Abstract:
The current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 is
expected to have significant challenges in urban areas, where population densities are high, health
and other public services are often poor, livelihoods are precarious, and a range of other factors often
have challenge on people’s lives. Therefore, the general objective of this paper was to assess
perceptions and socio-economic challenges of covid-19 on the livelihoods of urban poor households in
selected Woredas Lideta sub-city. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were
employed. Data were collected from. A total of 204 household respondents, 2 FGDs and 15 KIIs. The
data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings of the study include most of the
respondents had good knowledge on covid-19 disease symptoms, vulnerability and mode of
transmission but they have poor knowledge of ways of prevention, the challenges of the pandemic on
household access to basic services like health is very huge, access to medical treatment, availability
and prices of medicines and purchasing power of respondents to get medicines have been challenged.
Economic challenges of COVID-19 on the livelihood of urban poor households: -household income
drastically reduced. Based on these findings the following recommendations are drown. Government
and Non-government organization should conduct awareness raising campaign on a continual basis
to awake the public on the Covid-19 prevention measures unreservedly, government should maintain
and strengthen access to health service for both the covid-19 and other patients, government should
facilitate for the involvement of both local and international NGO in the study areas to make well designed intervention to enhance the food security situation of household in the research area and
Local government, private sectors and NGOs jointly work on economic empowerment of urban poor
households through provision of revolving fund and working areas.
