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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Living with fear of COVID-19 in a refugee camp

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Susan Grace Duku, a South Sudanese refugee living in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement in Uganda, is describing how it is to live in lockdown and fear of coronavirus in a refugee camp.   Listen to the Interview

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Faced with COVID-19, the Humanitarian System Should Rethink its Business Model

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A robust humanitarian response to COVID-19 is in everybody’s interest. The pandemic is set to wreak havoc in low and middle-income countries with fragile health systems, where vulnerable populations lack the means to implement the most basic protective measures such as handwashing and social distancing. These are places where the disruption could increase the risk of other outbreaks, and reduce the ability to deal with  other threats. COVID-19’s other impacts, such as loss of livelihoods…

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How is COVID playing out in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings?

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This blog post addreses a few discussion on the impact of COVID-19 in fragile and conflict-affected settings, based on a discussion with researchers of the Action for Empowerment and Accountability research programme. Read more

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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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Responding to COVID-19: The Need for Conflict Sensitivity

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There has been a wave of insightful commentary over the last month on the potential for the COVID-19 pandemic to upend fragile peace process (e.g., Afghanistan) or to exacerbate risks for conflict. As the world deals with COVID-19, at CIC we are also interested in thinking through the potential risks created by how governments and communities respond to the virus—and how a conflict prevention lens can be applied in a practical way to response efforts….

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Out of the Ruins and Rubble: Covid-19 and the fightback in Africa

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In an update on the Covid-19 pandemic across Africa, Heike Becker, Femi Aborisade and Issa Shivji, report on the reaction of governments in South Africa, Nigeria and Tanzania, the struggles of poor communities and the urgency of building of a new world out of the ruins of the old.   Read more

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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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