Thousands Families broken because of international pandemic
Investigated by: Hayder Abdulkarim
A customer told me about the imposing of the curfew and closing of the market for the reason on the Corona pandemic, I just have little money, save it for un emergency cases, I tried to stay at home and apply the recommendation, but the money which I save wasn’t enough for more than 3days, I thought for what can do, decided to continue working within protections procedures and risked my health for my children.
This is how Saida Arbab deals with curfew announcement to decrease COVID 19.
We met dozens of people and distributed hundred questionnaires in four states (25 questionnaire in every state), we focused on tea seller, food seller, workers in the markets, small income workers, we also made electronic questionnaire for employees in private and general sector, we also used open sources information and official data for the investigation, the investigation included people who stopped working and loose income source and the authorities didn’t support them at the same time they haven’t social protection fund, done all that cause of COVID19.
The investigation made for social media solution program for Sudan zoom newspaper coordinating with the international center for journalist and Face book projects for journalism.
Corona pandemic stolen morsel
at beginning, I was trying to help my husband to provide our needs, but things has changed now, since my husband Ahmed dead, years ago, I took alone the responsibility of growing up and educating our five children.
We got Nasrin who divorced and living with us at home, and Nazar 19 years left School to help me, Nasima 17years married last year, Najla is 15 years old studying in class eight, Mohammad is 13 years studying in class four.
Arbab ,47 left her workplace for fifteen years. A place to make and sell tea and traditional food, Ahmed left her alone, struggling to save what could be saved for children, Arbab said, “Our life has been affected a lot by the Corona pandemic, my daughter Najla failed in primary certification exam, despite her good level in recent years, so I decided to abandon my children and my rented house in the Al-Wehda area in southern part of the city, I ran into the risk of contracting the disease to continue my work.” A woman circumvented the precautionary measures imposed to reside at her workplace (Baranda), in order to collect a little money and secure sustenance for her day and for her children. The absence of clients – most of them workers in humanitarian organizations – prevented her goal from being realized, her income deteriorated, she accumulated debts, and was unable to pay The house rent for four months, and employers worked on many tricks to miss the pandemic conditions for their children, so she gave up her house furniture for a few pounds, to pay for the bite of the stolen Covid-19 pandemic.
Victims and homeless people in the time of Corona
Abu Huraira Al-Nur, an electrical engineer who worked for the UNAMID mission – North Darfur sector, says: “My job is temporary I receive $ 17 a day in exchange for it. It remains in my contract for 48 days, but I became unemployed due to the pandemic, after I was suspended from working without a salary among 14 employees. Others in the department, leaving only two of our colleagues.
Al-Nur said to Sudan Zoom. Last May, the line manager told us orally that the mission is about to reduce the number of employees, in line with the directives of the World Health Organization to limit the spread of the virus, provided that we continue to pay our wages, and we are surprised. With the suspension of our salaries since the last working day, on May 12, we became unemployed due to the pandemic. “
In this way, the UN mission dispensed with the light residing in Abu Shouk IDP camp, in North Darfur State, western Sudan, and more than three hundred workers due to the global pandemic, and worked to reduce the number of workers to 20 percent.
Al-Mejhar (Political newspaper) management ended the service of all journalists and its employees, the paper which, owned by the Indian journalist Ezz El-Din, handed over to all employees letters of termination of service a few days after its resumption, after it had been suspended for four months due to the measures of the ban, and Al-Mejhar administration took the decision to stop In conjunction with the announcement by Sudanese newspaper publishers to increase the price of the paper version of the newspaper to 45 SDG, instead of 15 SDG, to meet the continuous increases in newspaper production costs, and many publishers were thinking to stop publication.
It has been subjected to daily losses for years, and Ezz El-Din stated that the deteriorating economic situation is among the reasons for the decision to stop, denying that his newspaper was subjected to any political or security harassment, explaining that the price of a ton of paper exceeded 170 thousand pounds, compared to 70 thousand in April 2019, and the paper terminated services of dozens of journalists, while hundreds of their colleagues suffer from the ravages of low wages and a deterioration that threatens to fade out of paper journalism in the next few years.
Corona pending divorce
Malak Al-Zaki, a hairdresser and women’s rights activist, explained that the pandemic completely disrupted life, and resulted in difficult economic, social and psychological problems. Zaki said: “I stopped working and my income depends on production. I went to the field of handicrafts and making pastries, but my plan failed due to the market shut downs and movement restrictions, and my father, who has a small salary, provide the basic needs. Al-Zaki indicated that the impact of (COVID 19) on women was significant, in that the majority work in the daily sector to support their families, and were affected by the total lockdown and faced other social challenges, by increasing the burden on domestic work and busting up with their husbands, noting that cases of quarrels and physical violence increased..
Absence without waiting
Mr. Aliyu found additional work, in addition to his salary as a teacher, to encounter the impacts of “COVID 19” and reduce the economic burden. Aliyu’s family, consisting of three, needs one thousand Egyptian pounds per day to provide for their basic needs, while his salary from the job does not exceed ten thousand Egyptian pounds per month. The government did not provide any economic solutions to reduce the impact of the pandemic on people’s lives, according to Aliyo, due to the deteriorated national economy, and the improvement of the economy depends on pricing commodities, activating the supervisory role and controlling currency trade.
Sabah Youssef, an officer of the Natural and Environmental Resources Department, says: “Seven members of the family and I work but, we could not able to provide for the basic needs of the family, due to the emerging corona virus,” and she works overtime due to her work in a national organization that deals with the awareness aspect. “Our expenditures increased by increasing the protective equipment and keeping a large number of family members at home for longer hours.” Sabah said. Youssef believes that housemaids, tea sellers, wedding hall owners and artists are the most affected by the pandemic, and she called on the authorities to create an economy that depends on utilization resources and encouraging production, and taking into account the preferential features of locally produced goods, to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the national economy, and to alleviate the burden on people’s lives, and reduce The dilemma of rising prices and facing the challenges of any upcoming epidemic.
Unprecedented inflation and collapse
The statistics of the Central Bureau of Statistics confirms the collapse of the Sudanese pound against foreign currencies, and the worsening of inflationary growth during the past six months, and inflation rates have registered great rice, leaving a major economic impact on all sectors, due to the continuous rise in commodity prices. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, in March the inflation rate rose to 81.64%, a growth of 10.28%, before it jumped in April to 98.81%, an increase of 17.17%. In May, the authorities implemented wage increases of more than 560%, and began implementing a package of exceptional economic programs announced by the resigning Minister of Finance, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Badawi, to solve the problems of the national economy and reduce the effects of the pandemic on life, but inflation rates continued to soar, reaching 114%.
In June, inflation was 136.36 percent, rising to 143.78 percent in July, while it hit a record jump in August, reaching 166.83 percent.
Suffering and an unknown future
Weeks after the end of the health emergency measures, the Sudanese citizen still suffers from the dilemma of high prices and lack of necessary goods, as the pandemic knocked on the doors of thousands of homes and left life effects that are difficult to overcome in the short term. The pandemic was not only a health threat, but it was a major player in expanding the circle of poverty. Hundreds of families have been displaced and great hopes were shattered due to the comprehensive ban measures. So far, the pandemic poses a real threat that threatens the livelihood of citizens and destabilizes the future of their children, in light of a political and economic system suffering collapse and powerlessness Extend aid to them, and take care of them as citizens who deserve to live in dignity.
