COVID 19: Community involvement in the fight during the 1st wave (Bignona)

This project is about community involvement in the fight against COVID in the 1st wave. This experiment aims to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of participatory democracy mechanisms.

Specifically, the experiment seeks to: 

• expand the circle of decision-making

• develop a form of power sharing and exercise 

• strengthen citizen participation

Its objective has been achieved in its entirety, both in health and social terms, thus enabling the commune to face up to resilience.

The experience of the commune of Bignona is 100% transferable, especially with regard to community integration in local public policy and citizen participation in the development effort.

When COVID 19 first appeared in Senegal, the mayor of Bignona was one of the first to declare that in addition to the efforts of health workers, the entire community must rise to the occasion. According to him, only a community-based approach could enable the pandemic to be tackled. Thus, a communal meeting was organised at the town hall bringing together municipal councillors, health staff, neighbourhood councils, grassroots community organisations, the communal youth council, women's promotion groups, local security agents, professional groups, etc. The "KATIKEN CORONA" (Fighting CORONA) committee was born and its coordination team set up.

Groups were formed to scour the city. A hand-washing system was set up at all the entrances to the town. Dynamic teams take turns between 6am and 8pm. This system ensures that masks must be worn and that all persons are checked with a thermoflash before entering the town of Bignona. The same surveillance and alert system has been put in place in markets, bus stations, motorbike taxi stops, services, public squares, places of worship, crossroads and several places in the commune. In total, one thousand hand washing points, mask control and advice on barrier measures were set up throughout the commune. At the same time, the communication group toured the town with a mobile sound system to raise awareness about the pandemic.

Hundreds of people were "VOLUNTEERING KATIKEN CORONA".

On the other hand, the development of participatory governance mechanisms and channels for citizen participation, as well as the growing demand for participatory processes, made this process almost inexcusable.

This experience took place in different phases:

• the alert, awareness and communication phase

• the response phase 

• the resilience phase

•  the evaluation phase

After this process, the mayor of the commune brought together all the community actors who had been involved in the process for a thank-you session. This was an opportunity to give everyone certificates of recognition for their service to the population of Bignona.