Through forecasting the disease burden and comparing intervention strategies, modelling has been a key part of the public policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments across the world have justified implementing policies based on science, data, and information gleaned from these models. However, as we have learned through previous outbreaks, the science of modelling/forecasting an epidemic can be uncertain. Policies adopted by governments due to disease forecasting will have wide-ranging consequences—not only on the epidemic….

The measures used to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 have led to disruptions to families, friendships, daily routines and wider community dynamics. These have had many harmful consequences for children’s protection, well-being, and development. As countries move past confinement and quarantine measures, the socio-economic and political impact of these measures will continue. Reduced economic opportunities, loss of employment and income, disrupted societal and community level trust and cohesion, food insecurity, and other impacts…

A successful response to both the coronavirus’s health and economic costs in less developed countries requires that we move quickly to accelerate innovation and learning. The innovation agenda comes from the uncertainty associated with any emergent crisis. To support the public health response, innovation is needed to make behavior change easier to adopt and sustain. To meet the needs of firms working to rebuild markets, impact investors should be seeking to create innovative financial products…

Focusing on South Sudan’s borderland with Sudan, in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, it is clear that the national response to the virus, particularly the border shutdown, has rapidly become a new factor in Sudan and South Sudan’s cross-border political economy. The direct impact of COVID-19—like the consequences of Khartoum’s political transition and the establishment of the Transitional Government of National Unity in Juba—are yet to fully materialize in this borderland. This update summarizes the current political…

This guidance note is meant to assist humanitarian actors, youth-led organizations, and young people themselves across sectors, working at local, country, regional, and global levels in their response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. It begins diagnostically, exploring the impacts of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on young people. It then proposes a series of actions that practitioners and young people can take to ensure that COVID-19 preparedness, response plans and actions, are youth-inclusive and youth-focused – with…

Peace support operations (PSOs) across Africa are adapting their responses to the new reality of COVID-19. Since the outbreak, PSOs have provided critical support in the fight against the pandemic in situations where protracted conflict has destroyed the health infrastructure of many African countries. Both the contribution of PSOs in responding to the risk posed by COVID-19 and the effect of the pandemic on operations show that the UN Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) agenda –…

In this blog post, International Altert’s CEO Michael Young shows how a renewed focus on SDG 16 could help fight COVID-19 and salvage the Global Goals.   Read more

At a time when governments around the world are asking people to stay at home and limit their travel to contain the spread of Covid-19, armed conflict and violence are forcing hundreds of thousands to flee. Between 23 March and 15 May 2020, armed conflict in 19 countries has displaced at least 661,000 people.   Download

While the immediate health impact is still evolving, the indirect consequences beyond health already bring a heavy toll. These include food insecurity, lack of medical supplies, loss of income and livelihood, difficulties in applying sanitary and physical distancing measures, a looming debt crisis, as well as related political and security risks. This policy brief takes a snapshot of immediate impacts of the pandemic on health, economies, peace, security, human rights and humanitarian assistance in Africa….

In fragile and conflict-affected settings, Covid-19 is increasing vulnerabilities and tensions caused by unequal access to already strained (and often inexistent) social and medical services. This is particularly true for young people – one in every four of whom live in such areas. Despite repeated appeals for a global ceasefire, violence is intensifying in some places whilst some peace processes are also on hold or endangered. Our response to Covid-19 must empower young people through…