1. PROVIDING ESSENTIAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES AND COMPANIONSHIP
With many countries going into some form of lockdown, women around the world are having trouble accessing safe abortion and contraception. To ensure people are still able to care for their sexual and reproductive health, Lina López and her organization, safe2choose, are offering support via email, website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. “During these uncertain times, we remain committed to provide safe abortion information and counseling to women and girls from their homes,” Lina said. “Talk to us, we are here to support you.”
In Israel, welfare social worker Or Ram and in the UK, NHS Volunteer Responder Gbemisola Osadua offer telephone support to those experiencing loneliness while in self-isolation. Or also counsels girls with unwanted pregnancies, highlighting the cross-cutting work of social workers during this time of quarantine and other protective measures.
2. USING SOCIAL MEDIA AND APPS TO SPREAD ACCURATE INFORMATION
According to medical doctor Hashim Hounkpatin of Benin, there are two diseases currently spreading around the world in a viral manner: COVID-19 and fake news. The vaccine for both? “Good information.” Hashim, who launched a mass literacy program in Francophone Africa called Arayaa, teamed up with a consortium of health-related content producers to organize a Tweetchat about how to keep safe against COVID-19. Their hashtag #AgirContreCOVID19 has reached more than 90,000 participants to date. Additionally, they are designing an app that displays trusted knowledge in local languages and allows users to interact directly with experts for help.