How might we support low- and middle-income families in the Global South to stay healthy while maintaining a sustainable livelihood during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Opportunity Areas are specific calls to action to guide our community of innovators during the open submission phase of the Challenge. They serve as provocations that are intentionally aligned with our Challenge topic and partner priorities, while ripe for innovation. This will encourage us to learn from edge-pushing ideas, and be critical about how solutions can be applied to various populations and specific communities.

1. Informal and semi-formal economy
   According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more than 60% of the world’s employed population is in the informal economy. These jobs are, by their nature, unpredictable, often occurring in environments where social distancing is difficult and don’t provide access to social protection measures such as healthcare and unemployment benefits. Major occupations in the informal sector include home-based workers (such as dependent subcontract workers, independent own account producers, and unpaid workers in family businesses) and street vendors, which both are classified in the informal sector. Many don’t have the luxury to isolate while keeping their livelihoods.  How might we create the conditions for informal workers to stay safe and still access income during COVID-19?
   

2. Access to basic necessities (shops, markets, affordable WASH programs)
   Basic needs have become inaccessible, or dangerous to access, for many low- and middle-income households in the Global South during COVID-19. The provisions of safe water, sanitation, waste management, and overall hygienic conditions are essential for preventing and protecting human health during all infectious disease outbreaks, including COVID-19. Moreover, a high percentage of households in the Global South don’t have a refrigerator and culturally are used to buying fresh food on a daily basis. Many lack the equipment, resources and habits to stock up with food that could last for many days, forcing people to go out daily, sometimes twice on the same day, to buy from the local markets and cover fundamental needs. How might low- and middle-income families access food, affordable water, sanitation, and hygiene services outside their homes without risking their health or livelihoods during the  pandemic? 
   

3. Mobility and public transportation
   Public transportation, often the only mobility alternative for low- and middle-income families is constantly overcrowded, especially during rush hour, making COVID-19 ever harder to control. Even if local governments have established curfew restrictions, an increased amount of passengers transporting in shorter periods of time creates massive peaks of exposure to the virus. How might we create the conditions for those who have to go out in the middle of the pandemic to stay healthy while commuting? 
   

4. Tracking, tracing, and the visibility of contagion
   Since the beginning of the pandemic the World Health Organization has emphasized the importance of testing. Speed is of the essence, and three things are crucial: tracking down cases with symptoms, identifying their household cluster, and tracing people they’ve contacted. Especially if physical distancing is not an option, timely testing becomes more and more crucial. Countries across the Global South vary in capacity to test. For example, Brazil has dramatically increased their ability to test, while Mexico is still one of the countries in Latam with the lowest testing capability. For those in these countries who cannot self-isolate, accessing information about their status could be crucial not only for them and their families, but also to control the pandemic worldwide. Governments have not yet designed accessible systems to support middle-class families and informal workers in consistently understanding the threat of the virus, and how it is shifting. How might we support low- and middle-income families in urban areas to access information about their health and consistently measure their risk and exposure to COVID-19?‍
   ‍
5. What are we missing?
   COVID-19 has uncovered a wide range of gaps across social, health-care and economic systems. Help us guard against blindspots, and bring visibility to issues not captured in the opportunity areas above. Share your idea and tell us how it might achieve the impact we’re discussing, and how your proposed solution would work.