A Covid-19 update about Muungano Alliance activities
Muungano is committed to ensuring that all residents of informal settlements receive the best and most appropriate support to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
To Muungano members: we ask you to participate by sharing daily updates from your settlement.
On 15 March, the Kenyan government, through the president’s address to the nation regarding COVID-19, declared a partial lockdown. Citizens are encouraged to take extreme caution in protecting their and their communities’ health by maintaining social distancing, minimizing travel, avoiding gatherings of people, not shaking hands and avoiding touching their faces, among other measures.
Muungano wa Wanavijiji and its professional support organisations and partners have suspended all field activities until further notice. Muungano is advising its member savings groups to suspend group meetings and instead use mobile money to carry out their usual savings and loan repayments.
Muungano’s office in Nairobi will remain open and operational at present, although this may of course change as the situation unfolds. However, where possible we encourage our members, partners and the general public to use telephone, text, email or Whatsapp to reach us. For any in-person meetings, please let us know at least 24 hours in advance, so we can make the necessary arrangements.
It is important we adhere to the safety precautions and measures set by the government, pay attention to government notices and briefings, and avoid spreading unverified information or fake news. Muungano members will support government efforts by helping to disseminate government notices in their settlements.
It is our prayer and hope that all our members and their communities in informal settlements are safe, healthy and free from the COVID-19 infection. We are setting up systems to keep track of how our members and their families and communities fare during the pandemic. This information will be used internally by Muungano and its partners, to help inform how we organize ourselves to support the government and other agencies in reducing the coronavirus pandemic and the risks it poses to residents of informal settlements.
We will share updates through our blog at www.muungano.net and our facebook page and member Whatsapp groups.
Keep safe and healthy.