In this video, Dan Smith, SIPRI’s Director, comments on the impact of COVID-19 on war-torn countries and what the virus tells us about the long term. Watch video

Written by Marie Dennis, this reflection argues that perhaps this pandemic will help us to recognize the critical need for a transformative shift away from violence in our values and priorities. She mentiones a few reasons that show that such a shift is urgent. Read more

The World Health Organization is working on the basis that death rates rise when COVID-19 casualties exceed domestic health service capacity. The response is to require “social isolation” and shutdowns of large swathes of society and the economy. So far, media focus has been on the crisis in China, Europe, and the United States. However, the world’s poorest countries have little public health care capacity, and often also lack effective central governments with any geographic reach or…

As an organisation focusing on early warning and conflict prevention, Crisis Group is especially concerned with places where the current global health challenge intersects with wars or political conditions – such as weak institutions, communal tensions, lack of trust in leaders and inter-state rivalries – that could give rise to new crises or exacerbate existing ones. They also hope to identify cases where the disease could, with effective diplomacy, stimulate reductions in tensions. This briefing,…

Like other institutions, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has been affected by the corona virus. Staff and meetings have been reduced, and issues that seemed like political and operational priorities are now less important than the crisis at hand. Since health is not on the OSCE’s agenda, it could be argued that the Organization will just have to sit this crisis out, keep basic services running (like support for field operations),…

This brief sets out key considerations for protecting informal urban settlements from the spread and impacts of COVID-19. There is heightened concern about these settings because of the combination of population density and limited infrastructure. This briefing discusses what is known about vulnerabilities and how to support local action.   Download

This blogpost by Mie Roesdahl argues that peacebuilders must seek out creative ways to conduct their much-needed peacebuilding work even at a time when their space for physical movement may be decreasing, and that they must seek out ways to contribute to preventing and dealing with the potential negative consequences of the pandemic on peacebuilding efforts. Based on their knowledge, Conducive Space for Peace recommend the following: That funders and funding mechanisms allow for more…

The world is living its worst scare since the global financial crisis (GFC) in the form of COVID-19, now officially declared a pandemic. Will the socioeconomic toll of thei pandemic be as large as that experienced during the GFC? In both the GFC and the current health crisis it is apparent that the markets will not produce a solution, and that aggressive policy intervention and globally coordinated national action is needed to slow, and ultimately…

This brief summarises key considerations concerning cross-border dynamics between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the context of the outbreak of Ebola in North Kivu and surrounding provinces. In light of the DRC outbreak, South Sudan began preparedness activities in August 2018 with the development of the first South Sudan National Ebola Preparedness Plan (August 2018 – March 2019) and the formation of the National Ebola Task Force (NTF) and Technical…

This paper investigates the impact of a rapidly spreading epidemic on civil violence in the context of the largest Ebola outbreak in history, in Western Africa. The identification strategy relies on the epidemiological features of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). The authors exploit the dynamics of the disease and weekly frequency data at the local level to analyze the effect of new infections on riots, protests and violence against institutional authorities. The impacts are large,…