MPs urged to learn from Covid-19 debacle

MOSES MAGADZA

WINDHOEK

As Covid-19 continues to sweep across the world, SADC members of parliament have been urged to learn from the pandemic and work towards retaining their healthcare professionals, which has become a major challenge in some countries.

Trudi Hartzenberg, the executive director of the Trade Law Centre (Tralac), made the call recently when she addressed parliamentarians who represent their countries on the Standing Committee on Human Social Development and Special Programmes (HSDSP) the SADC Parliamentary Forum.

The Committee invited Hartzenberg to throw light on the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 as it prepared to help the region’s parliaments adapt to the pandemic in the context of Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) and streamline responses to the easing of lockdowns and shutdowns.

Vulnerable

She said the impacts of Covid-19 had been “extensive” across the economies and societies of SADC member states and had exposed vulnerabilities.

“It (Covid-19) has exposed the vulnerability of our healthcare sectors. In many countries the pressure on hospitals – and access to medical equipment, including ventilators, personal protective equipment - has been severe,” she said.

She continued: “The pandemic has brought into sharp focus existing vulnerabilities of, for example, small scale cross border traders, as border closures cut off their business lifelines. Sectors such as tourism and the broader hospitality industry have been particularly hard hit, with significant business closures and job losses.”

Tuning to the education sector, Hartzenberg noted that the impact on education as school and universities closed had been grave and highlighted inequities and inequalities. She predicted that the effects would continue as such into the foreseeable future.

She said Covid-19 responses had demonstrated how the SADC region is interconnected and called for regional responses and coordinated action.

“It has not been easy to find a balance between curbing the spread of the virus and limiting damage to the economy. National lockdowns have been implemented. Across the world, we now see more local restrictions being adopted to deal with so-called hotspots.”

Safety nets

Hartzenberg said many factors make African countries vulnerable to crises like Covid-19 and she challenged MPs to support efforts to address them.

She contended that lack of safety nets made many livelihoods very precarious in times of crisis, with informal cross border trade, with a predominance of women traders, being particularly vulnerable to crises in the face of restrictive measures, such as border closures.

She said the lawmakers perform a critical oversight function over the Executive branch of government and stressed that the effective management of the SADC trade regime (Trade Protocol) is essential as many SADC member states are land-locked and rely on goods being able to efficiently transit through neighbouring countries. She, however, noted that education had been adversely affected by the pandemic.

Malawian MP Bertha Ndebele chairs the HSDSP Committee. She said the SADC PF had developed and released guidelines for national parliaments to use in developing their various responses to Covid-19.