COVID-19 in humanitarian crises: A double emergency

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The International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) analysis and approach to COVID-19 draws on decades of experi-ence as a humanitarian and health responder in the world’s most complex crises, including as one of the largest responders to the Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and the DRC and Cholera in Yemen – the largest outbreaks of the diseases in modern history. IRC’s experience finds conflict-affected and fragile countries face a double emergency: 1. The direct impact of COVID-19…

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OPINION: Migration and COVID-19 in Uganda: The challenges of urban refugees

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On 22 March, Uganda confirmed its first case of Covid-19. So far 55 cases have been found in the country. To contain the spread of the virus, President Yoweri Museveni ordered the closure of schools and all places allowing for public gatherings, including bars, non-food markets and shopping malls. Public transport and use of vehicles have also been banned and a night-time curfew put in place. The social distancing rule, initially the usual 1,5 meters,…

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Context matters – Why Africa should tailor its own measures to fight COVID-19

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This brief identifies political, economic and social risks related to coronavirus responses in Africa and emphasises the disproportionate burden carried by women. It argues that localised measures, which include dialogue, transparency and flexibility, may be the only realistic way forward, while underlining the need for wealthier states to provide generous aid packages, debt cancellations and continued investments, in spite of current challenges, in order for Africa to pull through yet another challenge.   Read more

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4 lessons from evaluations of the education response to Ebola

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This third post in the series about learning from the education response after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa looks at what some of the evaluations have shown, and highlight 4 findings that can help today’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.   Read more

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People in poverty bear the brunt of Covid-19, and the worst is yet to come

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In this blog post, Keetie Roelen argues that poverty puts people at greater risk of getting infected with coronavirus, and also makes them carry the brunt of its economic fallout. This transcends traditional boundaries of the ‘Global South’ and ‘Global North’ with consequences felt by people living in precarious conditions across the globe. The much-repeated meme that the virus doesn’t discriminate suggests a false sense of equality, while in fact Covid-19 lays bare and reinforces…

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Africa: Coronavirus – Never Been a More Compelling Time for African Scientists to Work Together

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Amid the rising number of deaths from COVID-19, political leadership, health systems and scientific prowess is being tested locally and internationally. The pandemic provides an opportunity for innovation and new scientific discoveries. For example, the emergence of cases in Africa inspire African-based studies to tap into the diverse genetic background of Africans for important clues in the identification of biomarkers of coronavirus infection. However, for global scientific solutions to come from Africa a number of…

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African countries are leading the way on preventing Covid-19 debt crises

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In this comment, Jesse Griffiths argues that to avoid a devastating debt crisis across the developing world sparked by Covid-19, debtor countries will have to stand together and negotiate hard with creditors to agree necessary debt standstills, restructurings and debt cancellation. Promising signs are emerging that African countries are beginning to provide this necessary leadership. This week, G20 leaders agreed to suspend debt repayments for 76 of the world’s poorest countries until the end of…

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A Global Call: Will COVID-19 bring more peace to the world?

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“The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war.” Those were UN Secretary General António Guterres’ words on 23 March when he launched a global call addressed to armed actors around the world to declare ceasefires. According to Guterres, the coronavirus crisis demands a redirection of all attention and resources, as well as facilitating the work of health personnel and humanitarian actors to allow access to the most vulnerable populations affected by violence and…

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Covid 19 – why gender matters

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This blog, written by Caroline Harper, Carmen Leon-Himmelstine and Rachel George, will be updated over the next two weeks. Public headlines on the Covid-19 pandemic have highlighted common imperatives: immediately, the capacity of health provision and addressing economic impacts. Secondly, concerns about political leadership, education, food security and the practicalities of social distancing, to name just a few. The authors argue that there are gender dimensions to every aspect of this pandemic, and that gender justice…

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Compliance with physical distancing measures for COVID-19 and implications for RCCE in Eastern and Southern Africa (April 2020)

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This brief reports on attitudes and practices relating to physical distancing measures in Eastern and Southern Africain the context of the current global COVID-19 outbreak. Where relevant, it also includes insight and learning from the Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It sets outpractical considerations for the formulation of communication strategies and messaging on the subject of physical distancing related to COVID-19, taking into account the numerous challenges regarding implementation…

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