How to Make Women Count in the Response to Coronavirus: Lessons from the Women, Peace and Security agenda show the importance of women’s inclusion in the fight against COVID-19.

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As health organizations and national governments seek to stem the spread of COVID-19, it is critical that they understand the gender dynamics in their societies. Efforts to combat the pandemic will only go so far if women and girls are left behind in the process. For example, how can a woman experiencing domestic violence quarantine at home safely? Thankfully, global efforts to integrate women as equal partners in peace and security can provide key lessons…

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What research from conflict-affected countries can tell us about responses to Covid-19

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In this comment, Mareike Schomerus argues that Covid-19 has given her a new perspective on ten years of research with the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC), and that insights from conflict-affected contexts can shed light on some current challenges in western countries affected by coronavirus. Europeans are incredibly lucky to largely not know what it feels like to fear for their lives due to war and violence. Yet suddenly, communities in Europe share characteristics with…

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Assessing key considerations for burial practices, death and mourning in epidemics

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This Practical Approaches brief highlights key considerations for rapidly appraising burial/funerary practices and beliefs around death/dying during an epidemic. It provides guidance on the relevant social science knowledge required to adapt epidemic preparedness and response to the local context. By using this tool, an overview of local knowledge, meaning and practice will be gained, which can help inform programming related to death and burial.   Download

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Responses to Covid-19 must focus on communities and not just past epidemics

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In the current global pandemic, there is a lot that can be learned from past epidemics. What is poignantly missing, however, is acknowledgement of local perspectives to disease outbreak and  response. Jeremy Allouche and Dienedort Wandji argue we need to better understand how individuals and local communities in Africa, and beyond, have learnt and developed social, cultural and institutional mechanisms to deal with protracted crises. Read more

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Identifying & Mitigating Gender-based Violence Risks within the COVID-19 Response

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The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present an array of challenges, forcing nearly all types of basic service delivery – including, but not limited to, humanitarian response – to drastically adapt. Given how quickly the outbreak continues to evolve; the variation across contexts in the impact of the disease and the measures being implemented to control its spread; and the lack of documented good practice for delivering aid and services under such conditions, to a large…

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“Vulnerable people are hit much harder, which is also what we’re seeing during the current coronavirus crisis”

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According to Thea Hilhorst, Professor of Humanitarian Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam, disasters don’t just happen completely out of the blue, and they are never equally distributed, either. Disasters only turn into disasters in places where people are vulnerable to their impact. And vulnerable people are hit much harder, which is also what we’re seeing happen during the current coronavirus crisis.   Read more

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Illicit Financial Flows Will be Easier During the Coronavirus Pandemic

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International criminal organizations are now exploiting the coronavirus crisis. This blog post argues that the corrupt and criminal entities that thrive on illicit financial flows, or the transfer of illegally earned money across borders, can seize the moment.   Read more

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Covid-19: ‘we won’t get back to normal because normal was the problem’

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Discussions about the world that will emerge from the coronavirus pandemic have already started apace. Many commentators are wondering whether the crisis offers the opportunity to set the world on a more sustainable and equal path. The Covid-19 recovery offers an opportunity to create a different type of ‘normal’ – one that can help restore trust in the state and reaffirm crucial economic and social rights.   Read more

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Linking Human Security and Health Security in the Age of COVID-19

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From China to Italy, from France to South Africa, and from Burkina Faso to Iraq, military forces are being called upon by their governments to support them in the domestic ‘fight’ against COVID-19, e.g., by helping to provide medical support as well as enforcing prevention and mitigation measures. The presence of soldiers, deployed to back up overwhelmed national governments and health systems amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, reminds us that beyond defending the…

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Could coronavirus lead to a “positive peace”?

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In this article, Rachel Scott, Senior Partnership and Policy Advisor, Crisis and Fragility Policy and Engagement at UNDP, explores the possibility of what scholars call a “positive peace” following the pandemic.   Read more

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