What Can NGOs Do To End The Pandemic?
NGOs have always played a great role in providing essential supplies to vulnerable populations, especially in lesser developed regions such as the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia.
Now, in the age of a world-wide pandemic, NGOs have helped the impoverished and those who have been wronged by the virus. Today, they need to step in to provide the help that many need, doing what governments cannot.
The pandemic has greatly increased inequality, from the economic sector to the social fabric that binds many regions and states together. Government spending and action has exacerbated the inequalities that existed before and left many vulnerable to falling into poverty or becoming sick from the virus. NGOs such as the Red Cross have provided essential care to those who need it, in MDCs and LDCs across the globe. As a result of the distribution of medical supplies by political players and governments, millions in lesser developed areas in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia have been left with insufficient medical supplies to battle the surges of the virus.
In China, where the virus originated, India, where the Delta variant created a new epicenter of COVID-19, and in South Africa and now the world, where the Omicron variant has started to dominate the global epidemiologic system, hospitals were overwhelmed by the waves of the sick. The governments of countries were not able to contain the virus and solve the issue in an effective manner, which pushed millions into poverty and made thousands sick. The role of NGOs in those types of situations is imperative to the global community moving past the age of the pandemic.
Variants and mutations of the virus will continue to arise as COVID-19 continues to spread; as a result, NGOs need to focus on providing essential supplies, such as masks and ventilators, which benefit both the at-risk populations and hospitals. In lesser developed regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia, vaccines will not be readily available and ubiquitous to the population.
Between now and the period of vaccination and vaccine distribution, NGOs need to aid governments by helping people have information about their health status and help both the patient and caregivers. The pandemic has worsened the gaps between more and lesser developed countries, where LDCs are left to struggle while MDCs are preoccupied with making sure that their own citizens are safe. NGOs, which are there to help the disadvantaged, now are responsible for ensuring that communities at the local level are aware and protected from the most brutal effects of the virus, socially and medically.
With developed governments slow and inefficient response to global vaccine distribution, the brunt of the responsibility now relies on NGOs to help provide the vaccine to vulnerable populations and those in remote areas. The United States and Europe hold millions of vaccine doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which they give to governments in need. In the case of India’s surge, they were supplied with millions of this vaccine, but the Indian government’s slow response and inefficient management worsened the effects of the surge on the population, especially the over 134 million in poverty.
NGOs, with these vaccines, should set up vaccination centers in these countries so then people there can access the most important tool for ending the pandemic. Because of the lack of infrastructure and corruption in LDC governments, NGOs also need to reach the farthest corners of these countries, ensuring that even those who live in remote and desolate areas are protected against the far-reaching virus.
Besides the medical situation millions across the globe are in, the lesser developed world is facing an educational crisis. In 2020, UNICEF reported that “atleast 463 million were unable to access remote learning”.
Governments, especially in South America, were not equipped to solve the total breakdown of transportation and communication inside their own countries, as well as around the world at the height of the pandemic. Education in these countries became less of a priority, not because the government did not try to prioritize it, but because they did not have the digital and technological capabilities to have efficient learning. In-person, which was viable in MDCs, was not viable in LDCs due to the lack of medical supplies and the collapsing hospital system. Online learning, which again was available in MDCs, was not in LDCs.
Even in 2021, the problem persisted, setting a generation back in their education. NGOs cannot fully repair this situation, but can help mitigate the crippling effects of it. Many education-based NGOs could provide a safe education by teaching children and families how to use ESL communication technology and by having community-based education, a method of learning already in use in Afghanistan. By implementing these procedures, millions of children previously isolated can be in touch with viable tutors and teachers, helping an entire generation get back to learning.
When the pandemic is over, NGOs will have a smaller role in providing care, but should have an important one nonetheless. In the same manner they helped set up vaccination centers for the impoverished and those in lesser developed countries, they need to offer yearly shots, similar to those offered in MDCs by the government and hospitals. These organizations need to act as doctors and caretakers for those in need, as the virus is predicted to become part of our societal fabric for the foreseeable future.
NGOs have a greater responsibility than ever to help the world get out of the pandemic and into the post-pandemic phase, whether that may be through distributing supplies, vaccines, or education. By helping communities on the local scale rebuild, and improving infrastructure in LDCs exposed by the pandemic, by building a new social foundation for these communities, populations in these areas can be more prosperous.
In a new age where the pandemic is life itself, NGOs are there to bridge the gap, help the underserved, and aid in the restructuring of society.
