Cotton Mask Volunteer Corps and Lunchbox Delivery... Seoul City Introduces "Citizens as Vaccines" to the World

CAC Global Summit 2020, 'Citizen Participation' Session Live on YouTube
Sharing Domestic Citizen-Led Cases and European & Asian Civil Society Responses

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] #As the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) made it increasingly difficult to purchase masks at local pharmacies, a 'Cotton Mask Volunteer Group' was formed in Nowon-gu where residents themselves made cotton masks. Residents who knew how to use sewing machines or were in charge of sewing education in the village volunteered and produced a total of 33,000 masks over 20 days, which were then delivered to vulnerable groups and hospitals.

#In Gongneung-dong, as school openings were delayed due to COVID-19 and vulnerable youth missed meals, the Gongneung-dong Dream Village Community, educational welfare workers, and volunteer groups united. They decided to use village funds collected through running a recycling store and ordered lunch boxes to deliver to these youths.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that on the evening of the third day of the 'CAC (Cities Against Covid-19) Global Summit 2020,' during the 'Citizen Participation Session,' it will share these Seoul cases where citizens themselves became the vaccine, leading COVID-19 response and caring for neighbors, with the world.

This session was organized to highlight the activities of citizens that shone during the COVID-19 situation, emphasizing the necessity of 'citizen power' as the foundation of a warm community, and to explore development plans that can be applied in other countries or disaster situations. Professor Kim Ui-young of Seoul National University’s Department of Political Science and International Relations and a member of the Seoul Democracy Commission will chair the session.

Experts and activists from domestic civil society, village communities, and others will present various COVID-19 response cases led by citizens. The Secretary-General of the European and Asia-Pacific YMCA will also participate via video conference to share response cases from European and Asian civil societies. A Seoul city official in charge of citizen communication will present Seoul’s S-quarantine know-how, including rapid information disclosure.

The citizen participation session can be viewed through the official Seoul city YouTube channel. Presentation materials can also be downloaded in advance from the CAC Global Summit 2020 official website.

Meanwhile, Seoul is discovering, spreading, and encouraging the re-spread of voluntary quarantine and sharing cases led by civil society and village communities through the 'On-Seoul Campaign' that shares warmth online.

Oh Gwan-young, Chairperson of the Seoul Democracy Commission, emphasized, "The citizen participation session of the Seoul CAC Global Summit is the program that best reveals Seoul’s COVID-19 response philosophy that 'citizens are the vaccine.' The experiences of citizens who have become the main agents and vaccines of quarantine themselves in responding to COVID-19 will provide us with the foundation to overcome other disasters on our own."