Financing the coronavirus response in sub-Saharan Africa

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The coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc on health and livelihoods around the world. Although people are at risk of infection irrespective of their income, class, ethnicity or age, the impacts of the pandemic are likely to be acutely felt in sub-Saharan Africa. As well as health impacts, there are fears that African countries will face considerable hardship and potentially a catastrophe for jobs and livelihoods. Key messages The health impacts of the coronavirus in sub-Saharan…

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Adaptive leadership in the coronavirus response

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The coronavirus pandemic poses unprecedented challenges to science, policy and the interface between the two. How – and how quickly – policymakers, practitioners and researchers react to this emerging and complex crisis is making a profound difference to people’s lives and livelihoods (WHO, 2020). But how can we ensure effective collective decision-making on the basis of emerging evidence, changing trends and shifting scientific understanding, all in the face of considerable uncertainty? Recent experience highlights the…

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The role of community peacebuilders in a pandemic: what we learnt from the Ebola crisis

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Comparing the current situation with the Ebola crisis, Janet Adama Mohammed from Conciliation Resources argues that a deep-rooted mistrust towards the government had been one of the main reasons for the rapid spread of this disease and that this is where local peacebuilders have an extremely important role as bridgebuilders between communities and government institutions. Read more

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IMPACT and REACH adapt programming to inform COVID-19 humanitarian response

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Humanitarian actors are scaling up and reprogramming their activities in response to COVID-19, both in country and at the global level. As they do so, they are finding themselves in an unfamiliar territory, lacking the required tools and information for planning their response to the pandemic. In this context, up-to-date data collection efforts and analysis are critical to ensure humanitarian action is targeted effectively and the most vulnerable populations prioritized in the COVID-19 response. In…

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From Zika to COVID-19: Can we learn lessons across pandemics?

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In this blog post, Ildo Lautharte Junior and Imran Rasul show that evidence gathered during the course of the Zika outbreak in the Americas in 2015 provides important lessons for policymakers in today’s COVID-19 pandemi, especially with regard to public health and household responses.   Read more

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Key Considerations: Dying, Bereavement and Mortuary and Funerary Practices in the Context of COVID-19

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This brief sets out key considerations for events related to death, burial, funerals (rites, ceremonies and practices) and mourning in the context of the global outbreak of the COVID-19. Further participatory inquiry should be undertaken, but given ongoing transmission, conveying key considerations for adapted end-of-life, mortuary, burial and funeral practices and related community engagement have been prioritised. The brief aims to provide practical considerations for partners working in the COVID-19 response. It is based on…

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Coronavirus in Conflict Zones: A Sobering Landscape

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The new coronavirus is spreading into conflict-affected states. Frances Z. Brown and Jarrett Blanc from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace argue that the pandemic and efforts to contain it are much more likely to aggravate and multiply conflicts than reduce or end them, and offer analyses for several conflict-affected contexts around the world. Read more

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Policy Lessons From COVID-19 in Africa

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In his blog “An Africanist Perspective”, Ken Opalo, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Georgetown University and the author of Legislative Development in Africa, draws some lessons he has gleaned from African governments’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.   Read more

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COVID-19: Secnarios. Possible global humanitarian developments over the next six months

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ACAPS has developed three scenarios to consider how the global humanitarian system will be impacted over the next six months in relation to COVID-19. This involves considering how changes in donor and recipient countries will affect each other, as well as the possibility that Covid-19 will trigger new humanitarian crises. To achieve this, this report considers the global interplay between countries, and the implications of both primary and secondary of the COVID-19 pandemic and containment…

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Briefing: What’s behind South Sudan’s COVID-19 inspired UN-backlash

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South Sudan reported its first four cases of coronavirus last week – all UN staff members – and the news quickly triggered a xenophobic backlash that has amped up tensions and restricted the movement of aid agencies. Obi Anyadike addresses South Sudan’s vulnerability to COVID-19, the reasons for this xenophobia, as well as the impact of the crisis on the peace process.   Read more

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