While digital technologies have been increasingly employed in humanitarian crises for more than a decade, they are needed now more than ever due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Restrictions on travel, a switch to remote working and ‘social distancing’ have left international, national and local humanitarian staff unable to access affected communities, while logistics and humanitarian supply chains are disrupted. At the same time, needs continue to increase. There is now an urgent need for humanitarian…

The COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on children, families and communities around the world. To move from risk to resilience and build back better and stronger, recovery efforts must address key underlying causes of the pandemic: unsustainable economic development, climate change and a collective disregard for the natural environment. This brief focuses on the links between the pandemic, the destruction of the natural environment and climate change, and calls for systematic change to create a…

From Africa to Latin America to Europe, the coronavirus pandemic has generated a surge in public demand for government transparency and accountability. To seize this window for reform, elite and grassroots civic actors concerned with open governance must overcome the cleavage that has long existed between them. Thus far, the pandemic has catalyzed some new civic collaborations, but not at the scale or depth needed to seize that window. In general, civil society groups report…

A world where inclusive education can flourish is also a world that can nurture inclusive societies. Inclusive learning environments consider diversity an asset and, accordingly, they cater for the different needs of all learners, so that they learn, grow and thrive together. Working towards this vision is critical for reducing the vast levels of inequality and discrimination currently faced by millions of persons across the globe. This is especially so for the millions of children…

This briefing argues that, if a leveraged focus on SDG 16 was necessary before COVID-19, it is imperative now – not just insalvaging the 2030 Agenda in the places where it matters most, but also in damping down the potential for far greater and more durable violent conflict.   Download

This briefing note is an update to ODI’s research on the role of international public finance in eradicating poverty around the world – Goal 1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is perhaps more critical now than ever before in the context of the global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19): the longer-term effects on the world’s poorest are becoming increasingly clear. Drawing mainly on recent World Bank estimates, the projections in…

Digital information technologies and social media platforms have become important means of communication used by UNICEF and its partners. The physical distancing requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic have further strengthened reliance on mass media, social media and mobile technology as a way of reaching and engaging with intended audiences. Even where access to digital resources remains limited, country programmes are launching innovative approaches to continue social and behaviour change activities despite the physical distancing challenge,…

COVID-19 has been quite a challenge to the world. It has made us question so many of the things we took for granted. It has changed the outlook and stereotypes we had about the world and humanity. For example, nobody imagined that with the current developments in technology and medicine, a pandemic could bring the world to its knees like this one has. COVID-19 has also questioned the impression we in Africa had that pandemics…

This joint study by the World Food Programme and the International Organization for Migration explores the impacts of COVID-19 and related containment measures on migrant workers, remittance-dependent households and the forcibly displaced. It assesses the implications of the pandemic for people’s mobility, food security and other livelihood outcomes in major migration and hunger hotspots around the world. There are important linkages between food security and mobility. Food insecurity, especially when combined with conflict, can be…

This blog highlights the benefits of strengthening coordination between humanitarian, peacebuilding and development actors implementing aid responses in South Sudan, particularly in times of humanitarian crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The triple nexus is getting a lot of attention, both in global capitals, such as here in Bern, where I am based, as well as in countries where it is being operationalized. Here at swisspeace, we have been looking at factors that support or…

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