Africa UN Knowledge Hub for COVID-19

Faten Ahmed holds her 1-year-old son, Ahmed while listening to some advice from a maternity health worker. World Bank supports Abu Bakr Society for Community Development in Tod, Upper Egypt as part of Labor Intensive Public Works Project. Luxor, Egypt.

As of early July, South Sudan confirmed more than 2,000 coronavirus cases. The implementation of social distancing rules, curfews and the closure of non-essential business has had a drastic impact on small businesses, especially in the informal sector where women constitute the majority of the work force. Now that businesses have been allowed to re-open with social distancing measures in place, women are working to adapt their businesses and get back on their feet.

UNICEF and The Gambia government launch relief aid for the most underprivileged families as part of broader plans to enhance a social protection system in The Gambia.

Back in April, Togo launched a social welfare program using digital cash transfers as the government tried to help informal workers whose livelihoods had been disrupted by the pandemic and the accompanying lockdown. The Novissi program, which was launched on April 8, signed up more than 1 million citizens in its first week. Up to 65% of the eligible beneficiaries were women.

Since December 2019, governments of countries in the Global South have adopted over 1000 different social protection responses to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic aiming to support those most affected by the crisis in coping and overcoming social, economic and health shocks.

COVID-19 has underscored the crucial need for pandemic responses to include social protection measures that reach and benefit marginalized populations.

The IMF is providing financial assistance and debt service relief to member countries facing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This page provides an overview of assistance approved by the IMF’s Executive Board since late March 2020 under its various lending facilities and debt service relief financed by the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT).

Authorities in Zimbabwe lift COVID-19-related curfew and relax domestic restrictions as of June 22; entry restrictions remain in place.

South Africa has repealed COVID-19 rules that made masks mandatory in indoor public spaces, limited the size of gatherings and imposed entry requirements at its borders, the health minister said on Thursday.

The Department of Basic Education has confirmed that it will adjust its existing regulations to align with South Africa’s new regulations around mask-wearing and gatherings.