COVID-19 - Public Awareness and Support for Street Vendors

COVID-19 in Ethiopia
COVID-19 infects many people and causes deaths throughout the world.
Ethiopia, with the second largest population in Africa of around 114 million people, is one of the countries that can potentially be  affected with the pandemic. The Federal Minster of Health announced that the Virus infected 9,147 people and caused 163 deaths (July 19, 2020). However, unconfirmed sources predict that the number can dramatically increase in a short time due to the recent mass demonstration in different parts of the country without any protection strategies.
The impact of COVID-19 will be tremendous in all spectrums of the country’s socioeconomic structures. As we have been witnessing from well-developed countries, the challenge will be huge for poor countries like Ethiopia. It affects the economic activities in all sectors including agriculture, food production, manufacturing, service and other industries like hotel and tourism. As a result, millions will be unemployed and unable to secure income for survival. It puts the nation and population in severe poverty. Since millions of our citizens are
fighting for their daily food, COVID 19 will immediately affect them making it hard to secure their daily meals and exposes them to severe hunger and death.

Target Beneficiaries Groups
The project mainly targets disadvantaged, poor people and those who engage in the informal work such as street vendors. It adresses the needs of female house-headed who are the most to work as street vendors. Accordingly, 250 females who are working in the informal sector in Addis Ababa and Adama will be supported. The government of Ethiopia has done risk assessment and mapping to spotlight the most vulnerable groups and their needs. The most vulnerable are economically disadvantaged people and those engaging in the informal business (pity traders). They are at risk of getting easily infected and spreading the virus. Fullfilling their needs for protective supplies and supporting them through awareness, materials and provision of food supplies reduce the spread of the virus. It enables the target group to develop health seeking behavior.

--> Total of 8500€

Project Period
The project is planned for five months (August – December 2020)

Implementers
The YMCA branch offices and volunteers implement the project. The national office of YMCA Ethiopia will lead, support and follow up the entire process.

Project Location
The project is in Addis Ababa and Adama (Ethiopia)