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Supporting Just Response and Recovery to COVID-19 in Informal Urban Settlements

Our Project

Between 2020 and 2021, youth members of Slum Dwellers International’s federation, across six cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, and researchers from the University of Warwick and Nottingham, sought to amplify youth voices speaking to the ethics and justice issues arising from impacts of the COVID-19 and the policy response.

The project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK.

Recommendations

“Young people can get grants from the government only if they are active and it's not only those who are connected to the political parties but how active you are in the community. And other young people don't know where to access it and the procedure” (Kim, Lusaka).
“Can you imagine due to this pandemic also, people are leaving Sierra Leone to go and die in the Mediterranean Sea? Can you imagine people are going, yeah, our Sierra Leonean brothers are dying in Libya? You know, because they do not have jobs.” (Mohamed, Free Town).
“I'm a kind of person that I go to work every day, and so many things to do each day. So, like that is very, very, not so convenient for me. And I am very sure is not so convenient for every other youth out there. So, my main point is that they don't make the vaccine very accessible and very convenient for people to get, especially youth” (Elijha, Lagos)
“Just stay at home doing nothing… I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, [it] led to depression… you just don’t know what’s going on” (Musa, Lagos).
“During the covid there was no school, we had to run online lectures and without data there will be nothing like you attending lecture so and if there’s no electricity, you won’t be able to… if I attend a lecture today, tomorrow I might not be able to, based on data” (Hilmat, Lagos).
“We’ve been having so many protests, so many riots but we have not seen any change” (Timini, Lagos).
“We’ve been having so many protests, so many riots but we have not seen any change” (Temitope, Lagos).
“It has really made we the youth to begin to have more enlightenment on our thoughts on how to make ourselves better for the future. Because we have it seen that our present government are not really trying in terms of making we the youths to be what we have always wanted to be. So it’s left for us to do it. So due to what has happened last year, it has enlightened more on us to know what is ahead in the future.” (Sam, Lagos).

Adaptation Principles

Youth Face Resilience

Distributive Justice

Background

• Sub-Saharan Africa has the youngest population of any world region- with youth aged 15-24 estimated at 226 million (40% of the world’s total).

• Young people are important demographically, economically, socially, culturally, and politically. • The direct health effects of COVID-19 have generally been less deadly for younger age groups.

• The direct health effects of COVID-19 have generally been less deadly for younger age groups.

• However, for urban youth living in informal settlements, the threat to their lives and livelihoods arising from disease control policies, such as lockdowns and the closure of public space, has been disproportionately large.

• Young people are drivers of innovation and resilience in informal urban communities, they can use their experiences to play a central role in finding creative solutions and recommendations, as key agents of change across these contexts.

• However, they are often excluded from formal decision-making structures at community and government levels.

• Governments and organisations responding to the COVID-19 pandemic (and beyond) can ensure both effectiveness and proportionality in their responses by working with the skills, inventiveness, energy, connection, and knowledge of urban youth.

This brief captures the key findings and recommendations brought to light through collaborative and youth-led research across six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Credits:

KYC.TV