Socio Economic Impact of COVID 19 on Informal Settlement Households in Mombasa County: A Policy Brief

Abstract

Summary

The Covid-19 pandemic impacted the society negatively in all spheres of life. It resulted in food insecurity, loss of livelihoods, children dropping out of school, and social effect whereby gender based violence increased. The government initiated various measures to remedy the adverse effect of Covid-19 on the lives of Kenyans – particularly people living in poverty and the most vulnerable. The initiatives to a large extent did not remedy its objective among the poor households. This policy brief recommends the following for the current state and future pandemics, in terms of food insecurity, mechanisms for food distribution should be properly put in place to ensure all the vulnerable households are assisted without discrimination. In terms of improving the financial wellness and help the poor households to overcome the impact of the pandemic, the government should give grants loans to the vulnerable households to enable them to restart their small businesses, which closed during the Covid-19.  The households also need training on financial literacy to enable them save money to cater for emergencies. Incase loans are to be provided, the rates should be favourable and a long repayment period granted. In terms of alleviating the negative social impact of the pandemic, there is need for women to be trained on their rights so that they can identify any form of violence. They should be empowered so that they do not rely on their spouses as this makes them prone to abuse. Empowerment programmes are therefore recommended. This research investigated the social-economic impact of COVID-19 on informal settlement households with a view of coming with a policy framework which will cushion poor households affected by the pandemic and also for any future pandemics.

Keywords: Socio Economic Impact, Informal Settlement Households