If you’re doing okay during the coronavirus crisis, here’s how to help those who aren’t.
How you can help locally
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is Nigeria’s leading national public health institute. It is a federal government agency headquartered in Abuja. NCDC coordinates COVID-19 response activities in Nigeria through the national COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre.
Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) is a foremost responder to emergencies in Nigeria. They are an important member of the National Rapid Response Team on COVID-19 in Nigeria. NRCS currently has over 500,000 volunteers across the country. Here’s how you can become a volunteer.
Nigerian Youth Task Force on COVID-19 (NYTFC) deploys its volunteers with well trained medical personnel who have knowledge of COVID-19 and strategies to curb its spread through proper sensitization, dissemination of useful information, and combating fake news. They have also prepared strategies to mobilize relief materials for the most vulnerable Nigerians to enable them to survive during the period of isolation. Here’s how you can become a volunteer.
Future Assured is an initiative of the Aisha Buhari foundation, a nongovernmental organization that advocates for the well-being of women, children, and adolescents in Nigeria. The organization is currently supporting COVID-19 response efforts in Nigeria. To volunteer, email: covid19@futureassured.org.ng or call +2349057408509
Connected Development (CODE) is a nongovernmental organization that aims to empower marginalized communities in Africa. CODE recently launched a campaign to make public all funds released for the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria and its implementation plans. Join the campaign here.
Resources and recommended reading
First and foremost, follow WHO COVID-19 guidelines to protect yourselves and others from becoming infected. Practices like regular, proper handwashing and social distancing are particularly important. Follow local and national public health directives, particularly in relation to movement. The greater the compliance, the sooner the crisis will end.
Join the fight! There are several things you can do to combat COVID-19, even from home. Share verified information, donate, volunteer where possible, and support frontline healthcare workers where possible. We are all in this together and we will beat this virus! We’ve put together a list of resources for at-home activism.
You can also catch up on our latest blog coverage: Here are four ways the Nigeria government could minimize the impact of COVID-19. A crucial tool against pandemics is a strong primary healthcare system. We recently visited Osun state for a glimpse of how this could work.
We’ve also gathered some key facts to know and what we can learn from the pandemic, and 5 major health organisations taking action globally against COVID-19. And here’s why we need a global response to this global pandemic — and how we can achieve that.
