Where are the women? The conspicuous absence of women in COVID-19 response teams and plans, and why we need them

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The COVID-19 crisis is disproportionately affecting women and girls. This makes it all the more important that their voices are equally included in the decision-making spaces and processes where responses are formed. CARE’s research has found that where women do have higher levels of leadership, governments are more likely to be responding to the crisis in a way that supports gender equality. Women’s participation is necessary at every level and in every arena, from national…

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Surveying the impact of COVID-19 on Africa’s higher education and research sector

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Academic and research institutions find themselves tasked with learning how to adapt in real-time in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that is significantly disrupting the global higher education sector. Most of the focus so far has been on western countries, leaving major gaps in our understanding of how Africa’s own centres of knowledge production are faring in this crisis. We know that the state of research and higher education on the continent has long…

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This global pandemic could transform humanitarianism forever. Here’s how

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There is a moment at the start of every major crisis when you think: “This is going to change everything.” COVID-19 was no exception. “In humanitarian response, there will be a ‘before’ and ‘after’ COVID-19,” Ed Schenkenberg van Mierop, executive director of the think tank HERE-Geneva, wrote in late March. But as the crisis born of this global pandemic has evolved, some of the promises of deep transformation in a humanitarian aid sector that has long…

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Building Back Better: A Sustainable, Resilient Recovery after COVID-19

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For the economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis to be durable and resilient, a return to ‘business as usual’ and environmentally destructive investment patterns and activities must be avoided. Unchecked, global environmental emergencies such as climate change and biodiversity loss could cause social and economic damages far larger than those caused by COVID-19. To avoid this, economic recovery packages should be designed to “build back better”. This means doing more than getting economies and livelihoods…

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Some Lessons from the History of Epidemics in Africa

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This article argues that not surprisingly, Covid-19 has brought out old stereotypes of an allegedly under-medicalized, pre-modern Africa where poverty and a supposed scientific underdevelopment condemn Africans to medical impotence. However, the history of epidemics and biomedicine demonstrates the long experience and extensive expertise of researchers, caregivers, and ordinary people. In addition, the experience of crises, especially health crises, is much stronger in Africa than in Western countries. What history and anthropology demonstrate is the…

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Water in the COVID-19 crisis: Response, recovery, and resilience

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Water is essential for drinking, sanitation, and food production; for billions of people, however, water access and quality are limited. The COVID-19 pandemic has further amplified the impacts of these water inequalities. Claudia Sadoff and Mark Smith of the International Water Management Institute assess the role of water in the current responses to COVID-19 and in future phases of recovery and resilience. Their recommendations range from emergency provision of water to high-risk groups, through developing new innovations…

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Guidance from the Housing, Land and Property Technical Working Group on COVID-19

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Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights continue to be a key protection issue across South Sudan. The HLP Technical Working Group strives to ensure the integration of HLP rights, concerns, and responses to ensure that key affected populations are supported. As such, the HLP TWG recognises that the current exceptional global emergency of COVID-19 is likely to significantly impact HLP in South Sudan in a number of ways. This short note therefore summarises key challenges,…

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Aggravating circumstances: How coronavirus impacts human trafficking

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The coronavirus is not only claiming hundreds of thousands of lives, but is also causing a global economic crisis that is expected to rival or exceed that of any recession in the past 150 years. Although decisive action and containment measures are helping flatten the curve of infection, such measures inevitably deepen and lengthen the economic recession. Poverty, lack of social or economic opportunity and limited labour protections are the main root causes and drivers…

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Interim Guidance: Localisation and the COVID-19 Response

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This interim guidance note has been developed in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 and its likely impact on humanitarian operations around the world, building on work done by the Grand Bargain Localisation Workstream. It provides guidance as to how the international humanitarian community can adapt its delivery modalities in response to COVID-19 consistent with existing commitments on localisation of aid, strengthening partnerships with local and national actors, and operating effectively in an environment affected…

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The Nature and Magnitude of the COVID-19 Outbreak in South Sudan

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This analysis uses laboratory data to examine the COVID-19 infections in South Sudan. Preliminary findings point to the underlying concerns. First, the COVID-19 preventive measures instituted in March are ineffective, with at least 100 new cases of the virus likely to be recorded daily in the coming weeks or even days. Second, the effect of the virus varies by both age and sex of patients. At greater risk of infections are the elderly and women….

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