COVID-19 and Forced Displacement in the Middle East and East Africa

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This background paper presents considerations on how the COVID-19 pandemic is accentuating existing vulnerabilities of populations forcibly displaced by war (refugees, asylum-seekers, internally-displaced and stateless persons), in settings across East Africa and the Middle East. In addition to the devastating health threat the pandemic poses, lockdown measures imposed by governments to reduce transmission are having outsized effects on forcibly displaced populations, further entrenching poverty, xenophobiaand creating new humanitarian protection issues. With the exceptional physical distancing…

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COVID-19 in the Horn of Africa: How can aid help mobile populations cope with restrictions on movement?

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Aid providers in the Horn of Africa have always struggled to adapt their systems and models to the simple fact that people move from place to place. Delivering aid in remote areas normally involves establishing long supply chains that rely on populations being in places where they can be relatively easily ‘accessed’. The refugee and IDP camps of the region, many of which were constructed as temporary locations for the provision of food or shelter,…

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Crucial, but vulnerable: The role of Chiefs in COVID response and conflict resolution

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Chief’s play a critically important role in communities’ right across South Sudan. They play a vital role in settling disputes, preventing armed conflict and fostering peace within and between communities. As the key intermediaries between local communities and higher levels of government, UN agencies and international NGOs, they have an essential role to play in informing, sensitising and mobilizing community members around critical social issues, such as COVID-19. However, due to their age many chiefs…

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COVID 19 and conflict sensitivity: Rapid Operational Conflict Risk and Prevention Tool

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This operational tool aims to support Country Offices to do a rapid conflict analysis, identify potential conflict risks associated with the COVID-19 response and possible mitigation measures when designing and implementing activities.   Download

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General Perception of COVID-19 Pandemic in South Sudan

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COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Gender Lens

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The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to disruptions of both social and economic activities across the globe. While the early narrative described COVID-19 as the “great equalizer,” asserting that the virus is capable of infecting anyone, it is critical for policymakers to understand that the impacts of COVID-19 will not be the same for everyone. As experience from previous epidemics suggests, COVID-19 will impact groups who are most vulnerable and amplify any existing inequalities across…

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Ensuring Women’s Access to Cash Transfers in the Wake of COVID-19

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Governments around the world are implementing a variety of measures to dull the blow of mass income loss and unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. Cash transfers, whether targeted or universal, have been one of the most popular remedies used to date. While the design of individual cash transfer programs varies greatly by country and by context, all are an attempt to mitigate the economic shock caused by the ongoing pandemic. The design…

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Gender & the COVID-19 Crisis in Conflict-Affected Contexts

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Search for Common Ground (Search) recently consulted over 30 teams around the world to understand their perspectives on needs and opportunities around the COVID-19 crisis, drawing from their experiences working in fragile contexts, with women and girls, and on other health crises such as the Ebola epidemics in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Based on these local insights and analysis, this discussion paper provides a snapshot of the gendered impact…

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Exploring the impact of COVID-19 in Africa: a scenario analysis to 2030

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This report presents three scenarios on the potential impact of COVID-19 in Africa and compares that to a pre-COVID-19 baseline, using the International Futures forecasting platform, IFs. The likely impacts are then examined on economic growth, per capita income, poverty and the attainment of selected SDG targets with a forecast horizon to 2030. The report concludes with four main policy recommendations aimed at reducing vulnerability and strengthening Africa’s resilience. These recommendations aim to make a…

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COVID-19: One more setback for refugees in MENA – especially women and girls

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Refugees and the displaced, the majority of them located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, are now faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and economically damaging efforts at its mitigation. Fragile gains in women’s workforce participation are at risk, gender-based violence is on the rise, and women’s voices are going unheeded. CARE’s soon-to-be-released Rapid Gender Analysis gathers together data from its country offices in MENA and beyond to provide a sobering picture of…

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