The Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet) in partnership with Voluntary Oversea Service (VSO) Nigeria, SDGs Thursday and the Nigeria Youth Engagement Network (NYEN), have engaged some community agents on ending the spread of covid-19.
Mr Pius Oko, the Project Officer of CSDevNet in a statement said the engagement involved over 50 Community COVID-19 Champions/Volunteers, 50 per cent of them women, across communities in Abuja, Kano and Adamawa states.
“The objective of the engagement is to end communal spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, and it is pioneered by the VSO COVID-19 Response Small grant project’’, he said.
Oko said that since the index case of the coronavirus disease was detected on February 27, 2020 in Nigeria, several measures have been instituted by the Federal Government to check its spread.
“President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) activated a national Emergency Operations Centres (EOC), together with the Federal Ministry of Health, to curtail the spread of the disease.
These measures were meant to protect the health of Nigerians such as restricting movement within and outside the country and announcement of lockdown in most states by government at the federal and at state levels.
He emphasised that despite all entreaties from government, development partners and CSOs on public and individual responsibilities, there are problems of Perceptions, Attitudes and Public Behaviours that have to be tackled in order to discontinue community transmission.
In April and May 2020, CSDevNet and SDGs Thursday through many efforts and interventions had directly supported over 1,500 households and indirectly reached over 3,000 households on COVID-19 response in education, sensitisation, feed-a-family soft palliatives and donation of personal protective equipment andhand washing facilities across the nation.
Oko added that following the gradual easing of the lock down citizens are encouraged to take responsibility and ensure adherence to some health protocol and preventive measures, and went on to name them.
“Mandatory use of face masks advisory use of cloth or non-medical face mask covering for all persons while in public spaces, regular hand washing with soap/sanitizers under running water.
“Extensive temperature checks in all public spaces, maintaining at least 2 metres (6 feet) physical distance between yourself and individuals and; closure of activities that will cause any form of gathering including schools, places of worship, sports, public spaces and social events.
“And Non-physical greetings by avoiding hand shakes or hugs and inter-state travel’’.
Mr Abeng Lucky, leading the SDG Thursday affirmed that the VSO partnership with CSDevNet and SDGs Thursday is to upscale the ongoing interventions to directly reach 2,000 households in satellite towns and rural communities in a month through knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) survey on COVID-19.
It is also intended to identify and engage 50 community COVID-19 prevention champions on Advocacy, train about 100 youths in production of basic PPEs and distribution of over 2,000 face masks and Hand sanitizers made by these trained youths.
There will also be street public awareness and periodic sensitization onCOVID-19 prevention and adherence to recommended health protocols and safety hygiene using indigenous language and online sensitization and advocacy using various media platforms.
Lucky, therefore, stated that this intervention will reduce the impact of COVID-19 spread and prevention of communal transmission through capacity building of youths using local action in satellite towns and rural communities.
