COVID-19 from the Margins: What We Have Learned So Far

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COVID-19 from the Margins was launched at the beginning of May 2020 as a multilingual blog platform, with the aim to give voice to narratives on the pandemic from social groups and individuals invisibilized by mainstream coverage and policies. Two months down the line, the authors reflect on the core threads emerged so far, with a look to the future of South-based narrations of the first pandemic of the datafied society.   Read more

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Crucial, but vulnerable: The role of Chiefs in COVID response and conflict resolution

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Chief’s play a critically important role in communities’ right across South Sudan. They play a vital role in settling disputes, preventing armed conflict and fostering peace within and between communities. As the key intermediaries between local communities and higher levels of government, UN agencies and international NGOs, they have an essential role to play in informing, sensitising and mobilizing community members around critical social issues, such as COVID-19. However, due to their age many chiefs…

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COVID 19 and conflict sensitivity: Rapid Operational Conflict Risk and Prevention Tool

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This operational tool aims to support Country Offices to do a rapid conflict analysis, identify potential conflict risks associated with the COVID-19 response and possible mitigation measures when designing and implementing activities.   Download

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Covid-19 in Africa: How Youth are Stepping Up

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The African continent has, thus far, fared comparatively well in the pandemic, with just under 400,000 confirmed infections and about 10,000 fatalities at the end of June 2020. Even so, the heavy economic, social, and emotional toll of the pandemic on the continent is already clear, and some analysts believe that the situation will worsen in the coming months. This blog post argues that although this pandemic will have devastating health and socioeconomic effects on the continent,…

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The fears and hopes of African youth during the COVID-19 pandemic

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It has been more than 130 days since the first reported case of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Africa. When many were still trying to comprehend the outbreak of COVID-19, the African Union (AU)  immediately adopted the ‘new normal’. The 13 consultations they convened with over 400 youth from 42 African countries were eye-opening on both the challenges and innovations by African youth in fighting the virus.   Read more

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An Update on Pandemic Backsliding: Democracy Four Months After the Beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic

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The V-Dem Institute has released a new dashboard tracking the effects of Covid-19 related measures on democratic standards in 146 countries. Most democracies have addressed the pandemic with no or only minor violations of democratic standards. There are concerning developments in 89 countries. Most of them were already autocratic before the pandemic. The Pandemic Backsliding Index identifies the risk that a government is using the pandemic to erode already weak democratic institutions. The areas of…

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Communities Getting Involved: Supporting Community Leadership in the Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

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The COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges for forcibly displaced persons and the humanitarian organizations working to support them. With restrictions on movement and limited access to refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and stateless persons across the globe, UNHCR is supporting displaced communitiesto take the lead in the prevention of, and the response to, the existing and emerging protection needs of women, men, girls and boys of diverse backgrounds. This brief provides an overview of…

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Let’s Not Leave the Youngest Children Behind

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As schools and nurseries start to open, the education sector is taking stock of the likely short- and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. And they’re going to be big. The direct shocks of school closures will lead to learning loss, higher drop-out rates, adverse health and nutrition effects, and worsening inequality. In the medium- to long-term, the economic crisis in the wake of COVID-19 is almost certainly going to lead to less money for…

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What Ebola Crisis Can Teach Us About COVID-19 Compliance

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This article argues that where national institutions have been damaged by corruption and other unethical behavior, a crisis such as COVID-19 exacerbates business pressures and compliance risks. Corporate compliance and legal teams can learn from risks and responses during the Ebola outbreak to anticipate and address similar fraud, corruption and compliance risks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.   Read more

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COVID-19 in humanitarian contexts: no excuses to leave persons with disabilities behind!

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This collection and review of evidence aims to illustrate how the COVID-19 crisis triggers disproportionate risks and barriers for men, women, boys and girls with disabilities living in humanitarian settings. It highlights recommendations for humanitarian actors, to enhance inclusive action, aligned with existing guidance and learnings on disability inclusion. It is based on evidence, including testimonies, collected by HI programs in 19 countries of intervention. Special efforts were made to reflect the voices of persons…

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