Purpose: Following the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019, countries, including Kenya, implemented containment measures that had a significant impact on direct contact and transmission, which was consistent with relatively low epidemic in Kenya (and other Sub-Saharan African countries with similar early containment measures), but they also caused significant economic insecurity. To advance effective crisis response and recovery, what sustainable steps can the government take to ensure that no citizen or place is left behind, particularly in a post-COVID world?
Design/methodology/approach applied: A literature review approach coupled with qualitative research was employed to elucidate discussions and conclusions.
Main findings: Response and recovery must adhere to fundamental democratic governance principles such as citizen participation, representation, openness and transparency, rule of law, competence and capacity, sustainability and long-term orientation, human rights, cultural diversity and social cohesion, and accountability.
Practical implications: Leveraging democratic governance principles to advance effective crisis response and recovery can have a cumulative effect and deliver lessons from a local, national, regional, continental, and global perspective. These include exchange of information and dialogue on regulatory matters; transparency of national regulations, common rules and guidelines on conformity assessment procedures, and references to international standards; cooperation and regulatory alignment around measures.
Originality/value: Though democratic governance may not be an obvious focus during a crisis, it is during these trying times that leadership and management structures are put to the test, exposed for their strengths and flaws, and remembered by stakeholders in the long run. Democratic governance principles promote a comprehensive approach to crisis response and recovery, increasing multi-stakeholder engagement while striving to leave no one or no place behind as envisioned by the African Union(AU) Agenda 2063 aspirations and the United Nations (UN) Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Bank, W. (2020). Kenya Public Expenditure Review 2020. In Kenya Public Expenditure Review 2020. World Bank, Nairobi. https://doi.org/10.1596/34052
Buckholtz, A. (2020). Balloons to Deliver Emergency Internet Across Kenya. https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/news_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/news+and+events/news/insights/telkom-kenya
Cabore, J. W., Karamagi, H. C., Kipruto, H., Asamani, J. A., Droti, B., Seydi, A. B. W., Titi-Ofei, R., Impouma, B., Yao, M., Yoti, Z., Zawaira, F., Tumusiime, P., Talisuna, A., Kasolo, F. C., & Moeti, M. R. (2020). The potential effects of widespread community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the World Health Organization African Region: A predictive model. BMJ Global Health, 5(5), 2647. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002647
Cheng, Z. J., & Shan, J. (2020). 2019 Novel coronavirus: where we are and what we know. In Infection (Vol. 48, Issue 2, pp. 155–163). Infection. https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-020-01401-y
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases - Statistics and Research - Our World in Data. (2021). https://ourworldindata.org/covid-cases
Dryhurst, S., Schneider, C. R., Kerr, J., Freeman, A. L. J., Recchia, G., van der Bles, A. M., Spiegelhalter, D., & van der Linden, S. (2020). Risk perceptions of COVID-19 around the world. Journal of Risk Research, 23(7–8), 994–1006. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2020.1758193
Galyan, S. (2015). Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Opportunities and Challenges149. ANVESHAK-International Journal of Management, 4(2), 149. https://doi.org/10.15410/aijm/2015/v4i2/67725
Hale, T., Angrist, N., Goldszmidt, R., Kira, B., Petherick, A., Phillips, T., Webster, S., Cameron-Blake, E., Hallas, L., Majumdar, S., & Tatlow, H. (2021). A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker). Nature Human Behaviour, 5(4), 529–538. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01079-8
Harapan, H., Itoh, N., Yufika, A., Winardi, W., Keam, S., Te, H., Megawati, D., Hayati, Z., Wagner, A. L., & Mudatsir, M. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A literature review. In Journal of Infection and Public Health (Vol. 13, Issue 5, pp. 667–673). J Infect Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2020.03.019
Hepp, P., Rushwan, S., & Borisch, B. (2022). Ways out of the crisis: how gender equality can help overcome COVID-19. Journal of Public Health Policy, 1. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-022-00352-y
International Organization for Migration. (2020). IOM Regional Office Launches COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and | IOM Kenya. https://kenya.iom.int/news/iom-regional-office-launches-covid-19-strategic-preparedness-and-response-plan-east-and-horn-africa
James, J. J. (2020). COVID-19: From Epidemic to Pandemic. In Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness (Vol. 14, Issue 6, pp. e3–e5). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.84
Jones, D. S. (2020). History in a Crisis — Lessons for Covid-19. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(18), 1681–1683. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp2004361
Leung, K., Jit, M., Lau, E. H. Y., & Wu, J. T. (2017). Social contact patterns relevant to the spread of respiratory infectious diseases in Hong Kong. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08241-1
Li, Z., Chen, Q., Feng, L., Rodewald, L., Xia, Y., Yu, H., Zhang, R., An, Z., Yin, W., Chen, W., Qin, Y., Peng, Z., Zhang, T., Ni, D., Cui, J., Wang, Q., Yang, X., Zhang, M., Ren, X., … Li, S. (2020). Active case finding with case management: the key to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. In The Lancet (Vol. 396, Issue 10243, pp. 63–70). Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31278-2
Li, Z., & Gao, G. F. (2020). Strengthening public health at the community-level in China. In The Lancet Public Health (Vol. 5, Issue 12, pp. e629–e630). Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30266-8
OECD. (2015). The Changing Face of Strategic Crisis Management. OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264249127-EN
Okolie, A. M. (2004). Political behaviour. Academic Publishing Company. https://www.worldcat.org/title/political-behaviour/oclc/62525347
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2020). Youth and COVID-19: Responde, Recovery and Resilience. OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19), 1–36. https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=134_134356-ud5kox3g26&title=Youth-and-COVID-19-Response-Recovery-and-Resilience&_ga=2.183513445.251699743.1626185812-1203367545.1626185812
Quaife, M., Van Zandvoort, K., Gimma, A., Shah, K., McCreesh, N., Prem, K., Barasa, E., Mwanga, D., Kangwana, B., Pinchoff, J., Edmunds, W. J., Jarvis, C. I., & Austrian, K. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 control measures on social contacts and transmission in Kenyan informal settlements. BMC Medicine, 18(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-01779-4
Ratten, V. (2020). Coronavirus (Covid-19) and entrepreneurship: cultural, lifestyle and societal changes. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 13(4), 747–761. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-06-2020-0163
She, J., Jiang, J., Ye, L., Hu, L., Bai, C., & Song, Y. (2020). 2019 novel coronavirus of pneumonia in Wuhan, China: emerging attack and management strategies. Clinical and Translational Medicine, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40169-020-00271-z
Steelcase. (2020). Lessons From China ’ s Return to the Office. Technology. https://www.steelcase.com/research/articles/topics/technology/lessons-from-chinas-return-to-the-office/
The Presidency. (2020). The Seventh Presidential address on the Coronavirus pandemic: The 8-Point Stimulus Programme. https://www.president.go.ke/2020/05/23/the-seventh-presidential-address-on-the-coronavirus-pandemic-the-8-point-economic-stimulus-programme-saturday-23rd-may-2020/
The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China. (2020). ??????????????????. http://www.scio.gov.cn/ztk/dtzt/42313/43142/index.htm
The World Bank. (2021). Mission: Recovering Education in 2021. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/brief/mission-recovering-education-in-2021
Toda, M., Zurovac, D., Njeru, I., Kareko, D., Mwau, M., & Morita, K. (2018). Health worker knowledge of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response standard case definitions: A cross-sectional survey at rural health facilities in Kenya. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5028-2
UN Women. (2021). About Generation Equality | Get involved: Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights for an equal future. https://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/beijing-plus-25/about
Wang, L., Shi, Y., Xiao, T., Fu, J., Feng, X., Mu, D., Feng, Q., Hei, M., Hu, X., Li, Z., Lu, G., Tang, Z., Wang, Y., Wang, C., Xia, S., Xu, J., Yang, Y., Yang, J., Zeng, M., … Working Committee on Perinatal, on behalf of the. (2020). Chinese expert consensus on the perinatal and neonatal management for the prevention and control of the 2019 novel coronavirus infection (First edition). Annals of Translational Medicine, 8(3), 47–47. https://doi.org/10.21037/atm.2020.02.20
World Health Organization. (2020a). Public health surveillance for COVID-19: interim guidance, 7 August 2020. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/333752
World Health Organization. (2020b). Risk communication and community engagementreadiness and initial response for novel coronaviruses(?nCoV)?: interim guidance, January 2020. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/330377
Worldometer. (2021). COVID Live - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Yaacoub, S., Schunemann, H. J., Khabsa, J., El-Harakeh, A., Khamis, A. M., Chamseddine, F., El Khoury, R., Saad, Z., Hneiny, L., Cuello Garcia, C., Muti-Schünemann, G. E. U., Bognanni, A., Chen, C., Chen, G., Zhang, Y., Zhao, H., Abi Hanna, P., Loeb, M., Piggott, T., … Akl, E. A. (2020). Safe management of bodies of deceased persons with suspected or confirmed COVID-19: A rapid systematic review. In BMJ Global Health (Vol. 5, Issue 5, p. e002650). BMJ Specialist Journals. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002650
Yu, X., & Li, N. (2021). Understanding the beginning of a pandemic: China’s response to the emergence of COVID-19. In Journal of Infection and Public Health (Vol. 14, Issue 3, pp. 347–352). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2020.12.024
Yue, M., Clapham, H. E., & Cook, A. R. (2020). Estimating the Size of a COVID-19 Epidemic from Surveillance Systems. Epidemiology, 31(4), 567–569.
https://doi.org/10.1097/EDE.0000000000001202
Zarocostas, J. (2020). How to fight an infodemic. Lancet (London, England), 395(10225), 676. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30461-X
Zhou, L., Wu, Z., Li, Z., Zhang, Y., McGoogan, J. M., Li, Q., Dong, X., Ren, R., Feng, L., Qi, X., Xi, J., Cui, Y., Tan, W., Shi, G., Wu, G., Xu, W., Wang, X., Ma, J., Su, X., … Gao, G. F. (2021). One Hundred Days of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Prevention and Control in China. In Clinical Infectious Diseases (Vol. 72, Issue 2, pp. 332–339). Clin Infect Dis. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa725
???. (2020). ???????????????????????“????”--??·??--???. http://health.people.com.cn/n1/2020/0405/c14739-31662189.html
????. (2020). ??????????????_????_?????. http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2020-03/22/content_5494086.htm
