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Are warnings of a COVID-19 famine in Africa overblown?

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Alarm bells have been ringing for months that COVID-19 could push fragile African countries “closer to the abyss” of famine as jobs are lost, local markets close, and poverty deepens. Aid agencies routinely list the coronavirus as a major factor in driving humanitarian needs, from the Sahel to Somalia, and don’t shy away from describing its impact as the “perfect storm”. A joint report in July by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food…

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Africa needs sustainable digitalisation: The link between tech, inequality and the environment

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What the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted in Africa is that addressing digital inequality isn’t a technology problem. It’s a classic development challenge. It’s become abundantly clear that offline education, gender, income, public service delivery and spatial inequalities are simply mirrored online. Meanwhile, structural economic deficiencies are arguably amplified, as the economic and social value of being digitally networked increases exponentially.   Read more

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The impact of Covid-19 on climate change and disaster resilience funding: trends and signals

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Prior to Covid-19, concerns were being raised that funding for climate and disaster resilience was insufficient to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and Sendai Framework. Since the pandemic, initial signals are that the funding gap will widen. Opportunities exist to harness co-benefits for pandemic recovery and climate and disaster resilience. To leverage climate and disaster resilience finance, especially during the Covid-19 response, decision-making needs to be more risk-informed and incorporate risks from multiple…

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Covid-19 and local humanitarian action: five emerging trends

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The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the international humanitarian sector to adapt to a different operational reality, with many international staff unable to travel and access affected communities. A renewed focus on the role of local actors offers an opportunity to turn this rhetoric into action, and provide more funding, support and recognition for national humanitarian responders. Capturing evidence of changes is important. It not only helps inform future programming, funding decisions and details lessons learnt,…

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Fragility: time for a rethink

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Originally intended to help mobilise aid flows to ‘fragile states’, the OECD’s 2020 States of Fragility report is the thirteenth edition of a long series first published in 2005. Its intentions at the outset were arguably laudable. But for years, the backlash against the ‘fragile or failed states’ terminology plagued the report, which was re-named in 2015 to ‘States of Fragility’. Today, the report refers to ‘fragile contexts’ instead of ‘fragile states’ and has usefully…

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Conflict during COVID-19: Averting a legitimacy and debt crisis in Africa?

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Good governance and debt contingency planning are essential for containment and mitigating the economic impacts of the pandemic to avoid a deeper crisis. The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising conflict, and escalating debt in Africa is a toxic cocktail that could soon implode. Governments and multilateral lenders need to work out pragmatic ways to neutralise and navigate out of the crisis.   Read more

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Sharing the burden for investment in the Covid-19 recovery

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The major question facing policy-makers at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Annual Meetings this week will be how to support economic recovery. Until the Covid-19 pandemic is contained, there will continue to be great uncertainty about the future health of the global economy. We can however be certain that as the world emerges from the crisis, economies will be smaller, firms will have gone bankrupt and governments will be more indebted and…

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Covid-19 and the Impact on South Sudanese Women Peacebuilders

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Two young South Sudanese peacebuilders have co-authored a publication that portrays both the immense challenges faced by South Sudanese women peacebuilders in the time of COVID-19 and the extra-ordinary power and potential these women hold for building peace even during difficult times. Sixteen young women peacebuilders have contributed their stories and Vicky Amal Pax Kamilo and Ajwok Mary Valentino have consolidated the insights into this important piece of work. Download

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Countering stigmatization in the humanitarian response to COVID-19

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The societal stigma attached to certain people or demographic groups based on their perceived attributes or their rolein society leads to pervasive and overt discrimination. It can also lead to violence and exclusion that limits access to basic services and humanitarian assistance. During health crises, societal stigma often takes root and proliferates rapidly. This was the case during both pastEbola outbreaks and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.1Indeed, humanitarians and other first responders have identified stigma as a…

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COVID-19 impact on stranded migrants

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This paper aims to consolidate available information on the impact of COVID-19 on stranded migrants, to gauge a better understanding of their evolving challenges and needs, and to serve as a first step towards the (re)design of tailored programmes, advocacy and responses. The analysis is based on the qualitative and quantitative data collected by IOM on the impact of COVID-19 on migrants through various primary and secondary sourcesas part of its Impact on Migrants initiative….

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