In Case of Emergency: System-wide Response in the Era of COVID-19

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The world is facing a global health emergency. The context is evolving rapidly, and the humanitarian, public health, social, political and economic implications are widespread. Humanitarian actors are grappling with understanding and preparing for the impact of COVID-19 on existing crisis-affected populations around the globe.This Think Piece looks to the future – beyond the impact on current humanitarian crises to explore what a large-scale rapid response might look like in the context of COVID-19. It…

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Preventing global food security crisis under COVID-19 emergency

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The COVID-19 outbreak is showing a new trend. While the situation in China has improved dramatically, several countries, especially the Republic of Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran, have been reporting more new cases. In fact, these countries have reported more new confirmed cases than China, most of which are in Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic in Hubei province. That the first case in Africa was reported from Nigeria on Feb 28, the day when…

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Key Considerations: Cross-Border Dynamics Between South Sudan and DRC

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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…

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Learning from the Ebola Response in Cities: Responding in the context of urban quarantine

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The West African Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014/15 posed a number of urban-specific challenges to humanitarians responding to the crisis. One of these related to controlling the rapid spread of the disease across the urban landscape. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone used quarantine at various points, which was by and large ill received, particularly in urban centres. This paper focuses specifically on the use of quarantine in urban environments during the humanitarian response…

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The impact of traditional and religious practices on the spread of Ebola in West Africa: time for a strategic shift

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This article in the Pan African Medical Journal shows that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa clearly demonstrated that scientifically proven methods of combating the transmission of infectious diseases, if not culturally and religiously acceptable to a community, are likely to be resisted and rendered less effective. There is, thus, a need to investigate and align preventative measures with cultural norms and values of affected communities. Where there are incompatibilities between religious and cultural practices…

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