by ikenna orioha
In order to prevent and mitigate the spread of the coronavirus Pandemic across SouthEast, an NGO, SouthEast Coronavirus Intervention Network, SCIN, has formerly unveiled Awareness/Advocacy Campaign to educate the people against the deadly virus.
Unveiling the Enlightenment and Advocacy Campaign in Owerri on Tuesday, Coordinator of SCIN, Nze Meekam K. Mgbenwelu, narrated that SCIN is made up of two leading Technology and Innovation focused organizations: Nzukolabs and LearnFactory with Offices in Enugu, Imo and Abia States.
The Awareness and Advocacy Campaign is tagged: Strengthening Awareness of Covid-19 Network in SouthEast.
The Coordinator hinted that SCIN is collaborating to sensitize rural communities across SouthEast on measures to help prevent and mitigate the spread of the coronavirus Pandemic in the region.
Mgbenwelu added that SCIN is fully committed to ensure that people of SouthEast especially those at the rural areas are adequately educated to enable them prevent Covid-19 in order to stay healthy, remarking that “SCIN, with support from Ford Foundation and leveraging on the communication protocols of NCDC, has today, 19th of May, 2020, launched a Sustained Awareness and Advocacy Campaign in the South East”.
SCIN regretted that lack of proper information regarding the disease in the SouthEast particularly at the rural communities has been a big challenge to the fight against Covid-19, nothing that SCIN’s target on raising awareness and advocacy campaign is to effectively create awareness on prevention and mitigation of the virus.
Mgbenwelu stressed that
Covid-19 which started in December, 2019, in Wuhan City of China, can be avoided through good hygiene, thorough hand washing, regular cleaning and disinfecting the environment, observing social distancing, using face mask, cough and sneezing etiquette.
Reflecting that Covid-19 does not respect boundaries, religion, country, race, age, continent or class because it can infect any person, Mgbenwelu maintained that SCIN has strategy to use a range of channels to reach out to people with needed information as jingles, in mother tongues or local dialects, social media, community engagements, working with traditional rulers and town-criers to help them stay safe and healthy often.
Mgbenwelu maintained that SCIN strives to further engage dedicated volunteers in each of the region who are indigenes at the rural communities for easy information delivery against Covid-19.
Affirming that prevention of Coronavirus via adequate awareness and advocacy campaign is the primary role or concern of SouthEast Coronavirus Intervention Network, Mr Chibueze Ukaegbu I, Chief Executive Officer of LearnFactory Nigeria, appreciated NCDC and Ford Foundation for their effective preventive information and support to combating Coronavirus Pandemic.
