Conflict sensitive approaches to dealing with common South Sudanese cultural practices and COVID-19 prevention measures

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As South Sudan prepares its response to COVID-19, Ranga Gworo shares reflections on how COVID-19 prevention measures have interacted so far with deeply embedded cultural practices and the implications for conflict sensitivity, alongside some practical recommendations for how aid agencies could design cultural, and conflict, sensitive measures. Even before the Government of South Sudan confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on 5 April, it had already begun to implement measures to control transmission of the…

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COVID-19, conflict and aid in South Sudan

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As the aid sector in South Sudan shifts rapidly to prepare for and respond to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country, Natalia Chan and Tim Midgley from Saferworld reflect on the need to ensure humanitarian responses take into account conflict dynamics.   Read more

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COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Drives Sub-Saharan Africa Toward First Recession in 25 Years

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Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has been significantly impacted by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and is forecast to fall sharply from 2.4% in 2019 to -2.1 to -5.1% in 2020, the first recession in the region over the past 25 years, according to the latest Africa’s Pulse, the World Bank’s twice-yearly economic update for the region.   Read more

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Call to Action: Now and the Future, COVID-19 and Gender Equality, Global Peace and Security

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This paper addresses the deeply gendered impact of COVID-19. The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to over a million confirmed cases, and tens of hundreds of deaths worldwide so far. As we see global responses to COVID-19, GAPS’s position is that a rights-based approach and gender- conflict analysis must be at the centre of any global response and recovery. This must assess not only the virus’s disproportionate impact on people, communities and countries based on their…

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Unsung Heroes: How Small Farmers cope with COVID-19

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The global pandemic has hit small farmers with disruptions in health, food security, transport, finance and demand. It has also increased the cost of doing business. Smallholder farmers, already dealing with the effects of a climate and price crisis, are taking emergency measures for resilience. At the same time, they are preparing long-term strategies to regain competitiveness. This report relays the message of smallholder farmers on COVID-19 impact and recovery. It provides insights on what…

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In-depth Analysis: What should be Africa’s strategy to counter #Covid19? A strategy for containment

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The current Covid-19 pandemic, like most of its kind, poses two closely interlinked challenges. They can be summarized as the demands for urgent actions needed to contain the outbreak; and the requirement to work on long-term strategic issues including investments directed towards social and economic recovery, and peace and security. The last part— peace and security that is intrinsically tangled with governance, the nature and the role of state, the popular and performance legitimacy and…

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Looking at the coronavirus crisis through the nexus lens – what needs to be done

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Sarah Dalrymple puts forward actions that humanitarian, development and peace actors can take to apply the nexus approach to the devastating COVID-19 pandemic and thereby help mitigate its impact. According to her, taking a nexus approach to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic is imperative for responding effectively to this crisis and protecting those who are most vulnerable. She provides three things that need to be done to put this approach into practice.   Read more

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“We are all fragile, but we are not all equally fragile”: Humanitarian operations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

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As the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading across the globe, its impact touches all corners of society. What happens when the pandemic reaches areas that were already dealing with various sorts of humanitarian challenges, and in what ways are humanitarian operations being impacted both directly and indirectly? In a time where the news are being flooded with information related to the pandemic and much of national authorities’ time and resources are being spent at mapping domestic…

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COVID-19 and the impact on local peacebuilding

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As the impact of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic grows, local peacebuilders continue working to help communities break through cycles of violent conflict. During the first week of April, Peace Direct and Conducive Space for Peace held a series of consultations asking local peacebuilders how their lives and work have been affected by this unprecedented health emergency, what their communities need, and how they see their role during this time of crisis. These consultations included…

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Governance, in crisis: What COVID-19 means for the present and future of global governance

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IHEID  has introduced a new series of think pieces to reflect critically on the limits (or untapped potential) of existing governance systems and innovative ways to solve future global challenges. This is one of them. The COVID-19 crisis has brought to light many realities about the contemporary global order, which was already far from stable. It demonstrates how quickly and deeply problems that originate in one part of the world can spread globally, highlighting the…

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