Date
22-May-2020 to 22-May-2020 		Location
Time: 10:30 am - 12:30 pm		 Format
Online
The global pandemic COVID-19 has unsettled our lives as never before. It has impacted almost everyone around the world; however, its impact on the poor and marginalised has been profound. The fear of transmission of the virus through human contacts has forced many governments in the South Asian region to impose lockdown with varying degrees of measures.

As the economic activities came to a halt due lockdown, the workers engaged in the informal economy took the hardest hit. In several South Asian countries, more than 80 percent workers are dependent on informal economy including agricultural, industrial, and service sectors. A large section of them get daily, weekly, or monthly wages. In the absence of effective social protection enforcement, it simply means they will not get their wages, if there is no work.

Various governments in South Asian countries have announced some relief packages; however, without relaxing the eligibility for accessing those schemes and entitlements many workers will not be able to access those benefits. All these together have compelled millions of migrant workers to return to their native villages. Due to complete shutdown of public transport system, several millions decided to walk back home with their families, often several thousand miles.

The pandemic has completely exposed the vulnerability of our public health system. Despite repeated emphasis from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of testing has remained abysmally low. There has been terrible shortage hospital beds, personal protective equipment for the frontline health workers, and other health services.

The pandemic in a way has uncovered the unbearable inequalities in the South Asian society. While the middle-class and upper-middle-class people have suffered from the lockdown, but it is the poor and marginalised whose lives were already precarious, have suffered disproportionately. This has been so discernible the way police personnel and other law enforcement agencies beat and harassed the starving domestic migrant workers, whereas the both blue-collar and white-collar migrants working in other countries whose remittance is seen to be crucial for the economy are brought back to country by air and sea with reasonable dignity. The violation of human rights has been a major concern during the pandemic, so far.

In this backdrop, what role civil society is playing? A study conducted in India by PRIA International Academy (PIA) underscores that civil society organisations active at the local level are playing crucial role to support the pandemic affected communities. The support ranges from distributing food, water, personal protective equipment, personal hygiene materials; disseminating useful information about the pandemic, personal health and hygiene, rules and regulations of lockdown, government schemes and programmes for the affected communities; as well as creating livelihood opportunities for the most marginalised communities. A majority of the CSOs have planned to continue these interventions with the communities in the short- and long-term, as they understand that both the pandemic and lockdown will have a far-reaching impact on the people particularly belonging to the most marginalised and vulnerable groups.

PRIA International Academy (PIA) and Asia Democracy Network (ADN) organised a webinar on 22 May from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm (Indian Time) on “The Role of South Asian Civil Society in the Times of COVID-19 Pandemic”. The objective of the webinar was to emphasise the roles of civil society during the times of pandemic in the South Asian region. The webinar focussed on the following key questions:

• What role civil society has been playing during the pandemic and what role it should be playing in the coming years? • What challenges civil society face in playing these roles? What support civil society will need to meet these challenges?
• What role government, donors, and philanthropic foundations can play to enable civil society effectiveness?

The Key findings from the webinar were as follows: 


Read the full report here.