EDITORIAL: LET’S NOT FORGET WOMEN IN COVID RECOVERY PLANS
A recent survey by the East African Women-in-Business Platform (EAWiBP) established that 66.67 percent of businesses operated by women within the six-nation East African Community (EAC) were shut down on the back of the adverse effects of the viral Covid-19 pandemic. Other adverse impacts of the new coronavirus malady which first broke out in the Wuhan City of Hubei Province in the People’s Republic of China in late 2019 included – but were by no means limited to – a drop in the incomes of women doing businesses in the informal sector of the Economy, as well as an increase in gender-based violence (GBV) and gender disparity/inequality generally.
By 09:56GMT yesterday, the Covid-19 pandemic had infected 120,465,898 people in 219 countries, territories and two luxury ocean liners, killing 2,666,246 of them.
Needless to lay it on thick, the adversities resulting from the global viral pandemic especially impacted women who are the breadwinners (so to speak) of their households.
This is usually by virtue of the fact that, in this day and age of societal upheavals, many women have resorted to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to be able to put bread on the ‘family’ table where husbands/male heads of households do not exist, or are not able to feed the household for one reason or another.
This most unfortunate situation was revealed at a virtual event held by the Arusha-based EAC Secretariat to mark this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD: March 8).
Supported by the EAC Secretariat, EAWiBP is working on how best to mitigate the Covid-19 risks to East African Women-in-Business – and, eventually, recommend remedial ways and means to the EAC Summit of Heads of State and/or Government for action.
Any and all recovery plans must prioritise enterprising women-in-business in our region, thereby sending the destructive Covid-19 malady into the dustbin of history sooner than later.\
END NEGLECT OF BUS TERMINALS
Tanzania now boasts arguably the best bus terminals in East and Central Africa following the construction and commissioning of several of these facilities across the country in recent years. However, their upkeep leaves a lot to be desired, and some are already falling into disrepair at a startling pace.
An example that quickly comes to mind is Msamvu Bus Terminal, which was not only the pride of Morogoro Region, but Tanzania as a whole when it was completed in 2018.
But just three short years down the line, the once-gleaming facility is already showing signs of neglect. Most of the taps in the toilets are broken, and there are places in the parking area where the surface is uneven. These are just two examples.
It should be remembered that most of these bus terminals were built with taxpayers’ money, and are supposed to be maintained by the local authorities under whose jurisdiction they fall. One just needs to visit a few cities and municipalities to conclude that bus terminals are not very high on local authorities’ priority lists.
These authorities should get their act together, and take greater care of bus terminals in their areas.
