Rumanzi BENITA, Africa Population Institute, Uganda
A combination of natural and human induced processes has triggered elevated concerns on the current and future sustainability of terrestrial systems to support livelihoods and the development goals of nations. We look at the adverse impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems and life supportive systems. In the face of unprecedented impacts of COVID-19; devastated health, security and livelihoods of people across the world, with heightened vulnerability among communities in developing nations. Multiple vaccine candidates have received authorizations for emergency use and many countries on the African continent have initiated vaccination rollout. Scientific breakthrough to global hard immunity against COVID-19 continues to present significant policy challenges requiring a collaborative, global response. On the African continent, a lot remains to be done towards ensuring equitable vaccine reach across Countries and communities, bottlenecks include; vaccines cold chain infrastructure, critical skills and personnel protection for essential frontline workforce, vaccine awareness and potential local hesitation to vaccine uptake.
Policies and operational systems’ orientation across Countries, mitigated by in-country tailored approaches and co-leadership; Influences of the global anti-vax movement coupled with continued presentation on newer variants, mitigated by consistency in contextual key messaging; Conflicting & Competing national social communication priorities. Measures to ensure sustainability of the action post implementation stage include those also designed to build ownership of State and non-State actors and local communities i.e. inclusive inceptions, consultative designs, local collaborations, leveraging of existing initiatives, capacity building through cascade modeling and surge cadres with the national health structures. Furthermore, monitoring approaches will work to infuse social communication indicators in national health information systems.
Mots clés : COVID 19|East Africa|Biodiversity Concervation|Sustainable Development|Uganda
A104925RB