Around 15,000 people are unhoused in Togo’s capital, Lomé. Humanity & Inclusion is helping them combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated circumstances for people living in vulnerable situations, especially those who are unhoused. Lockdowns and social distancing measures have deprived them of support; they are now experiencing more isolation, insecurity and malnourishment than ever.
Promoting prevention measures
Humanity & Inclusion teams have been conducting outreach work to limit the spread of the virus in Lomé and the city of Sanvee Condji. Between April 2021 and February 2022, Humanity & Inclusion’s teams implemented the following:
- Installed public showers to help promote and facilitate hygiene measures for an average of 210 people a day; more than 80,000 showers were taken
- Nearly 16,000 people participated in awareness-raising sessions, learning how to protect themselves and others from the virus
- 1,000 informational posters on Covid-19 prevention and vaccination were produced and distributed
- More than 25,000 face masks and 15,000 containers of hand sanitizer were distributed during outreach activities
- More than 8,000 hygiene kits were distributed, containing hand sanitizer, face masks, toothpaste, a tooth brush, soap and a sponge, as well as menstrual pads
- Around 100 peer educators were trained to share good practices and raise the awareness of others
- Almost 1,000 people were vaccinated
Providing medical and psychological support
Two health surveillance teams, each with a nurse, a psychologist and a midwife, conducted night rounds in Lomé. They provided medical and psychosocial care to over 15,000 people. Whenever possible, medical conditions, such as headaches, sores, rashes, malaria and sexually transmitted diseases, were treated directly on site. Thanks to these activities, more than 8,500 people accessed health care between April 2021 and February 2022.
As part of the outreach work organized by Humanity & Inclusion in Togo, more than 4,500 people were given mental health and psychosocial support.
"We provide unhoused people with psychological support because they are a sector of the population that feels vulnerable and neglected,” explains Issa Afo, a psychologist for Humanity & Inclusion. “When we offer them specialized services that are otherwise inaccessible to them, they feel seen. It is part of Humanity & Inclusion's mission to give hope to people who feel forgotten.”