In April 2020, when COVID-19 reached South Sudan, many of RVI’s South Sudanese researchers decided to return to their hometowns to avoid what they believed would be a large outbreak in the country’s capital, Juba. Following discussions with friends and family, the researchers proposed that RVI work with them to conduct a programme of messaging and awareness-raising on COVID-19.1 These activities would draw on the strong network of chiefs established during the five years of RVI’s…

The guiding questions for Conflict Sensitivity & Public Health Emergencies are: How can we better practice our commitments to conflict sensitivity in the context of public health emergencies? How can we use a better understanding of local power dynamics to increase the effectiveness of our public health interventions while minimizing negative effects on existing conflicts? What are the practical considerations and approaches for using the Do No Harm Framework in places experiencing disruptions from public…

COVID-19 is the worst crisis the world has faced since World War II. The impacts of the pandemic were felt worldwide, in developed and developing countries alike. While conflict and insecurity remain the main drivers of hunger, the added dimension of COVID-19 exacerbated the ability of affected communities to cope, causing a drastic reduction in livelihood opportunities, employment and income – pushing many communities already on the brink further into desperate circumstances. In April 2020,…

Based on a survey of 398 journalists, civil society workers, activists, and other experts as well as research on 192 countries by Freedom House’s global network of analysts, this report is the first of its kind and the most in-depth effort to date to examine the condition of democracy during the pandemic (see full methodology). The research strongly supports the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the 14 years of consecutive decline in freedom….

Epidemic forecasting is one tool through which we can gain an understanding of the final outbreak sizeand indicators of when the COVID-19 epidemic peaks in a country. This provides decision-makers with the capability to plan, surge, and manage resources during a pandemic. UN OCHA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory have therefore established a partnership to inform COVID-19 strategies for humanitarian interventions by both national authorities and the humanitarian community in selected high-priority…

The humanitarian system has developed to respond to geographically contained and separate crises that are usually a long-haul flight from the centres of power and wealth that sustain it. But that is no longer how crises work. The COVID-19 pandemic provides a text-book example of systemic risk, where shocks are transmitted through the networks and systems that our global economy depends on. The cascading consequences are hard to predict, leaving policymakers aghast and adrift as…

This report examines key elements of a human rights-based approach to Covid-19 vaccines funding rooted in principles of transparency and accountability. It assesses how a variety of core rights—including but not limited to the rights to life, health, and an adequate standard of living—are being taken into account by governments. Human Rights Watch argues that governments spending public money on Covid-19 vaccines should take all possible measures within their power to ensure the scientific benefits…

Children have a fundamental right to be protected, wherever they live. Children affected by humanitarian crises are among the most vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, violence and neglect and most in need of protection, yet there is limited commitment to fund protective responses. Throughout 2020, the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the containment measures have layered risk upon risk for children in humanitarian crises. Although the overall funding for child protection is increasing, the…

South Sudan is experiencing a distressing economic period. Government revenue has shrunk to historic lows and debt, both domestic and external, is mounting, marked by unsettled salary arrears and outstanding loans. A combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fallout of just-concluded civil strife is largely to blame. The pandemic and conflict have dramatically impeded oil sales, collection of non-oil revenues, and access to remittances and foreign aid. While income levels have dropped drastically, the…

Key points: Efforts to situate gender-based violence (GBV) within the COVID-19 pandemic remain inadequate. Based on the knowledge that the public health crises of violence and infectious disease are intersecting, we use a syndemic perspective to examine their shared influence in humanitarian settings. When the humanitarian community exclusively prioritises the lives saved from infectious diseases, such as Ebola and COVID-19, the lives impacted by interrelated factors, such as GBV, can be overlooked. This narrative leverages…

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