out a one-time immediate subsistence relief to 16.9 million families at the risk of extreme poverty through its Ehsaas Programme, representing the largest and most extensive social protection intervention ever in the history of the country.
However, there are still many small shop owners who were severely impacted by the pandemic while their businesses completely closed due to lockdowns, but yet they didn’t qualify for it despite being in dire need to receive such support for survival. The importance of compassionate assistance by all those who can provide it is therefore highly desirable for the community or the nation to recover from a crisis as quickly as possible.
Given the average Pakistani family size of 6.45 (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2018), the resulting effect of the crisis is on 160 million people (or roughly two thirds of the country’s population), with a direct effect on the livelihoods of nearly 25 million workers.
Lately, the National Coordination Committee (NCC) has lifted the restrictions on various business sectors, including tourism, restaurants and transport, including air and rail travel, and a few others, considering the declining number of COVID-19 cases in the country. As such, the economy is expected to gradually return to normal. However, not everyone will be able to reopen their businesses like before, particularly the small shopkeepers operating on small profit margins, who typically have fewer ways to access financing and might have become especially vulnerable, in the absence of cash reserves to weather the period of economic uncertainty.
As per the State Bank of Pakistan, these micro, small and medium enterprises are crucial for the economy, as they constitute over 90% of the estimated 3.2 million business enterprises and contribute 40% to the GDP with over 40% to export earnings, marking their high importance. Nonetheless, to remain afloat these small businesses need timely and targeted support that addresses the multiple axes of their concerns, perhaps in the form of assistance with rent, loan payments, inventory etc.
At this point, private corporations can step in to support the government’s efforts to put the economy back on track, by implementing strategies and initiatives that benefit society through fairly simple but high impact actions, and support those most at risk in their value-chain. Companies around the world including Amazon, Google, Microsoft etc., assumed this responsibility and set up funds to provide cash grants to small businesses, which are open to general public and reliant on foot traffic for customers.
In the local context, an excellent example is of Coca-Cola Pakistan, which apart from redirecting its marketing expenditures towards relief efforts, mapped out the most vulnerable and affected entities within its supply chain through its Open Like Never Before program, recognized locally through the hashtags #konaywalidukan and #shopnearby. The program is inspired by Coca-Cola’s Global Purpose: To Refresh the World and Make a Difference, and its beneficiaries include corner-stores, food service outlets and even street vendors.
The company realized the importance of little acts of kindness and the big difference these can have on people’s lives, and is enacting an innovative support strategy to solve immediate challenges of these beneficiaries. So far, the company has helped more than 10,000 neighborhood shops in 11 cities through free supply of product, which helped them reopen up their businesses with pride and generate the required cash flow to keep their businesses afloat.
This act of targeted support by Coca-Cola Pakistan has given hope to thousands of shopkeepers and their families and is spurring trust and solidarity in consumers as well to support their nearby stores. The campaign is indeed marking the time of a great social change and is a trailblazer for other private organizations to follow, as it encourages everyone to open their hearts and be more humble and considerate towards others, especially the most vulnerable in the society and drive this reopen movement in Pakistan with a social cohesion and solidarity like never before.
This crisis has revealed many rifts in our fragile social fabric that can be mended only with empathy and a change in our attitudes- that instead of going back to our old ways, we should create a new way of life whereby the new ‘normal’ shapes a new world that promotes inclusiveness, selflessness, empathy and support.