New civil society collaborative launches to understand the true scale of COVID-19’s impact on marginalised people

Announced today, the Civil Society Collaborative on Inclusive COVID-19 Data will work alongside marginalized communities and activists to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and collectively advocate for an inclusive recovery.

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With COVID-19 pushing up to 150 million people into extreme poverty by the end of 2021, the urgency to understand and meet the needs of the world’s most marginalised people has never been greater. However, pervasive gaps in official data and statistics are hindering efforts to protect and support those being left behind. To address this, over 15 civil society organisations (CSOs) are coming together and launching a collaborative that will combine their data-driven insights to create a more intersectional understanding of the pandemic’s effects.

From women to persons with disabilities to refugees, the pandemic has highlighted and deepened long-standing inequalities. But the true scale of the pandemic’s effects is obscured by data gaps. Many millions of people are invisible in official data and statistics, their lives and needs uncounted in policy decisions. An equitable recovery from COVID-19 requires better data on the lives of marginalised people, collected with their knowledge, consent, and participation.

Civil society is uniquely positioned to generate data and insights with marginalised people that can complement official statistics and fill data gaps. From citizen-generated data to rapid needs assessments to programmatic data, the collaborative is harnessing existing data collected by CSOs over the past year.  

The collaborative will work with communities and activists to develop a data-driven report and advocacy campaign, launching in July this year at the United Nations High Level Political Forum. 

Alongside new insights on the effects of COVID-19, the report will highlight CSOs and citizens’ learnings on inclusive and participatory data collection methods, and offer recommendations for improving collaboration and coordination between official data producers, civil society, and citizens.

The collaborative is led by a Steering Group, involving Action Aid (Denmark), Christian Aid, Development Initiatives, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, International Civil Society Centre, Plan International, Restless Development, and Sightsavers. 

A diverse and growing range of CSOs are engaged as partners, including Africa’s Voices Foundation, CBM, CIVICUS, Consortium for Street Children, HelpAge, Institute for Global Homelessness, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Save the Children, VSO, and World Vision.

The collaborative is an open platform for civil society, communities, and activists. If you would like to learn more about engaging, please contact Kate Richards, Inclusive Data Charter Outreach Manager.

The collaborative is made possible by the Steering Group’s contributions and convened by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data and the International Civil Society Centre. 

Kate Richards

Inclusive Data Charter Outreach Manager

Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data

Kate Richards is the Outreach Manager for the Inclusive Data Charter, an initiative of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. She leads on engaging new Inclusive Data Champions, as well as developing and implementing communications and advocacy strategies that catalyze action on disaggregated and inclusive data. She previously worked at Dalberg, advising leading foundations, multilaterals, and NGOs on strategic communications and advocacy, and at Oxford University. Kate has an MPA from the London School of Economics and is based in London.

Peter Koblowsky

Senior Partnership Manager - Leave No One Behind

International Civil Society Centre

Peter joined the Centre in January 2013, back then as a trainee. He completed the traineeship in the advocacy & campaigning office of World Vision Germany. Peter now coordinates the Leave No One Behind project and contributes to the development and implementation of various other strategic formats. Before joining the Centre, Peter worked for various organisations and think tanks in the development sector, being an expert in multi-stakeholder processes. He studied at the University of Bonn and graduated with an MA in Political Science with a focus on multi-actor advocacy for climate policy.

The International Civil Society Centre is looking for a project consultant to support the Civil Society Collaborative: Inclusive COVID-19 Data.

The goal of the collaboration is to bring together CSOs and use their data to understand and amplify the needs of marginalised people, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, 15 partner organisations from the international civil society have signed up to the project, including key actors like Plan International, Sightsavers, Development Initiatives, Restless Development and CIVICUS.

The key output of the collaboration will be a joint report to be launched and presented at the UN High-Level Political Forum, taking place in early July. Further presentations are planned for the UN World Data Forum in October and potentially other occasions. The report’s main content will be an analysis of the data, learnings, and insights that partner organisations have jointly contributed, focusing on COVID-19 and its impact on marginalised people. 

The Centre and GPSDD are currently conducting a survey across the participating partner organisations, collecting their relevant insights, learnings and available data. For the next steps of project implementation, the Centre is commissioning a consultant to:

• Utilise the landscape survey and analysis conducted across the project partners to develop a report structure and outline;
• Author of the advocacy report (10,000-12,000 words) to influence global leaders;
• Identify case studies and impact stories to be promoted; and,
• Work in close collaboration with the Centre, GPSDD and the project Steering Committee throughout the entire process to reconcile the report development with the interests of all participating parties. 

Find the full tender and how to apply here

If you meet the selection criteria, please submit your application to nhelmy@icsentre.org including:

• A brief description of the Offeror’s experience and expertise in the field that illustrates overall qualifications and capabilities;
• A brief description of the Offeror’s understanding of the scope of services and proposed methodology for the work;
• Resume or CV of individual or principals, in the case of a consulting firm; 
• List of Past and Current Clients; and,
• Cost Requirements. 

Proposals, including any attachments, should be sent electronically in PDF format by Thursday, 4 March 2021. Please include the subject line: “Call for tenders – COVID-19 Data Collaborative”. 

Adriana Sahagún Martínez

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre

This open letter from leaders of CSO platforms calls on States and UN Secretary-General to meet their obligations to protect the most marginalised groups during the Covid-19 crisis and ensure that all people worldwide, without distinction of any kind, have access to an effective vaccine in a timely manner.

8 February 2021

Permanent Missions in Geneva and to the United Nations Secretary-General Office

In these early months of 2021, our common SDG pledge to leaving no-one behind is as critical as ever. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hit indiscriminately both high-and low-income countries, threatening lives and aggravating existing inequalities and vulnerabilities, it is high time for international solidarity.

We are conveners of influential civil society networks and platforms.  Our constituency entails thousands of civil society organisations and their partners which work with, and on behalf of millions of people who are being marginalised and deprived of their human and civic rights.

We highly value the long-standing partnership with States and UN agencies. We are determined to mobilise and lead collectively, based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity, focused in particular on the rights of those left furthest behind.

Together we have been able to move forward on crucial agendas such as peace and human rights, disaster response and development goals. Although, across these topics, serious challenges still exist, we remain committed to addressing them jointly. This is key to our success.

Regretfully, today we note a lack of collective actions in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and are seriously concerned by the increased competition on access to vaccines. While we recognise States’ responsibility to respect, protect and promote the right to adequate health care for all those living on their territory, we would like to highlight that this pandemic knows no borders and demands global solutions.  With new variants of the virus developing in various locations in the globe, it has become clear that universal access to the COVID-19 vaccine is the only solution to end the pandemic and mitigate the deepening socio-economic inequalities.  All people worldwide, without distinction of any kind, must have access to an effective vaccine in a timely manner.

Thereby we call upon States to step up multilateral efforts and lead a truthy global response. We call for a global allocation framework that puts humanity at the centre. It is in our common interest to ensure that priority in access to vaccine at a global level is given to those at a higher risk of infection and/or developing a serious disease. Other priority considerations at national and global level will be counterproductive, leading to a perpetual spiral of new, vaccine-resistant variants of the virus.

We urge States, pharmaceutical companies and all other private actors in the supply and production chain to undertake concrete steps to rapidly step up the production of vaccines’ and at a price that will be affordable for all. In these life-threatening times, more than ever, we need full transparency from our governments and accountability on invested public money.

As civil society organisations we stand ready to work hand in hand with States, UN Agencies and the private sector to ensure that this truly becomes a people’s vaccines. We have valuable knowledge, expertise and capacities to concretely support the roll out of effective and all-inclusive national vaccines programmes. We strongly believe that only by working together we can defeat this pandemic and successfully stand against future ones.

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Signed:

Abdirashiid Hirsi, Acting Director, Somalia NGO Consortium

Abby Maxman, Chair of SCHR

Colin Rajah, Coordinator, Civil Society Action Committee

Daniel Eriksson, Interim Managing Director, Transparency International 

Ignacio Packer, Executive Director, ICVA

Samuel A. Worthington, Chief Executive Officer, InterAction

Sarah Strack, Director, Forus

Stephanie Draper, Chief Executive, Bond

Wolfgang Jamann, Executive Director, International Civil Society Centre

Open Letter to States on Universal Access to Covid-19 Vaccines (PDF).

For further information on this letter contact the co-signatories or email: openlettervaccines@icvanetwork.org

Adriana Sahagún Martínez

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre