Impact of Covid-19 discussed in webinar
INTERNATIONAL Relations Minister Naledi Pandor led a webinar yesterday on the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 on the African continent.
“This is the first in a series of public engagements initiated by Dirco (Department of International Relations and Co-operation) to enhance the quality of public participation in the shaping of South Africa’s foreign policy trajectory and shaping our thinking and action in the response to the pandemic,” Pandor told a panel of speakers and participants who included Ahmed Ouma, the deputy director of the African Centres for Disease Control, Eddy Maloka, chief executive of the African Peer Review Mechanism, and Philani Mthembu of the Institute for Global Dialogue.
“We have had many deliberations on Covid-19, but these tend to occur at the level of state actors rather than our academics, think tanks, and bodies focused on research outside of the clinical sciences or the health sector,” said Pandor.
She reiterated Africa’s unwavering commitment to silencing the guns on the continent, even though Covid-19 has undermined the AU’s efforts in this regard. The date for the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement has been postponed due to the pandemic and the dangers of cross-border interaction.
The AU has taken proactive measures to curtail the spread of the pandemic, and strengthened the African Centres for Disease Control.
The virus is going to have a significant impact on the continent, and the key is to save lives and strengthen local health systems so that countries have the capacity to respond to the peak and then recover, rebuild and overcome.
A suggestion made by Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, chief executive of the SA Institute for International Relations, that a task team be established on conflicts in the context of the pandemic, was welcomed by Pandor.