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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Gender implications of COVID-19 outbreaks in development and humanitarian settings

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Informed by lessons learned from past public health emergencies, this analysis shows that COVID-19 outbreaks in development or humanitarian contexts could disproportionately affect women and girls in a number of ways, including adverse effects on their education, food security and nutrition, health, livelihoods, and protection. Even after the outbreak has been contained, women and girls may continue to suffer from ill-effects for years to come. Download

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COVID-19: the gendered impacts of the outbreak

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Writing this comment on behalf of the Gender and COVID-19 Working Group, the authors argue that policies and public health efforts have not addressed the gendered impacts of disease outbreaks, and that the response to Covid-19 appears no different. They are not aware of any gender analysis of the outbreak by global health institutions or governments in affected countries or in preparedness phases. Recognising the extent to which disease outbreaks affect women and men differently…

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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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Gender and the Coronavirus Outbreak

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This article argues that while most of the questions currently asked with relation to Covid-19 are of a scientific and technical nature, crucial to containing the outbreak; such as, how infectious is it? How long does it incubate in the body before you get sick? And can it be spread by people who have no symptoms?, there are other, unanswered questions that also need to be addressed but are rarely even asked. The author’s own…

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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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Civil War & the Global Threat of Pandemics

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This essay confronts the collision of two potential global threats: the outbreak of infectious pandemics and the outbreak and protraction of civil wars. Specifically, it addresses the potential that civil wars can elevate the risk that an infectious outbreak will emerge; the possibility that civil wars can reduce the capacity to identify and respond to outbreaks; and the risk that outbreaks in areas of civil conflict can generate political and security challenges that may threaten…

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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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Impact of the Ebola virus outbreak on market chain and trade of agricultural products in West Africa

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This study provides an analysis of the impact of the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak on agricultural market chains. Seven market chains were selected based on their importance to regional food security, the risks associated with Ebola and the extent of disruptions caused by the outbreak. This includes rice, cassava, potatoes, cocoa, palm oil animal products, bushmeat and cocoa in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Recommendations to ensure the smooth functioning of trade flows and markets…

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The Security Sector and Global Health Crises: Lessons and Prospects

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The recent Ebola outbreak in Western Africa has had serious implications for human security and economic development in the affected countries. The economic, security and humanitarian dimensions of such a health crisis call for action in different sectors and at several levels – global, regional, national and local. The challenges that emerged to assist affected nations in managing and containing the Ebola outbreak raise the question as to which contributions local and international security institutions…

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