News
Civil society, NGOs want to help in COVID-19 efforts, but say no official mechanism to do so
Civil society and NGOs are ready to help with Sri Lanka’s national Covid-19 efforts, but have been shut out of official mechanisms despite repeatedly offering assistance, authoritative sources said.
Some groups are even willing to give their residential facilities as intermediate or triage centres, provided there is some partnership between the organisations and the Government, they revealed, adding that there was reluctance to hand them over to the full control of the military.
This week, the Independent Technical Expert Group (ITEG) convened by the World Health Organisation also recommended a strengthening of the social support system “by engaging with temples and religious groups, NGOs, civil society, etc (ie, a national mobilisation effort) to overcome needs of the lower income groups, led by the Government (and supported by development partners, as needed).”
“We don’t have a channel of communication because we are not represented in any of the official committees, even the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 or the Covid-19 Economic Revival Task Force,” said Vinya Ariyaratne, General Secretary of Sarvodaya. He serves on the ITEG by virtue of his public health role – he is a community physician.
“We had a discussion yesterday, of the Civil Society Collective (CSC), which is now mainly looking after care homes,” he said. “They are willing to extend it to support the families who are under quarantine. The problem is, what is the mechanism for them to link to the Government system? There is no formal mechanism at MOH or district level.”
The Government must recognise the importance of engaging civil society, he stressed, not just NGOs, but religious organisations. The Salvation Army has already given its facility to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka as a triage centre. More of these can be set up in NGO residential facilities to carry out screening (for which the requirement has now increased).
A leading State hospital caring for Covid-19 patients had recently requested for volunteers. “In the past, you could mobilise hundreds of them for this kind of work,” Dr Ariyaratne pointed out. “Now, there won’t be as many because of the risk. But that isn’t the only reason. There are people who are willing, but they don’t see a space recognised by the State to engage.”
“What is the mechanism?” he questioned. “They (Government) have not asked help from civil society. Already, without them requesting, we have come forward and are looking after these care homes, which is a big operation. For that, we got an official mandate because we asked for it from the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication. They gave a letter and sent a circular to all the District Secretaries introducing the Collective, the conveners and describing what we will be doing.”
“That is an organised approach,” Dr Ariyaratne said. “They had specifically recognised the role of NGOs and civil society organisations.”
NGOs are also able to gather locally and distribute ration packs, providing relief to vulnerable families. While daily-wage earners and inhabitants of rural areas are better prepared with food and rice, etc, there are still pockets of dire poverty. Grassroots groups have village-level knowledge and are willing to organise. But they need official recognition and a mandate that allows them to travel during curfew. It will also help to raise resources as many have now exhausted what they have and their family members are increasingly affected. Government recognition will also encourage private sector collaboration.
NGOs can lead community education to interrupt transmission of disease and encourage people to stay home. They can also make public areas like temples, boutiques and marketplaces Covid-19-complaint. And they can monitor adherence to Covid-19 precautions.
In areas of livelihood development and revival, local NGOs, CSOs and district-level organisations have considerable capacity and can help distribute grants to those whose businesses were affected and others. They could create more employment for those who have lost jobs and help start new social enterprises. There may be new value chains – for example, agriculture value chains using internet marketing for which young people have expertise at village level.
“There are opportunities also opening up,” Dr Ariyaratne said. “If the Government is serious about stimulating a rapid rural economic revival, I think civil society can play an important role.”
It isn’t just civil society and NGO participation that is missing in the various Government mechanisms, he said. The private sector is also missing. There are no sociologists or psychologists. “If you have representation at the top, you can raise your voice and bring certain concerns as well as resources to the table in a coordinated manner,” he maintained. “This is a national trauma we are dealing with.”