Comparative strategic approaches to COVID-19 in Africa: Balancing public interest with civil liberties

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As COVID-19 spreads rapidly across Africa, causing havoc to economies and disruption to already fragile healthcare systems, it is becoming clear that despite standardised global health strategies, national and local government responses must be tailored to their individual settings. Some African countries have adopted stringent measures such as national lockdown, quarantine or isolation, in combination with good hand hygiene, mandatory wearing of masks and physical distancing, to prevent an impending healthcare crisis. The impact of…

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Although it’s dangerous, we need to survive

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Burundian refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda are enacting grassroots responses to COVID-19.   Read more

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Fighting the pandemic in the global South

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The author of this blog post argues that if we are to see the other side of the pandemic, we must emerge with a new imagination of how we are to strengthen and build strong working-class movements that will challenge imperialism and neocolonialism.   Read more

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Justice, the rule of law and Covid-19: three expert views

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As countries grapple with the coronavirus crisis, its implications for justice and the rule of law are becoming clearer. The pandemic is creating a host of new legal challenges, just as more courts and legal aid services across the world are closing, reducing or adjusting their operations. Inevitably, the most vulnerable groups in society are suffering the harshest consequences. In this article, ODI experts outline domestic and international responses to these pressures. Drawing on ODI…

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Key considerations: COVID-19 RCCE Strategies for Cross-Border Movement in Eastern and Southern Africa

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This brief focuses on cross-border movement in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) and its implications for development of risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) strategies aimed at preventing transmission of COVID-19 in the ESA region. Given the extensive risk of cross-border transmission of the virus and the imminent reopening of borders, such strategies are essential to containment efforts. The brief can be read in conjunction with previous SSHAP briefs on cross-border dynamics in the context…

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Protecting Forcibly Displaced Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Children face three dangers during the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) infection with the virus; 2) the immediate impacts of measures to stop transmission of the virus (school closures for example); and 3) the long-term impact of the resulting economic crisison social and economic development with regard to the Sustainable Development Goals. Their impact on children will vary based on their age, gender, vulnerability, health, disability, family situation and the wide-ranging, dynamic conditions of their environment. This…

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Profiles of the new poor due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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Mahler et al. (2020) projected that COVID-19 is pushing between 71 and 100 million into extreme poverty based on the baseline and downside scenarios published in the latest Global Economic Prospects (GEP). The global poverty rate was projected to go down to 8.2 percent in 2019, but due to COVID19, is now projected to increase to 8.8 percent (baseline) and 9.2 percent (downside) in 2020.   Download

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A better normal: Girls call for a revolutionary reset

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The pre-COVID-19 world undeniably failed girls and young women, in all our diversities. It failed to protect us, it failed to listen to us, and it failed to empower us. These failures have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Girls have been removed from schools, with many unlikely to return. We know too that they are experiencing increasing levels of family and gender-based violence, as well as harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage/unions…

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COVID-19 and Conflict: Advancing women’s meaningful participation in ceasefires and peace processes

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This brief addresses the importance of women’s full, equal and meaningful participation to an effective pandemic response and to peacemaking efforts, and how the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda can provide a critical framework for inclusive decision-making and sustainable solutions. While efforts to flatten the pandemic’s curve unfold around the globe, violent conflict remains a deadly reality for far too many people. In March, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General called for a global ceasefire…

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Recovering the lost heritage of emergency relief

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Local traditions of crisis management—especially those resistant to predatory capitalism—have largely been forcibly shed along the path to “development.” The age of COVID-19 is the time to recover them.   Read more

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