Lockdown is wrong for Africa

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In this opinion peace, the director of the Institute for the Future of Knowledge and professor of philosophy at the University of Johannesburg, Prof Alex Broadbent, argues that the biggest public health risk in Africa is not Covid-19, but the consequences of regional and global measures designed to reduce its effect on public health. The cost-benefit analysis of these measures yields a different result in Africa than in Europe, North America and large parts of…

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Religion and COVID-19: Four Lessons from the Ebola experience

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Ebola and COVID-19, two devastating infectious diseases that spread rapidly through populations, crossing boundaries of all sorts, put local, national, and international health systems to crucial tests. They also try religious communities, locally and globally. The authors of this guest post, Katherine Marshall, Olivia Wilkinson and Dave Robinson, argue that we are learning vital lessons from both experiences. First, religion and science must combine their strengths. For this, religious voices must be at the medical…

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Coronavirus in conflict: The fight has hardly begun

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In this article, the authors argue that for several reasons, conflict-affected environments are especially vulnerable to the outbreak of infectious diseases, are less likely to be able to identify and respond to outbreaks, and are less equipped to stop their spread within and beyond their often porous borders.   Read more

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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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