The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus (Covid-19) as a pandemic on March 11th, 2020 following the confirmation of coronavirus cases worldwide and the possible and sustained risk of further global infections. On March 21st, 2020, Uganda confirmed its first case of Covid-19 in the country. And as of September 02nd, 2020, there are a total of 3,037 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country.
Resolvedly, the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Health put in place a number of measures aimed at curbing the further spread of Covid-19 in the country including the institution of a national lock-down, promotion of social distancing, and frequent handwashing with soap and water.
A number of stakeholders including Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have and continue contributing to the national response to Covid-19 through different initiatives. As the national coordination organization for CSOs in the Water and Sanitation sub-sector, UWASNET has been and continues to work collaboratively with its members and partners to mobilize their contribution towards the national response to Covid-19.
This report documents the contribution of UWASNET to the national response to Covid-19 in Uganda from the grass-root, district, and national levels. At the sector, level, UWASNET has been working hand in hand with the Ministry of Water and Environment through the National Hand Washing Secretariat to respond to Covid-19.
UWASNET mobilized its members to contribute towards the national efforts to curb the further spread of Covid-19 throughout Uganda. In March 2020, UWASNET developed a monitoring tool to facilitate the documentation of WASH CSOs’ contribution to Covid-19 at the grass-root, district, and national levels. The monitoring tool was shared with CSOs on email and follow up phone calls to the organizations were made to ensure organizations submit their work.