Posts with the tag
“COVID-19 Resources”

COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #14

30th July 2020 by Thomas Howie

This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

Click here to view all available pages.

Click here for our latest events news.

On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know. Many thanks to our volunteer researcher Ineke Stemmet.

The sections are:

Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

    1. Staying up-to-Date

    • Cancelled, postponed, virtual: COVID-19’s impact on human rights oversight (Open Global Rights)
      The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for nonprofits’ services while damaging their finances and staff. What can history tell us about surviving this crisis, and how can philanthropy help?
       
    • Combatting COVID-19 disinformation on online platforms (OECD)
      Disinformation and misinformation about COVID-19 are quickly and widely disseminated across the Internet, reaching and potentially influencing many people. This policy brief derives four key actions that governments and platforms can take to counter COVID-19 disinformation on platforms, namely: 1) supporting a multiplicity of independent fact-checking organisations; 2) ensuring human moderators are in place to complement technological solutions; 3) voluntarily issuing transparency reports about COVID-19 disinformation; and 4) improving users’ media, digital and health literacy skills.
    • COVID-19 Aftershocks: A Perfect Storm (World Vision International)
      This report looks at the impacts of COVID-19 relating to violence on girls and boys. We predict a major spike in the cases of children experiencing physical, emotional and sexual violence, both now and in the months and years to come. Up to 85 million more girls and boys worldwide may be exposed to physical, sexual and/or emotional violence over three months as a result of COVID-19 quarantine.
    • COVID-19 Aftershocks: Out of time (World Vision International)
      Millions of parents and caregivers have lost incomes and jobs due to COVID-19, forcing them to expose their children to harmful and dangerous circumstances, such as begging or child marriage. World Vision has conducted rapid assessments in 24 countries across Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia confirming alarming predictions of increased child hunger, violence, and poverty due to the economic impact of COVID-19
    • COVID-19 Aftershocks: Secondary impacts threaten more children’s lives than disease itself (World Vision International)
      As many as 30 million children are at risk of disease and death because of the secondary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. World Vision’s Aftershocks report considers what would happen if the devastating secondary impacts of the 2015-2016 Ebola outbreak on children were replicated in the 24 most fragile countries covered by the UN’s COVID-19 humanitarian appeal.
    • Embracing Innovation in Government: Global Trends 2020 (OECD)
      New report summarising innovative responses by governments to the COVID-19 crisis, drawing upon the over 400 cases and initiatives, under five key themes: Theme 1: Rapid acceleration of digital innovation and transformation, Theme 2: Seeking bottom-up solutions and insights, Theme 3: Social solidarity and caring, Theme 4: Reducing the spread through virus tracking and adaptive action, and Theme 5: Forging a path to recovery.
    • Fighting COVID-19, Building Peace – a civil society perspective. What Local Peacebuilders Say about COVID-19, Civic Space, Fragility and Drivers of Conflict (Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS))
      This report provides a comprehensive outlook on the lived experiences of local peacebuilders as they face down COVID-19 and its consequences. It explores how the pandemic has affected civil society’s capacity to operate, how local peacebuilders view the pandemic as occasioning violence and stimulating drivers of conflict, and the dearth of coordination between government and civil society.
    • Is the explosion of COVID-19 conspiracies changing people’s real-world behavior? (Fast Company)
      More than 20 million people saw a video filled with lies about COVID-19. Researchers still don’t know how this kind of viral misinformation is impacting people’s willingness to wear masks—or to get an eventual vaccine.
    • ODI Bites: Africa beyond Covid-19 (ODI)
      Early signs from Africa are that in many countries, the response to Covid-19 has been effective. But contrary to commonplace narratives about aiding Africa, recent events highlight opportunities for Europe and elsewhere to learn from Africa.
    • Sensemaking possibilities #2: tools and analyses to support local and global sensemaking (OECD)
      What are some of the different narratives and perspectives emerging from or, or prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated crises? How do we explore them and make sense of them?
    • The Current and Potential Impact of COVID-19 on Nonprofits (SSIR)
      The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for nonprofits’ services while damaging their finances and staff. What can history tell us about surviving this crisis, and how can philanthropy help?
    • Updated forecasts quantify the impact of COVID-19 on Africa (Institute of Security Studies (ISS))
      Compared to pre-COVID-19 projections, Africa’s economy will be between US$349 billion and US$643 billion smaller in 2030. As such, beyond being a health pandemic, COVID-19 is set to create a generational set-back for development in Africa.
    • Urban Thinkers Campus – COVID-19 & the role of youth in cities (Webinar) (World Vision International and Plan International)
      This webinar included youth representatives from Bangladesh, Brazil and Peru and from organizations working with this population segment on how they are involved in prevention, response and recovery efforts to address COVID-19 while contributing to long term outcomes contributing to more liveable cities. Password: $C=Nr89H
    • Why African countries are reluctant to take up COVID-19 debt relief (The Conversation)
      African countries should tread carefully over the debt relief offered by multilateral institutions and other lenders. It could prove very costly in the medium to long term.

    2. Strategic

        Biodiversity and Climate Change

          Civic Space and Human Rights

          • COVID-19 has opened the floodgates for smart cities—whether we like it or not (Fast Company)
            The conditions created by the pandemic will make it easier for local governments to adopt technological solutions.
          • Putting cities at the centre of the post-pandemic world (C40 Cities)
            Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires, highlights why both the global health and the global climate crises have galvanized cities’ central roles as global actors.
          • Priorities for mayors for a green post-COVID recovery: global perspective (C40 Cities Knowledge Hub)
            This collection of articles is intended to give a global outlook and shape regionally-appropriate responses for accelerating a green recovery in cities. Whilst there are regional nuances and differences, all experts agree that the response to the climate crisis and this global pandemic must be inextricably linked.

          • Migrant smugglers are profiting from travel restrictions (Institute for Security Studies (ISS))
            Across the world, over 60 000 mobility restrictions to contain COVID-19 have been imposed. Travel constraints, border closures and reduced travel modes severely disrupted smuggling markets. After an initial slowdown though, smugglers are reviving and adapting to meet changing needs.
          • The Dangers Ahead: COVID-19, Authoritarianism and Democracy (LSE)
            LSE article on trend towards authoritarianism and related threats and potential responses. It describes the broader political context CSOs are working in and provides some suggestions for how to counter some negative threats trends Four threats: ‘Deglobalisation’ takes a nationalist form, less democratic participation, more centralisation, surveillance state and erosion of human rights, inequality goes unchallenged.

          Data and Digital

          • Our post-COVID future should be as much about welfare as it is about tech (Open Global Rights)
            Surveillance thrives in unequal environments, and the pandemic has increased inequality. We need a welfare state for our digital information economy.
          • How COVID-19 exposed AI’s limitations (Nesta)
            As COVID-19 spread, a multitude of AI models were put to work in a bid to tackle it. The results to date have been largely disappointing. Instead, the unlikely hero emerging from the ashes of this pandemic is the crowd. Crowds of scientists sharing data, of local makers manufacturing PPE and of people organising through mutual aid groups.

            Futures

            • Making Strategic Decisions in the Context of COVID-19 (SSIR (Stanford Social Innovation Review))
              The long-term impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on society is still uncertain, but the tools of scenario planning can help social sector leaders better prepare their organizations for the different, possible futures that may unfold.
            • Scenarios to Navigate the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Possible Futures (1) (The Red (Team) Analysis Society)
              This article presents nested scenarios – and linked narratives – to handle the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its aim is to provide an organised framework to foresee the future of our world as it lives through the pandemic, while easing understanding.
            • A post-pandemic world: well-being for all or deepening inequality? (Open Global Rights)
              Putting fear aside as we emerge from this pandemic will allow space for what we value most in people: empathy, solidarity and mutual support.
            • 7 predictions for the new normal post-pandemic (In The Black)
              As a society, we have a unique opportunity to re-evaluate how we live and work. There has been a cultural shift that brings into focus new priorities and emphasises the need for adaptability. Futurists believe that our “next normal” will prioritise collective benefit, collaboration and empathetic leadership.
            • Our COVID Future: The Long Crisis Scenarios(Long Crisis Network)
              Scenarios of how the response to COVID-19 could shape the conflict dynamics of the Middle East: some portend the pernicious effects of the virus moving the region even further away from integration and closer toward acute insecurity, but some also see a transition to greater stability, or even the prospect of a “wake-up” moment where leaders move toward a “resilience regional architecture.”
            • Middle East Conflict and COVID-19 A view from 2025 (Middle East Institute)
              Scenarios of how the response to COVID-19 could shape the conflict dynamics of the Middle East: some portend the pernicious effects of the virus moving the region even further away from integration and closer toward acute insecurity, but some also see transition to greater stability, or even the prospect of a “wake-up” moment where leaders move toward a “resilience regional architecture.”
            • Strategic foresight for the COVID-19 crisis and beyond: Using futures thinking to design better public policies (OECD)
              This resource supports the use of foresight in post-COVID 19 policy-making, presenting key uncertainties and possible future developments with short- and medium-term policy implications, a preliminary guide for using these elements, and selected foresight pieces.

              Gender Equality

              Multilateralism and international cooperation

              • Protection Requires Co-operation to Combat Covid-19 (Human Rights Watch)
                Cooperation between nations is needed to protect not only people’s health during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to tackle issues such as climate change and the use of technology.

              Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

              • Pandemic profiteers exposed (Oxfam)
                In Pandemic Profiteers Exposed, Oxfam found that 17 of the top 25 most profitable US corporations, including Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Facebook, Pfizer, and Visa, are expected to make almost $85 billion more in 2020 than in previous years. Oxfam is calling for a resurrection of the WWII-era excess profits tax to limit pandemic price-gouging, level the playing field between companies, and raise much needed funds for COVID relief and recovery, such as providing ongoing COVID-19 testing and vaccines for every person on the planet.
              • Divided we stand: the EU’s domestic- and foreign-policy agenda  (International Institute for Strategic Studies )
                Europe was already facing a host of complex geopolitical and economic challenges at the start of 2020, even before the COVID-19 crisis. In this week’s episode, Meia is joined by Sarah Raine and Fabrice Pothier for a wide-ranging and in-depth discussion on how the EU’s political agenda has been impacted by the pandemic and what issues remain at the forefront of its policy priorities.

              3. Policy

              • Almost 10 Million Children May Never Return to School Following COVID-19 Lockdown (Save the Children)
                Deep budget cuts to education and rising poverty caused by COVID-19 could force at least 9.7 million children out of school forever by the end of this year, with millions more falling behind in learning, especially girls. As the impacts of the recession triggered by COVID-19 hits families, many children may be forced out of school and into labor markets.

                Communications Manager

                International Civil Society Centre


                COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #13

                15th July 2020 by Robert Vysoudil

                This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

                Click here to view all available pages.

                Click here for our latest events news.

                On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know. Many thanks to our volunteer researcher Ineke Stemmet.

                The sections are:

                Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

                Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

                Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

                Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

                1. Staying up-to-Date

                • COVID-19 Civic Freedom Tracker (ICNL/ECNL)
                  This tracker monitors government responses to the pandemic that affect civic freedoms and human rights, focusing on emergency laws.
                • Cultural factors are behind disinformation pandemic: why this matters (The Conversation)
                  In Africa, people who report higher levels of exposure to disinformation also report lower levels of media trust. The most common reasons for people to share misinformation was to raise awareness out of a (misplaced) sense of civic duty, and make others aware of misinformation. Media users in sub-Saharan countries also said they shared misinformation “for fun”.
                • Effective Activism in a Time of Coronavirus: what are we learning six months in? (From Poverty to Power + Save the Children)
                  Activism is unlikely to be what speeds our exit from the crisis, but it is the single biggest determinant of whether that exit is equitable. This moment demands our best ever work and we won’t do it without plans to deal with the biggest strategic challenges in front of us – Save the Children’s Kirsty McNeil lists four to start with.
                • EU launches another tool on pandemic’s threat to human rights (Devex)
                  The EC is launching a new platform to monitor the consequences for democracy and human rights, prepared by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance — or International IDEA. It is intended as a one-stop shop to allow policymakers, journalists, civil society groups, and the public to track the impact of the pandemic.
                • How have Africa’s regions fared in tackling COVID-19? (Institute of Security Studies)
                  Regional responses to the pandemic are essential, and although regions acted quickly, results have been mixed.
                • Locally Rooted: The place of community organising in times of crisis (Community Organisers UK)
                  It is widely acknowledged that neighbours have played an essential role in supporting their local communities through the COVID-19 crisis. Often this support has bubbled up spontaneously from below. UK-focused blog and report.
                • The COVID Inequality Ratchet: how the pandemic has hit the lives of young, women, minority and poor workers the hardest (From Poverty to Power)
                  Oxfam blog on what we know about the unequal impact of COVID-19 on workers and pre-existing inequalities in labour markets, looking at data for high and lower/middle-income countries.
                • The Wicked Conversation (Good Governance Africa)
                  A blog series of current pan-African perspectives on the pandemic as a ‘wicked problem’, to explore ‘wicked solutions’ on: leadership, rule of law, work and jobs, public health measures, social support measures, and planning the future.

                2. Strategic

                    Biodiversity and Climate Change

                      Civic Space and Human Rights

                        Data and Digital

                          Futures

                          • ‘Imagining a Post-COVID World – Strategic Futures’ (Six scenarios as 30-second videos) (Auxano Strategies, Nordic Foresight and the Global Arena Research Institute)
                            Explore COVID-19 pandemic’s implications on the trans-Atlantic community, US-China relations, IPCC emission reduction targets, the gig economy and more. Six video-illustrated scenarios: (1) The Panic Normalised, (2) Taming Our Worst Impulses, (3) Too Little, Too Late, (4) No Return to Normal, (5) An Atomised World, (6) A Disaster Forgotten.
                          • After the Pandemic: Which Future?  (Great Transition Initiative)
                            How will today’s crisis alter the shape of tomorrow’s world? Which scenario—Conventional Worlds, Barbarization, Great Transition—has become more likely? How can we seize the moment to propel transformation?
                          • Are you reframing your future or is the future reframing you?: Megatrends 2020 and beyond (EY)
                            The COVID­-19 pandemic accelerated global megatrends, pushing the world onto a new S-curve of growth. This global reset created an opening for change that seemed unthinkable a few months ago, including the opportunity to shape the post-pandemic world for the better. EY Megatrends provide leaders with a framework for navigating this unprecedented change and charting future growth.
                          • COVID-19 crisis: possible scenarios for the next 18 months (Futuribles International)
                            Thanks to its knowledge of rigorous forward-thinking methodologies, Futuribles International Association has set out 11 scenarios to forecast the possible evolutions of the crisis over the next 18 months (the targeted horizon being the end of 2021).

                            Gender Equality

                            Multilateralism and international cooperation

                            • African solidarity to address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent (African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes )
                              The African Union (AU), together with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, launched a public-private initiative known as the AU COVID-19 Response Fund. The intention of this initiative is to mobilise at least US$150 million for immediate needs to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, and up to US$400 million to support a sustainable medical response to the COVID-19 pandemic that is currently spreading across the continent.
                            • The Multilateral Order Post-COVID: Expert Voices (The Institute of International and European Affairs)
                              The multilateral order since the Second World War was already showing strains before the world was afflicted with the pandemic. In this IIEA Expert Voices publication, ten foreign policy experts share short perspectives on the question of how COVID-19 pandemic will impact different aspects of the rules-based multilateral order.

                            Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

                            • Beyond Lockdown⁠—Sustainable COVID Control for Low-Income Countries (Centre for Global Development)
                              Countries need to be supported to deploy layered context-specific mitigation strategies after lockdown
                            • Can we avoid a lost decade of development? (Brookings Institution )
                              Children have not borne the brunt of the immediate health threats posed by the coronavirus pandemic. But as the pandemic mutates into a global economic crisis, millions of children could be left carrying disadvantages that will limit opportunities for the rest of their lives. This article asks whether we can avoid the 2020s from becoming a lost decade for development.
                            • Economy Must Not Get Stuck Between Lockdown and Recovery (Chatham House )
                              Despite recent outbreaks in several countries which had appeared to be close to excluding the virus, focusing on suppression and elimination is the best economic as well as a health strategy.
                            • How have Africa’s regions fared in tackling COVID-19? (Institute for Security Studies)
                              African countries are increasingly trying to coordinate COVID-19 responses with those of their neighbours. This is done largely through regional economic communities and is a potentially important response to the pandemic. Yet their efforts have had mixed results.
                            • OECD’s Economic Outlook 2020: Facing The Jobs Crisis (OECD)
                              COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on jobs has been 10 times bigger than that of the global financial crisis. Countries now need to do everything they can to stop this jobs crisis from turning into a social crisis. Reconstructing a better and more resilient labour market is an essential investment in the future and in future generations.

                            3. Policy

                            4. Operational

                            Communications Student Assistant

                            International Civil Society Centre


                            COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #12

                            1st July 2020 by Robert Vysoudil

                            This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

                            Click here to view all available pages.

                            Click here for our latest events news.

                            On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know.

                            The sections are:

                            Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

                            Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

                            Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

                            Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

                                1. Staying up-to-Date

                            • A Better World Ahead Means Shaping Emerging Narratives Now (SSIR)
                              The groups that set the narratives about what happened during the COVID-19 crisis, what to do now, and what’s next will have outsized influence on who we hold responsible, who gets help, and what we do moving forward.
                            • Adaptive Context Analysis during Covid-19 – Listening to Local Voices During a Pandemic (Global Policy – World Vision blog)
                              With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic two key tenets for humanitarian aid that often go together, context analysis and travel, are now in tension. World Vision’s Johan Eldebo shows how they’ve sought to overcome it by balancing the necessity for remote management with the ongoing need for the locally informed analysis.
                            • Challenging the “‘White Gaze’ of Development” during COVID-19 (Podcast) (Oxford Society for International Development)
                              Liberian academic, activist and author Robtel Neajai Pailey, uses race as a lens of analysis to interrogate assumptions that Western whiteness and modernity are the primary signifiers of progress and expertise. In exploring the pitfalls of adopting a “colour blind” outlook on development, it considers how scholars, policymakers and practitioners can challenge the ‘white gaze’ by imagining “a better world beyond flattened curves”.
                            • COVID-19: Human development on course to decline this year for the first time since 1990 (UNDP)
                              The United Nations Development Program predicts a decline in global human development – education, health, and living standards – for the first time in 30 years.
                            • Embracing Innovation in Government Global Trends 2020: Innovative COVID-19 Solutions (OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation)
                              OPSI has identified five key themes driving public sector innovation efforts during the crisis: 1. Rapid acceleration of digital innovation and transformation, 2. Seeking bottom-up solutions and insights, 3. Social solidarity and caring, 4. Reducing the spread through virus tracking and adaptive action, and 5. Forging a path to recovery.
                            • How are Civil Society Organizations adapting in the pandemic? (From Poverty to Power FP2P)
                              Diverse stories on the roles of civil society and civic agency during the pandemic. While many actions focus on the basic and immediate needs that an emergency response requires, many others hint at gradual shifts and emerging areas of the agency.
                            • How the Coronavirus Tests European Democracy (Carnegie Endowment Europe)
                              The Coronavirus pandemic is prompting contrasting trends in European democracy. While the crisis is aggravating many stresses that afflict democracy in Europe, it is also propelling democratic efforts in a number of areas. Several articles including: Coronavirus and European Civil Society, Technocracy and Populism After the Coronavirus, Digital Divides and the Coronavirus.
                            • Humanitarian Financing Is Failing the COVID-19 Frontlines  (Center for Global Development)
                              Longstanding weaknesses in the humanitarian business model are undermining the COVID-19 response in fragile and conflict-affected states. Extensive delays, poor mechanisms for tracking disbursement of funds from intermediaries to implementers, and persistent obstacles to financing local actors are preventing funds from reaching organizations on the frontlines of the COVID-19 fight.
                            • In many countries, the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating, not slowing (The Conversation)
                              Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating. While some countries such as Australia and New Zealand have managed to flatten the curve, in many other parts of the world the number of cases has continued to reach new highs.
                            • Latin America sees the largest decline in peacefulness as COVID-19 poses a further threat (Devex)
                              South America is the region of the world where peace deteriorated most last year, followed by Central America and the Caribbean, according to the “Global Peace Index 2020” report, with peacefulness expected to drop globally as a result of COVID-19.
                            • New UNESCO report shows COVID-19 leaving vulnerable children behind (Devex)
                              The “2020 Global Education Monitoring Report” from UNESCO shows progress is slowing on the global out-of-school rate for primary and secondary school-age children, and COVID-19 will only make it worse.
                            • Sector boundaries are blurring, says CARE secretary-general (Devex)
                              COVID-19 has “deeply transformed” the humanitarian and development sectors, potentially blurring the boundaries for good, according to the new secretary-general of CARE International.
                            • Sierra Leone faces coronavirus as rainy season hits – local disaster planning will be key (The Conversation)
                              Overlapping disasters of COVID-19 and flooding could be a serious threat for Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown.
                            • The Global Economic Outlook During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Changed World (World Bank)
                              The pandemic is expected to plunge most countries into recession in 2020, with per capita income contracting in the largest fraction of countries globally since 1870.
                            • The view from space: See how dramatically COVID-19 changed the world (Fast Company)
                              A new dashboard from three space agencies shows the startling impact of the coronavirus pandemic on everything from air quality to asparagus farming.
                            • What kind of research should inform COVID responses? (From Poverty to Power FP2P)
                              If we agree that evidence-informed policy and practice are good things, we need to think about what kind of research gets commissioned. We are fast reaching the end of the road for COVID expert opinion based on what was happening in last data rounds before COVID, and need to shift gears to investing in new data.
                            • When the West Falls Into Crisis (Webinar) (The New Humanitarian)
                              An important conversation on rethinking humanitarianism in the midst of #BlackLivesMatter and COVID-19. The globalisation of vulnerability – made clear by the Coronavirus pandemic and a global anti-racism movement – is putting into question traditional conceptions of humanitarian aid, too. Will this historic moment force a rethink of international solidarity? Is the international nature of aid inherently problematic? TNH Director Heba Aly posed these questions to panellists from across the aid sector.
                            • World Bank has ‘stretched’ its capacity in coronavirus response, Malpass says (Devex)
                              The World Bank has reached the limit of support it can provide to low- and middle-income countries recovering from the pandemic, even while acknowledging those nations require more resources than are currently available, the institution’s president says.

                                2. Strategic

                                Biodiversity and Climate Change

                                  Cities and Urbanisation

                                  Data and Digital

                                  • Artificial Intelligence and the Fight Against COVID-19 (Nesta)
                                    AI could play a powerful role in tackling the pandemic, from helping to discover new drugs and vaccines to testing and predicting the spread of infection. But new Nesta analysis of the quality of AI research has found some significant limitations in how it is currently being applied.

                                    Futures

                                    • A post-pandemic world is unlikely to focus on meeting need over human greed (The Conversation)
                                      Political and economic power-holders will strive for a return to pre-pandemic ‘normality’.
                                    • Exploring the impact of COVID-19 in Africa: A scenario analysis to 2030 (Institute of Security Studies)
                                      This new study assesses the likely impact of COVID-19 on Africa over the next decade. Comparing three scenarios on growth and mortality with the continent’s pre-pandemic development projections, it examines impacts on average incomes, poverty levels and SDG targets, and how to reduce vulnerability and strengthen resilience.
                                    • Martin Wolf – The World After the Pandemic (Podcast) (How To Academy)
                                      The world after 2020 will be very different from the world we left. But how? Will the pandemic lead to the greatest upheaval in the social contract since the second world war, the end of globalisation, the beginning of the Asian century? Will it lead to tax rises, inflation, further austerity? Hear from the world’s preeminent financial journalist.
                                    • Navigating the transition to sustainability amidst new forces, positive and negative (Forum for the Future)
                                      Caroline Ashley, Global Director of System Change Programmes at Forum for the Future, examines the emergent positive and negative forces actively shaping the post-COVID-19 reality and reasserts the need for a just transition.
                                    • Optimistic or pessimistic about Covid-19? No need to choose (From Poverty to Power FP2P)
                                      Jordi Vaquer, Director for Global Foresight and Analysis at the Open Society Foundations, argues this is a time when defenders of open society can neither afford to sit comfortably upon the vindication of their analysis by events, nor to simply spring into action following their mood, their gut and their time-tested handbook. It is the moment to be bold, imaginative and thorough in our thinking about the future.
                                    • Rethink: The edge of change (Podcast) (BBC World Service)
                                      How the coronavirus pandemic has created new opportunities to change our world.
                                    • The Long Shadow Of The Future (Noema)
                                      The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how valuable it is for governments to have operational expertise, plan for the long-term and socialise certain risks.

                                      Multilateralism and international cooperation

                                      • Humanitarian Financing Is Failing the COVID-19 Frontlines (Centre for Global Development)
                                        Longstanding weaknesses in the humanitarian business model are undermining the COVID-19 response in fragile and conflict affected states.Now should be an opportunity for international NGOs to rethink their role in humanitarian delivery entering into subcontracting relationship for operational delivery.

                                      Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

                                           3. Policy

                                      • And now some questions for China’s TikTok (EU Observer)
                                        The EU named China as responsible for targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns around COVID-19. Given the questions about the extent to which TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, propagates censorship, TikTok’s membership in the EU Code of Practice risks prematurely legitimising the platform as a responsible information space actor.
                                      • Can the AU protect citizens against COVID-19 abuses? (Institute for Security Studies)
                                        The African Peer Review Mechanism’s pandemic governance guidelines are useful, but do they go far enough?
                                      • COVID-19 & the Risks to Children in Urban Contexts (Policy Brief) (World Vision)
                                        Residents of urban slums, informal settlements and low-income neighbourhoods endure living conditions that make it challenging to protect against COVID-19. This policy brief looks at how World Vision is responding to anticipate and experience the impacts in urban areas and assess the needs of the most vulnerable. It provides recommendations for what governments, the UN and other NGOs can do to lessen their suffering.
                                      • Left out & Unaccounted for: How COVID-19 is exposing inequalities in cities (World Vision)
                                        At World Vision, we are responding to COVID-19 in over 253 cities across all regions in both stable and fragile contexts. COVID-19 is currently a trending global challenge, but for urban hotspots, it is one of many. Now more than ever, the international community must amplify its voice in calling for accelerated actions to alleviate poverty and inequality in urban areas, making cities “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” (SDG 11).
                                      • Survey: Advocacy in the Time of COVID-19 (Africa) (Advocacy Accelerator )
                                        The Advocacy Accelerator is keen to take the pulse of how change-makers within the advocacy ecosystem in Africa are being impacted by and responding to the current global pandemic COVID-19. The results of this survey will be shared with all who participate (organised by country) in order to inform your advocacy programme planning.

                                           4. Operational

                                      • The Safe People + Data Initiative (Dobility)
                                        This new initiative provides methodologies and resources for safer data collection, in response to COVID-19 and the growing need for safety-focused innovation. It offers tools and insights to support safer methods of in-person data collection and alternative methods of reducing in-person interactions and collecting data remotely.
                                      • Dynamic Accountability and COVID-19 (Global Standard for CSO Accountability)
                                        Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many countries have imposed restrictive measures to ensure that the spread of the disease can be contained. In this new reality, Dynamic Accountability is taking a different shape. This post suggests some key takeaways and tips for organisations who wish to practice dynamic accountability during this difficult time.
                                      • What does Accountability Look Like During Times of Disruption? (Restless Development)
                                        The disruption caused by COVID19 is a chance to forge new ways of working, that put accountability practices and decentralised organisation at their heart, says Katie Fuhs.

                                      Communications Student Assistant

                                      International Civil Society Centre


                                      COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #11

                                      17th June 2020 by Robert Vysoudil

                                      This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

                                      Click here to view all available pages.

                                      Click here for our latest events news.

                                      On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know. Many thanks to our volunteer researcher Ineke Stemmet.

                                      The sections are:

                                      Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

                                      Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

                                      Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

                                      Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

                                          1. Staying up-to-Date

                                          2. Strategic

                                          Biodiversity and Climate Change

                                            Civic Space and Human Rights

                                            • Aggravating circumstances: How coronavirus impacts human trafficking (Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime)
                                              Poverty, lack of social or economic opportunity and limited labour protections are the main root causes and drivers that render people vulnerable or cause them to fall victim to human trafficking. This unprecedented crisis will likely exacerbate all of those factors and result in developments that must be noted by anti-human-trafficking communities and stakeholders.
                                            • Coronavirus and the right to online political participation (Open Global Rights)
                                              Making access to the internet a human right can address inequalities in access to public discourse, especially where free speech is limited.
                                            • COVID-19 and the politics of the year of the nurse (The South African Institute of International Affairs)
                                              The challenges critical medical personnel are currently facing all lead back to a central question of care. There are three main challenges these critical workers face: insufficient supply of necessary protective equipment on a global scale; growing hostility towards them; and difficulties with access to childcare.
                                            • Southern Africa: Persons with albinism especially vulnerable in the face of COVID-19 (Amnesty International )
                                              This article argues that South African governments must ensure the protection and well-being of persons with albinism, who are increasingly vulnerable amid the COVID-19 crisis as lockdowns across the region hinder access to healthcare facilities and skin cancer clinics as well as vital sunscreen.
                                            • Will COVID-19 increase religious hostilities and discrimination? (Open Global Rights )
                                              COVID-19 and its impacts may hit some religious minorities disproportionately hard, exacerbating economic inequalities, social hostilities and discrimination.

                                            Data and Digital

                                            Economic

                                            • OECD Economic Outlook: The world economy on a tightrope (OECD)
                                              COVID-19 has triggered the most severe economic recession in nearly a century and is causing enormous damage to people’s health, jobs and well-being. The Outlook focuses on two equally probable scenarios – one in which a second wave of infections, with renewed lock-downs, hits before the end of 2020, and one in which another major outbreak is avoided.

                                            Education

                                            • Future shock: 25 Education trends post COVID-19 (Foresight for Development)
                                              School closures carry high social and economic costs for people across communities, with a particularly severe for the most vulnerable and marginalised families. The resulting disruptions exacerbate already existing disparities within the education system but also in other aspects of their lives. This blog summarises 25 related trends from UNESCO analysis.

                                            Food security

                                            • COVID-19 recovery is a chance to improve the African food system (The Conversation)
                                              What we see happening as a result of actions to contain COVID-19 is like a global natural disaster. It’s also an opportunity for a different kind of recovery. Going back to “business as usual” investments in agriculture and food systems could reproduce those systems’ inequities. Instead, recovery efforts should be geared towards creating a better future.

                                            Futures

                                                  Gender Equality

                                                  • COVID-19: “Who is Skilled and Who is Unskilled in this Pandemic Moment?” (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom)
                                                    In this article, Cynthia Enloe realises that there are so many times in life when one finds one lacks the relevant skills to make sense of, and to grapple effectively with a pressing condition. That repeated realisation has made her think about skills – and what “counts” as a skill, and who gets to do the “counting.”
                                                  • COVID-19: Making our Recovery Green and Feminist (Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom)
                                                    This article explores the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment and advises that the recovery from the pandemic should be feminist and green in nature.
                                                  • Rape cases spike in South Sudan as girls and women left vulnerable during COVID-19 (Plan International)
                                                    A spate of rape cases in South Sudan has exposed the extreme risks girls and women have been left to face in COVID-19 pandemic, warns Plan International.

                                                  Humanitarian

                                                  • This global pandemic could transform humanitarianism forever. Here’s how (The New Humanitarian)
                                                    As the crisis born of this global pandemic has evolved, some of the promises of deep transformation in a humanitarian aid sector that has long resisted reform have proven overly optimistic – at least so far. Here are 13 ways the pandemic may change the future of humanitarianism – and the forces of resistance that may get in the way.

                                                  Multilateralism and international cooperation

                                                  • COVID-19 responses expose gaps in global governance (The South African Institute of International Affairs)
                                                    This report analyses the effectiveness of the WHO and explores the ways in which the pandemic has exposed not only how far the world is from effective and unified global governance, but also a crisis of confidence in the institutions expected to guide international action and cooperation.
                                                  • Tackling COVID-19 as a Grand Challenge (Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society)
                                                    How does the COVID-19 crisis relate to other grand challenges and how should we deal with, such as climate change?

                                                  Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

                                                  • Epidemics and Social Observation: Why Africa Needs a Different Approach to COVID-19 (African Arguments)
                                                    In the absence of a vaccine, the main tool for control of COVID-19 is human behavioural change. Social scientists are not fully agreed on what determines behavioural change, but there is a broad consensus that individual agency is influenced by social factors. It matters what your family, friends and neighbours think.
                                                  • Will Patents stop COVID drugs from saving lives? (From Poverty to Power)
                                                    The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a global race of public- and private-led research to develop vaccines and treatments. Will patents hinder access to the products it generates? Comparison with HIV/AIDS indicated access problems may mainly affect middle-income countries facing higher prices. Low-income countries will likely receive drugs at discounted prices, and with governments and philanthropic donors covering the costs.
                                                  • Youth or consequences: Put youth at the center of COVID-19 recovery (Brookings Institution)
                                                    This article argues that to head off the worst repercussions of this youth unemployment challenge in the wake of the coronavirus, we must act now, focusing on three critical issues, education, engagement and employment.

                                                  Politics & Governance

                                                  • 6 experts on how capitalism will emerge after COVID-19 (Fast Company)
                                                    We have an unprecedented opportunity to rein in capitalism’s excesses and reshape our democracy. Here’s how business leaders and experts from MIT, Harvard, and more would tackle the biggest problems. What’s been lost—and what could be gained—in the new world order?

                                                       3. Policy

                                                  • Ensuring women’s representation in COVID-19 policymaking (Online event) (Devex)
                                                    This 1-hour virtual event discussed why there’s an urgent need to integrate women in COVID-19 policymaking and highlight some of the work that has already been done to advance their voices in not only the response to this pandemic, but also long-term recovery efforts.
                                                  • It’s Not Just About Health: Four Lessons From Ebola for the COVID-19 Response in Conflict-Affected Countries (Peacelab.blog / Search for Common Ground)
                                                    Lessons from Search for Common Ground’s response to the Ebola and COVID-19 epidemics: Support civil society in violence prevention and trust-building measures, provide adequate training for security actors, and ensure the meaningful inclusion of local communities.
                                                  • Mining industry profits from pandemic (The Ecologist)
                                                    More than 300 organisations from around the world have released an open-statement condemning the ways that the mining industry and numerous governments are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to manufacture new mining opportunities and enhance their damaged reputations.
                                                  • NGOs call for continued support for transparency and accountability
                                                    This letter calls on providers of development assistance to continue to support transparency, accountability and open government during COVID-19 and the global economic crisis. The aim is to have it published in the media and to distribute widely through our online tools and networks once published. NGOs working on transparency, accountability and open government can sign here.
                                                  • Strongest Together: An NGO Consortia View on Structural Issues in the Humanitarian Response to COVID-19 (White paper)
                                                    COVID-19 has aggravated previously deteriorating humanitarian conditions and increasingly complex operational environments for frontline responders, prompting new operational challenges to emerge. InterAction has partnered with nongovernmental organization (NGO) consortia in 13 countries globally to draft this Working Paper delineating these challenges.
                                                  • With attacks against health workers on the rise, advocates call for action (Devex )
                                                    Attacks against health workers have increased under the strain of COVID-19, according to a cohort of medical and humanitarian organizations. In a joint declaration, they call for governments to do more than talk about it.

                                                       4. Operational

                                                  Communications Student Assistant

                                                  International Civil Society Centre


                                                  COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #10

                                                  4th June 2020 by Thomas Howie and

                                                  This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

                                                  Click here to view all available pages.

                                                  Click here for our latest events news.

                                                  On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know. Many thanks to our volunteer researcher Ineke Stemmet.

                                                  The sections are:

                                                  Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

                                                  Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

                                                  Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

                                                  Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

                                                      1. Staying up-to-Date

                                                      2. Strategic

                                                      Cities and Urbanisation

                                                      • COVID-19 and Shared Mobility: A New Normal (Urban Mobility Daily)
                                                        The article lists external effects of COVID-19 on urban mobility as well as specific examples of urban design as opportunities to address the near term public health challenges and ensure a more environmentally sustainable future.
                                                      • The Ecological Roots of Pandemics (Council n Foreign Relations)
                                                        Even as politicians promote conspiracy theories on COVID-19’s emergence, its most likely origins lie in their longstanding negligence of environmental health especially with regards to rapid urbanisation.

                                                      Civic Space and Human Rights

                                                      • How do we protect children caught up in war and a pandemic? (World Vision)
                                                        The COVID-19 pandemic affects everyone, it does not discriminate. It does, however, point out the impact of the failure of protecting civilians during the war. This article explains the vulnerability of children in these situations and what can be done to mitigate this.
                                                      • How have people with disabilities been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? (The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes)
                                                        Restrictions on human interactions have become mandatory in certain countries with imposed social distancing requirements. Many public services have become highly limited, if not completely halted; leaving persons with disabilities abandoned in terms of getting access to essential healthcare and social services.
                                                      • The Anxiety of the Twenty Twenties: The Quest For Relevance of Civil Society Organisations in a Digital World (International Civil Society Centre)
                                                        Global Angst plays into the hands of “Strong State” advocates. Even with limited room for manoeuvre, CSOs have to fight a disempowering gig economy and digital spaces where the individual is reduced to a consumer and/or worker with no attributes of a cyber citizen.

                                                      Data and Digital

                                                        Food security

                                                        • COVID-19 and food protectionism (Vox)
                                                          Although initial conditions in global food markets in the face of COVID-19 pandemic are good, disruptions across countries most affected could reduce global supplies of key staples. Escalating export restrictions would multiply the initial shock by a factor of three, with world food prices rising by up to 18% on average. Import food dependent countries would be most affected. Uncooperative trade policies could risk turning a health crisis into a food crisis.
                                                        • South Asia at highest risk of civil unrest as food insecurity bites (Verisk Maplecroft)
                                                          Asia experienced one of the world’s first COVID-induced food protests when residents of Manila took to the streets on 1 April. Food insecurity has since played a role in protests across the region, including in India and Bangladesh. We expect that these initial protests are a sign of much bigger problems to come.

                                                        Futures

                                                        • COVID-19 and systems change: some reflections from the field (School of System Change)
                                                          Four systemic practices are showing up in how systems change practitioners are deploying analysis and proposals around COVID-19: 1. working across multiple timescales, 2. engaging multiple perspectives, 3. experimenting, struggling, failing and learning, and 4. tuning into power.
                                                        • The Post-Corona Revolution (Robert Bosch Foundation)
                                                          In his essay, Daniel Hamilton analyses the impact of the pandemic taking into account the new stages of the ongoing global-scale revolutions, namely “the three fundamental kernels of our existence: the atom, the bit, and the gene”.
                                                        • World Order after COVID-19 (Center for Strategic & International Studies)
                                                          CSIS Risk and Foresight Group Director Sam Brannen asked four of his International Security Program colleagues to take the long view on how COVID-19 could affect geopolitics out to 2025-2030 and beyond.

                                                              Governance

                                                              • Systemic Governing – Applied systems thinking in practice (OECD Guest blog)
                                                                Seeing governance in systemic terms makes what might otherwise seem impossibly complicated understandable, able to be acted upon, and open to change. This blog looks at how systemic governing is needed to produce and enact a new model of governance.

                                                              Multilateralism and international cooperation

                                                              • Europe’s battle lines are drawn at a uniquely perilous moment (Brookings Institution )
                                                                This article explains the battle lines that have been drawn in Europe due to the COVID-19 response of different nation-states and argues that solidarity, instead of individualism, is the best way to handle the current crisis.

                                                              Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

                                                              Populism and Authoritarianism

                                                              • The pandemic creates ideal conditions for the rise of populism (The South African Institute of International Affairs)
                                                                In moments of crises, populists make majorities feel like minorities under siege. COVID-19 has afforded populists a biological crisis with which to work and cement themselves onto the political landscape. This has left many asking: Will the coronavirus be populism’s next victim?

                                                                    3. Policy

                                                                • Advocating for Age in an Age of Uncertainty (Stabford Social Innovation Review)
                                                                  How the COVID-19 crisis is amplifying ageism, and how advocates can push back: 1. appeal to the value of justice, 2. define ageism and show people how to address it, and 3. create a sense of solidarity.
                                                                • Donors are ignoring hygiene in the fight against COVID-19 (WaterAid)
                                                                  Despite being critical in the fight against COVID-19, efforts to improve hygiene are mostly absent in donor commitments to tackle the coronavirus, according to WaterAid. Instead, the focus is on vaccines.

                                                                 

                                                                Thomas Howie

                                                                Communications Manager

                                                                International Civil Society Centre

                                                                Thomas joined the Centre in June 2017 as the Communications Coordinator. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Centre’s global communication strategy, as well as the Disrupt & Innovate platform – a place for civil society professionals and activists to discuss current innovations and future trends in the civil society sector. Prior to the Centre, Thomas worked for 5 years in the European Parliament firstly as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, and then, after the 2014 European elections, for Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen as Head of Communications, where he worked on issues such as the EU-US trade deal, issues around Brexit and as a specialist on the Petitions Committee. Thomas graduated from Bristol University with BSci in Geographical Sciences and holds an MA in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, where he completed research into the role of civil society in the post war peace settlement in northern Uganda.


                                                                COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #9

                                                                28th May 2020 by Thomas Howie

                                                                This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

                                                                Click here to view all available pages.

                                                                Click here for our latest events news.

                                                                On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know. Many thanks to our volunteer researcher Ineke Stemmet.

                                                                The sections are:

                                                                Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

                                                                Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

                                                                Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

                                                                Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

                                                                    1. Staying up-to-Date

                                                                    2. Strategic

                                                                  Biodiversity and Climate Change

                                                                    Cities and Urbanisation

                                                                    • Building Better Cities After COVID-19 (Podcast) (Exponential View)
                                                                      How do we build better cities after the coronavirus crisis? The World Bank’s Sameh Wahba joins Azeem Azhar to discuss how the World Bank partners with technologists to help cities on the frontline of the pandemic, and how the dynamism of urban density can be harnessed to build the livable and inclusive cities of the future.
                                                                    • Coronavirus will reshape our cities – we just don’t know how yet (The Guardian)
                                                                      The development of cities has been by affected by the disease for centuries, so what legacy will COVID-19 leave on urban life?

                                                                    Civic Space and Human Rights

                                                                    • Coronavirus response in West Africa and the Sahel: Human rights must not be forgotten (The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes)
                                                                      This article analyses the positive response of West African countries, countries in the Sahel, and the global community to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes responsible multilateralism and prioritising inclusion and equality.
                                                                    • Fit for the future: Can we emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis? (Alliance Magazine)
                                                                      Civil society was not ready for COVID-19. Benjamin Bellegy (WINGS), Chris Worman (TechSoup) and Lysa John (CIVICUS) discuss the investments needed in civil society and its philanthropic and technical infrastructure, and the actions we must take to emerge wiser and stronger from the current crisis and to be prepared for crises to come.

                                                                    Conflict and Humanitarian

                                                                    • How the coronavirus increases terrorism threats in the developing world (The Conversation)
                                                                      As the disease wreaks its havoc in areas poorly equipped to handle its spread, terrorism likely will increase there as well. Recent research identifies a potential link between the pandemic and an uptick in violence, as food insecurity makes citizens angry at their governments.

                                                                    Data and Digital

                                                                      Futures

                                                                      Gender Equality

                                                                          Governance

                                                                          Multilateralism and international cooperation

                                                                          • African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) Report comment: towards a new post-COVID-19 world order? (Institute for Security Studies)
                                                                            International relations experts agree the pandemic will be a major catalyst for new dynamics in the international system. The resulting shifts have the potential to redefine inter-state relations and global governance in ways that require Africa and the global South, in general, to reposition themselves. We are likely to see increased competition between the US and China, rising nationalism and weak global leadership.

                                                                          Narratives

                                                                          Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

                                                                          Populism and Authoritarianism

                                                                          • Culling the Herd: A Modest Proposal (London Review of Books)
                                                                            A provocative commentary by Eli Zaretsky stating that the poor masses were wilfully deprived of health care in the same way it was made to believe that it had no right entitled to jobs, housing and good schools.

                                                                                3. Policy

                                                                               4. Operational

                                                                            Thomas Howie

                                                                            Communications Manager

                                                                            International Civil Society Centre

                                                                            Thomas joined the Centre in June 2017 as the Communications Coordinator. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Centre’s global communication strategy, as well as the Disrupt & Innovate platform – a place for civil society professionals and activists to discuss current innovations and future trends in the civil society sector. Prior to the Centre, Thomas worked for 5 years in the European Parliament firstly as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, and then, after the 2014 European elections, for Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen as Head of Communications, where he worked on issues such as the EU-US trade deal, issues around Brexit and as a specialist on the Petitions Committee. Thomas graduated from Bristol University with BSci in Geographical Sciences and holds an MA in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, where he completed research into the role of civil society in the post war peace settlement in northern Uganda.


                                                                            COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #8

                                                                            20th May 2020 by Thomas Howie

                                                                            This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

                                                                            Click here to view all available pages.

                                                                            Click here for our latest events news.

                                                                            On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know. Many thanks to our volunteer researcher Ineke Stemmet.

                                                                            The sections are:

                                                                            Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

                                                                            Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

                                                                            Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

                                                                            Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

                                                                                1. Staying up-to-Date

                                                                                2. Strategic

                                                                              Biodiversity and Climate Change

                                                                              • The hidden toll of lockdown on rainforests (BBC Future)
                                                                                With fewer planes in the sky and cars on the road, the lockdown has brought many benefits to the environment. So why is it harming tropical rainforests?

                                                                                Civic Space and Human Rights

                                                                                • How Africa can reduce COVID-19’s impact on displaced persons (Institute for Security Studies)
                                                                                  Africa’s 25.2 million refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons are some of the most vulnerable groups to COVID-19. This article explores the ways in which African states can protect these vulnerable groups.
                                                                                • Imagining our Post-Pandemic Futures (Open Global Rights)
                                                                                  COVID-19 is challenging the human rights movement to adapt, transform, and look ahead—so as to meet urgent demands now while laying the groundwork for a better future. This Up Close series explores the glimpses this pandemic has provided of what a better future could look like and asks just what kind of human rights practice is needed now to get us there.

                                                                                Data and Digital

                                                                                Food security

                                                                                Futures

                                                                                • Four Pathways to Better Decisions (Global Dashboard)
                                                                                  How do you make good decisions when you’re playing (COVID-19) whack-a-mole? Here are four recommendations to improve decision-making: (i) form an independent red-team, (ii) empower a ‘mole-spotting’ unit, (iii) embrace foresight to manage risks and (iv) build in real feedback loops. This is how experimentation feeds learning and defers to frontline expertise.
                                                                                • Why coronavirus may make the world more accessible (BBC Future)
                                                                                  For many people with disabilities, options like remote working have been needed for years. Workplaces around the world have now made this shift. Are there other ways the world could become more accessible, too?

                                                                                Gender Equality

                                                                                    Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

                                                                                          3. Policy

                                                                                      • A Call to Action on Open Budgets during the COVID-19 Response (From Poverty to Power)
                                                                                        Countries now have a choice about where their response to this crisis will lead — either to less transparency and trust or to more openness and accountability. More than 100 organisations have signed the Call to Action urging governments to choose the more open path.
                                                                                      • A Perfect Storm: Domestic violence, economic hardship and COVID-19 in Latin America (Care International)
                                                                                        We are faced with a historic responsibility to help shape whether COVID-19 is remembered as a moment in which global solidarity is forged and political will is mobilised in support of a more equal, inclusive, sustainable and just world order where women and girls are central to the response – or whether gender equality (in Latin America) is set back by decades.
                                                                                      • Corruption risks in Southern Africa’s response to the coronavirus (Transparency International)
                                                                                        Six Southern African chapters from Transparency International and the Botswana Center for Public Integrity are urging the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to accelerate governments’ response to the global pandemic and ensure that additional lives are not lost to corruption.
                                                                                      • COVID-19 and mixed population movements: emerging dynamics, risks and opportunities (UNHCR / IOM)
                                                                                        In this discussion paper, the UN agencies UNHCR (refugees) and IOM (migrants) take stock of what they are already observing and anticipate developing as the COVID-19 crisis evolves in countries of origin, countries hosting large refugee and migrant populations, countries of transit as well as countries of destination.
                                                                                      • Rethinking anti-corruption for COVID-19 (From Poverty to Power)
                                                                                        In many countries, corruption and governance constraints will limit the rapid scaling up of responses to COVID-19. This will not only undermine treatment responses but result in cycles of unsustainable lockdowns and massive economic deprivation.
                                                                                      • The COVID Crisis Is Reinforcing the Hunger Industrial Complex (MIT Press Reader)
                                                                                        In the United States, miles-long lines of motorists waiting for a few sacks of groceries have become seared into the public imagination demonstrating that charity has become the governing metaphor of the pandemic response, replacing justice, which itself has been placed on a ventilator.
                                                                                      • World leaders unite in call for a people’s vaccine against COVID-19 (Oxfam)
                                                                                        More than 140 world leaders and experts have signed an open letter calling on all governments to unite behind a people’s vaccine against COVID-19. The letter, which marks the most ambitious position yet set out by world leaders on a COVID-19 vaccine, demands that all vaccines, treatments and tests be patent-free, mass-produced, distributed fairly and made available to all people, in all countries, free of charge.

                                                                                        

                                                                                      Thomas Howie

                                                                                      Communications Manager

                                                                                      International Civil Society Centre

                                                                                      Thomas joined the Centre in June 2017 as the Communications Coordinator. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Centre’s global communication strategy, as well as the Disrupt & Innovate platform – a place for civil society professionals and activists to discuss current innovations and future trends in the civil society sector. Prior to the Centre, Thomas worked for 5 years in the European Parliament firstly as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, and then, after the 2014 European elections, for Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen as Head of Communications, where he worked on issues such as the EU-US trade deal, issues around Brexit and as a specialist on the Petitions Committee. Thomas graduated from Bristol University with BSci in Geographical Sciences and holds an MA in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, where he completed research into the role of civil society in the post war peace settlement in northern Uganda.


                                                                                      COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #7

                                                                                      14th May 2020 by Thomas Howie

                                                                                      This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

                                                                                      Click here to view all available pages.

                                                                                      Click here for our latest events news.

                                                                                      On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know. Many thanks to our volunteer researcher Ineke Stemmet.

                                                                                      The sections are:

                                                                                      Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

                                                                                      Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

                                                                                      Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

                                                                                      Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

                                                                                          1. Staying up-to-Date

                                                                                          2. Strategic

                                                                                        Biodiversity and Climate Change

                                                                                        • Record global carbon dioxide concentrations despite COVID-19 crisis (UNEP – UN Environment Programme)
                                                                                          Despite local air quality improvements during the COVID-19 crisis, atmospheric CO2 concentration levels continue to rise, and fundamental shifts in global energy production are needed to achieve long-term reductions in CO2 concentration levels.

                                                                                          Data and Digital

                                                                                          • A guide to a healthy scepticism of artificial intelligence and coronavirus (The Brookings Institution)
                                                                                            This article looks into the limits of the effective use of artificial intelligence to help with the COVID-19 pandemic.
                                                                                          • COVID Tracing Tracker (MIT Technology Review)
                                                                                            Worldwide, there’s a deluge of apps that detect COVID-19 exposure, often with little transparency. The MIT Tracing Tracker project will document them.
                                                                                          • Et Big Brother prit le pouvoir! (L’Illustré, Switzerland)
                                                                                            Geolocation, generalised surveillance, ubiquitous social control via our smartphones: Is the coronavirus sounding the death knell for individual freedoms and giving rise to a totalitarian world, in Europe and Switzerland as everywhere else in the world?
                                                                                          • Opinion: We cannot allow COVID-19 to reinforce the digital gender divide (Devex)
                                                                                            Girls, women, and marginalised groups are least likely to have access to technology. This was already a dire disadvantage, and now, as the COVID-19 pandemic has moved so many aspects of daily life online, this lack of connectivity has become even more alarming.

                                                                                          Civic Space and Human Rights

                                                                                          • We Can Beat the Virus Only By Protecting Human Rights (Human Rights Watch )
                                                                                            Some governments are arguing that the COVID-19 pandemic leaves no space for human rights. This article argues the opposite – that respect for human rights during the pandemic will help save lives that would otherwise be lost to the virus.

                                                                                          Food security

                                                                                          • The link between food (in)security, peace and stability and COVID-19 (The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes)
                                                                                            COVID-19 may have started as a public health emergency, but at this stage, the measures taken to contain the crisis have developed into an economic crisis, that has more of an impact on people’s livelihoods than the virus itself.

                                                                                          Futures

                                                                                          Gender Equality

                                                                                            Multilateralism and international cooperation

                                                                                            Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

                                                                                                  3. Policy

                                                                                              • Closing the COVID-19 response transparency gap (ARTICLE 19)
                                                                                                Blog on ARTICLE 19’s new report on ‘Ensuring the Public’s Right to Know in the COVID-19 Pandemic’ (listed here).
                                                                                              • Ensuring the Public’s Right to Know in the COVID-19 Pandemic (ARTICLE 19)
                                                                                                ARTICLE 19’s new report warns the COVID-19 pandemic could have a negative impact on global freedom of information. 90% of the world’s population now lives in a country with a Right to Information law or policy, but this analysis highlights several threats to governments’ obligations on access to information and public health under human rights law.
                                                                                              • Joining Forces’ open letter and recommendations to world leaders on the COVID-19 crisis and child rights (WHO)
                                                                                                The Joining Forces group of child rights organisations asks governments to put concrete steps in place to protect children during the COVID-19 crisis, to ensure access to nutritious food, appropriate supervision, healthcare, protection from violence, alternative education at home and reliable information on the crisis to help them cope with its psychological impact.
                                                                                              • Strengthening Preparedness for COVID-19 in Cities and Urban Settings (WHO)
                                                                                                This document is to support local authorities, leaders and policy-makers in cities and other urban settlements in identifying effective approaches and implementing recommended actions for COVID-19 in urban settings, to ensure a robust response and eventual recovery. It covers factors unique to cities and urban settings, considerations in urban preparedness, key areas of focus and preparing for future emergencies.

                                                                                                  4. Operational

                                                                                              • 8 critical lessons leaders need to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis (and one that will surprise you) (Fast Company)
                                                                                                We know that empathy and networking, for example, are important, but it’s how you approach these concepts now that will carry you out of crisis mode.
                                                                                              • Doing fieldwork in a pandemic (crowd-sourced document) (Deborah Lupton/Crowd-sourced)
                                                                                                Isolation measures to contain COVID-19 means that social researchers need fieldwork ideas for avoiding in-person interactions by using mediated forms that will achieve similar ends. This crowdsourced document shares ideas for moving face-to-face methods into a more ‘hands-off’ mode, and useful material about ‘born digital’ social research.
                                                                                              • From lockdown to locked in, here’s what post-pandemic travel could look like (World Economic Forum)
                                                                                                Gone are the days of short international travel, or long trips visiting multiple countries as it is likely that all countries striving to suppress COVID-19 infections will impose some kind of restrictions on international arrivals. Travellers should expect quarantine, self-isolation, and testing rules to persist.
                                                                                              • Jump-starting resilient and reimagined operations (McKinsey)
                                                                                                COVID-19 has created an imperative for companies to reconfigure their operations, and an opportunity to transform them. The virus has shown that, when they align around a common purpose, operations teams can achieve goals that would have been considered impossible before the crisis. As they plan their transition to the next normal, companies are looking for ways to maintain this sense of purpose and speed.
                                                                                              • Guidelines for field-based staff (Islamic Relief Worldwide)
                                                                                                This guidance seeks to assist our staff in operating safely during the coronavirus pandemic.
                                                                                              • Guidelines for fundraisers and volunteers (Islamic Relief Worldwide)
                                                                                                This guidance seeks to assist IR’s fundraising staff and volunteers in operating safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
                                                                                              • Position statement for Advocacy (SOS Children’s Villages)
                                                                                                This position statement from SOS Children’s Villages presents the key tasks necessary to ensure that the rights and needs of children without or at risk of losing parental care are prioritised by national, regional and international governments as they adopt measures to mitigate the short and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world.
                                                                                              • Protection of Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Children and Alternative Care – Immediate Response Measures (Better Care Network, the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and UNICEF)
                                                                                                This technical note aims to support child protection practitioners and government officials in their immediate support for children at risk of separation or in alternative care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
                                                                                              • Responding to COVID-19: Guidance for humanitarian agencies (ALNAP)
                                                                                                How should humanitarian organisations prepare and respond to COVID-19 in humanitarian settings in low- and middle-income countries? This Rapid Learning Review outlines 14 actions, insights and ideas for humanitarian actors to consider in their COVID-19 responses. It summarises and synthesises the best available knowledge and guidance for developing a health response to COVID-19 in low- and middle-income settings as at April 2020.

                                                                                              Thomas Howie

                                                                                              Communications Manager

                                                                                              International Civil Society Centre

                                                                                              Thomas joined the Centre in June 2017 as the Communications Coordinator. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Centre’s global communication strategy, as well as the Disrupt & Innovate platform – a place for civil society professionals and activists to discuss current innovations and future trends in the civil society sector. Prior to the Centre, Thomas worked for 5 years in the European Parliament firstly as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, and then, after the 2014 European elections, for Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen as Head of Communications, where he worked on issues such as the EU-US trade deal, issues around Brexit and as a specialist on the Petitions Committee. Thomas graduated from Bristol University with BSci in Geographical Sciences and holds an MA in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, where he completed research into the role of civil society in the post war peace settlement in northern Uganda.


                                                                                              COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #6

                                                                                              7th May 2020 by Thomas Howie

                                                                                              This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

                                                                                              Click here to view all available pages.

                                                                                              Click here for our latest events news.

                                                                                              On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know. Many thanks to our volunteer researcher Ineke Stemmet.

                                                                                              The sections are:

                                                                                              Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

                                                                                              Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

                                                                                              Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

                                                                                              Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

                                                                                                  1. Staying up-to-Date

                                                                                                  2. Strategic

                                                                                                Biodiversity and Climate Change

                                                                                                • Podcast: Sorry, Nature Isn’t Returning (Foreign Policy )
                                                                                                  This podcast explores the way in which nature has been given a break during the pandemic, but concludes that this is only a short term consequence and will not have lasting positive effects on nature.

                                                                                                  Data and Digital

                                                                                                  Food security

                                                                                                  • Building the future of food during the crisis (Forum for the Future)
                                                                                                    COVID-19 has exposed the strengths, fragilities and weaknesses in our food system, which was primarily focused on maximising output, driving profit, convenience and choice. How are those operating in the food system starting to respond to this immense challenge? Three different ways of thinking about this future are emerging: managerial, entrepreneurial and visionary.
                                                                                                  • Locusts, floods and COVID-19: a potentially deadly combination for malnourished children across the Horn of Africa (Reliefweb)
                                                                                                    The return of swarms of desert locusts – with more expected to hatch in May – coupled with the impact of COVID-19 and a return of flood season will devastate the chances of survival for malnourished children in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

                                                                                                  Futures

                                                                                                  Gender Equality

                                                                                                  Global China

                                                                                                    Multilateralism and international cooperation

                                                                                                    • COVID-19: Multilateralism Matters (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom)
                                                                                                      This article looks at the challenges that multilateralism faces in the time of COVID-19, but also at the opportunities and efforts already being made to strengthen multilateralism.
                                                                                                    • Expertise, Coronavirus, and the New Normal (Council on Foreign Relations)
                                                                                                      North-South divide in the time of coronavirus may be a preview of what will emerge on another side of the pandemic. This article argues for a more decolonised approach to global health during COVID-19.
                                                                                                    • The Hurdles to Developing a COVID-19 Vaccine: Why International Cooperation Is Needed (Chatham House)
                                                                                                      The article explores the challenges of creating a COVID-19 vaccine and how global cooperation and leadership is necessary to save the most vulnerable in the world.

                                                                                                    Narratives

                                                                                                    • COVID19 Message Testing Analysis (Development Engagement Lab, University College London)
                                                                                                      The Development Engagement Lab (Aid Attitudes Tracker phase II) has been thinking about development communications in COVID-19 times, testing messages with the UK public on a range of questions to understand support for international cooperation, using UK aid to invest in developing countries’ health systems, and how poverty interacts with the disease. The results shed some light on how we might best communicate our work in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
                                                                                                    • No crystal ball needed – evaluating the COVID-19 response (Humanitarian Exchange and Research Centre)
                                                                                                      Judgement without parole: The humanitarian sector has demonstrated it is incapable of reforming itself. Ed Schenkenberg analyses: The issue, not new but underlined again by the COVID-19 response, that stands in the way of real progress, is the role of the individual agency in relation to the collective response.
                                                                                                    • What narrative and behavioural sciences tell us about how to campaign during coronavirus (MobLab)
                                                                                                      What we can learn from Mindworks’ behavioural science approach to understanding action around coronavirus response.

                                                                                                    Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

                                                                                                    • COVID-19 could stall Africa’s integration agenda (Institute for Security Studies)
                                                                                                      Freedom of movement within Africa is one of the African Union’s main goals. This goal is hindered by the outbreak of COVID-19 which could have lasting negative effects on whether this goal will be attainable even after the pandemic.
                                                                                                    • No crystal ball needed – evaluating the COVID-19 response (HERE-Geneva)
                                                                                                      Sooner or later, governments, UN organisations, NGOs, and others will undertake after-action reviews and evaluations of their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many of the the lessons of COVID-19 evaluations can be understood right now.
                                                                                                    • Podcast: COVID-19 in fragile states: fighting conflict in the midst of a pandemic (International Institute for Strategic Studies)
                                                                                                      This podcast explains Africa’s vulnerability and challenges for peacekeeping due to ongoing conflicts and fragile states.
                                                                                                    • How to Make Sense of Uncertainty in a Coronavirus World (Singularity Hub)
                                                                                                      Countries are pursuing five major public health strategies to control virus transmission: antibody tests, distancing, prevention, treatment and viral testing. These strategies arise from things we can control based on the things that we know at any given moment. But what about the things we can’t control and don’t yet know?
                                                                                                    • Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the African Economy (African Union)
                                                                                                      This report by the African Union uses a method of scenarios in order to explore the potential impact of the pandemic on various dimensions of African economies. It focuses on the possible socio-economic repercussions in order to propose policy recommendations to respond to the crisis.

                                                                                                    Populism and Authoritarianism

                                                                                                          3. Policy

                                                                                                      • Community leadership is key to halting COVID-19: Social Solidarity while Physical Distancing (The Movement for Community-Led Development)
                                                                                                        This website outlines a deep dive in the critical community-led strategies to defeat this unparalleled pandemic. MCLD intends these points and references to support collective advocacy and action.
                                                                                                      • COVID-19 and true solidarity on the internet (Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society)
                                                                                                        Digital technologies have reduced the effort required for solidarity-based action. Using hashtags, issuing personal calls to action via private social media profiles, offering neighbourhood help and undertaking organisational activities with increased responsibility to express solidarity. The relationship between individuality and collectivity has changed due to a structural transformation. Nowadays, the constitution of individuality no longer takes place in the private sphere but on the basis of social networks.
                                                                                                      • Take Robust Actions to Manage COVID-19 Crisis in South Asia: Joint Statement of South Asia CSOs (Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism: South and South-West Asia Working Group)
                                                                                                        In order to address the issues and challenges regarding the COVID-19 crisis, multiple CSOs of South Asia have jointly released this statement to draw the attention of Governments of South Asia, international communities and to affirm COVID-19 response and recovery actions as inclusive, participatory, accountable and rights-based.

                                                                                                          4. Operational

                                                                                                      • Mitigating the economic impact of COVID-19 (C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group)
                                                                                                        This article sets out approaches that city governments are taking to monitor and mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, with five priority issues: cash flow support and guidance for affected SMEs and marginalised groups; monitoring local economic impacts; working with local industries, trade unions and NGOs; and supporting job opportunities, particularly for green jobs.
                                                                                                      • The $90Bn Question: Can we reach 700 million people in response to COVID-19? (The Cash Learning Partnership)
                                                                                                        Digital cash delivery may be more efficient but might be excluding the most vulnerable people and widening existing digital divides: In low-income countries, the offline population remains disproportionately poor, rural, elderly, and female. Only consolidated beneficiary information aligned to cross-sector and multi-organisational collaboration will be critical to delivering at scale.
                                                                                                      • Three Things Nonprofits Should Prioritize in the Wake of COVID-19 (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
                                                                                                        Why organizations need to examine their social impact, economic viability, and capacity to deliver in order to remain relevant and viable both now and into the future.

                                                                                                      Thomas Howie

                                                                                                      Communications Manager

                                                                                                      International Civil Society Centre

                                                                                                      Thomas joined the Centre in June 2017 as the Communications Coordinator. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Centre’s global communication strategy, as well as the Disrupt & Innovate platform – a place for civil society professionals and activists to discuss current innovations and future trends in the civil society sector. Prior to the Centre, Thomas worked for 5 years in the European Parliament firstly as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, and then, after the 2014 European elections, for Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen as Head of Communications, where he worked on issues such as the EU-US trade deal, issues around Brexit and as a specialist on the Petitions Committee. Thomas graduated from Bristol University with BSci in Geographical Sciences and holds an MA in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, where he completed research into the role of civil society in the post war peace settlement in northern Uganda.


                                                                                                      COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #5

                                                                                                      30th April 2020 by Thomas Howie

                                                                                                      This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

                                                                                                      Click here to view all available pages.

                                                                                                      Click here for our latest events news.

                                                                                                      On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know. Many thanks to our volunteer researcher Ineke Stemmet.

                                                                                                      The sections are:

                                                                                                      Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

                                                                                                      Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

                                                                                                      Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

                                                                                                      Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

                                                                                                          1. Staying up-to-Date

                                                                                                      • The impact of COVID-19 on global poverty: Why Sub-Saharan Africa might be the region hardest hit (World Bank)
                                                                                                        COVID-19 is taking its toll on the world, causing deaths, illnesses and economic despair. But how is the deadly virus impacting global poverty? Here we’ll argue that it is pushing about 40-60 million people into extreme poverty, with our best estimate being 49 million.
                                                                                                      • COVID-19 response hub (Witness)
                                                                                                        Civic media depicting the grassroots realities of COVID-19 is vital. This resource hub supports vulnerable communities worldwide using video and technology to expose the unseen impacts of the pandemic, as well as counter lies, mobilise action, and preserve vital evidence that will help advocate for justice in future. It supports a broad-based community, including frontline healthcare workers, community leaders and social justice activists.
                                                                                                      • Creative Public-Private Collaborations in Taiwan and South Korea Bolster the Fight Against Coronavirus (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
                                                                                                        Cooperation between the public and private sectors in Taiwan and South Korea are enabling prompt response to the challenge of distributing important health products during the COVID-19 crisis.
                                                                                                      • Global Humanitarian Response Plan COVID-19 (UN OCHA)
                                                                                                        This COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan aims to fight the virus in the world’s poorest countries, and address the needs of the most vulnerable people, especially women and children, older people, and those with disabilities or chronic illness. Coordinated by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, it brings together appeals from the WHO and other UN humanitarian agencies.
                                                                                                      • In the Northern Triangle, rising food insecurity tests NGO adaptability (Devex)
                                                                                                        A heightened risk of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras has mobilised NGOs in the region — even those that don’t typically engage in humanitarian response — to ensure that people in both rural and urban areas will have access to food.
                                                                                                      • Multidimensional Poverty and COVID-19 Risk Factors: A Rapid Overview of Interlinked Deprivations across 5.7 Billion People (Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative)
                                                                                                        How can poverty data help with the crisis? This briefing uses the 2019 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to identify where people are lacking in up to 3 key poverty indicators that provide timely and relevant information for the COVID-19 response.
                                                                                                      • Remote technologies find a role in COVID-19 response (Devex)
                                                                                                        On technologies (drones, video conferencing, mobile apps, etc.) in use to deliver services remotely in various countries to overcome the confinement.
                                                                                                      • Report: The Impact of COVID-19 Across Africa (Geopoll)
                                                                                                        This study examines the perceptions and impact of COVID-19, with data collected from more than 4,500 Africans across 12 nations. Results show high levels of fear surrounding the virus its effects on economic stability and food security: 72 % are very concerned about the virus, and 80 % worried about having enough to eat in the past week.
                                                                                                      • Social movements in and beyond the COVID-19 crisis (Oxfam From Poverty to Power)
                                                                                                        Summary of readings by/on social movements and how they are dealing with the current COVID-19 pandemic, amplifying the voices of activists and people organising communities through the crisis.
                                                                                                      • The AfCFTA gets locked down for the year (Institute for Security Studies)
                                                                                                        The African Continental Free Trade Agreement was supposed to be implemented on 1 July 2020 which would have had positive impacts on Africa’s economic growth and cooperation. This date has been postponed, but the article argues that this could be used as an opportunity for Africa to become independent by using its regional value chains.
                                                                                                      • Voices from the Field: How NGOs Are Responding to COVID-19 (TechSoup NGO Source)
                                                                                                        This blog highlights some organisations taking extraordinary measures to act within the constraints of the pandemic and use this opportunity to make lasting change.
                                                                                                      • Voices from the Ground: Stories of Community Resilience & Entrepreneurship in the Pandemic (Oxfam From Poverty to Power)
                                                                                                        Stories of how local communities are coping with and responding to the global crisis on four key issues: production of face masks, awareness-raising, protection of the most vulnerable, and food systems.
                                                                                                      • Podcast: Women Leaders are Flattening the Curve (Foreign Policy )
                                                                                                        This podcast explores how the response to COVID-19 of countries such as New Zealand and others have been better than others. The countries who have responded better in relative terms all have one thing in common: female leaders.

                                                                                                          2. Strategic

                                                                                                        Climate Change and Biodiversity

                                                                                                        • The Effect of Coronavirus on Pollution in the UK (The Eco Experts)
                                                                                                          The analysis looks at how much COVID-19 social distancing measures for 12 weeks (from Boris Johnson’s 19th March announcement) will reduce emissions in 5 main areas: public transport, road vehicles, air travel, energy usage, London pollution.

                                                                                                        Civic Space and Human Rights

                                                                                                        Data and Digital

                                                                                                        • Artificial Intelligence against COVID-19: An Early Review (IZA Institute of Labor Economics)
                                                                                                          This article provides an early, and necessarily selective review, discussing the contribution of AI to the fight against COVID-19, as well as the current constraints on these contributions.
                                                                                                        • As content moderators go home, the content could go down (Witness)
                                                                                                          The sudden shift to broaden algorithmic content moderation during COVID-19 has significant potential human rights implications: from hate speech staying on platforms in vulnerable societies, to the removal of critical war crimes evidence at scale from YouTube.
                                                                                                        • COVID-19: arming Africa with debt, aid and open digital delivery partnership (The Africa Report)
                                                                                                          Africa has led the world in leapfrogging through mobile and Fintech. As a result, we can now spread accurate health messages, collect data on symptoms from citizens, trace outbreaks, track financial flows through open budgets and contracts, map geospatial data with ground-truthed data collected by local ‘factivists’ and all this information can be analysed by collaborations of data scientists and AI to help predict, prevent and invest.

                                                                                                        Food security

                                                                                                        Futures

                                                                                                        • How Will Covid-19 Affect the Role of NGOs? (Dianova)
                                                                                                          Lidiya Grigoreva, from the Office of the UN Director-General in Geneva, reflects on how the future of NGOs could look like after the pandemic.
                                                                                                        • A better society can emerge from the lockdowns (Financial Times)
                                                                                                          Amartya Sen on how history shows some crises lead to improved equality and access to food and healthcare.
                                                                                                        • After the Immediate Coronavirus Crisis: 3 Scenarios for Global Development (Global Policy)
                                                                                                          Three scenarios for how the world might look after the immediate COVID-19 crisis has passed: (i) an ugly scenario of a global meltdown, (ii) a bad scenario of a return to the pre-COVID-19 state of climate breakdown and considerable inequality, and (iii) a good scenario of a transition towards global sustainable development (a considerable challenge).
                                                                                                        • Click Here: New Normals During and After COVID-19 (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
                                                                                                          Links from SSIR’s editors to interesting news, essays, tweets, research, videos, podcasts, and more.
                                                                                                        • Coronavirus is accelerating eight challenging megatrends (Sydney Morning Herald/The Telegraph)
                                                                                                          The forces that will shape all our futures – the global tensions, the economic policies, the political ideas, the new technologies – are being sped up. We are about to experience the next 20 years in 12 months, and we need to get ready for it.
                                                                                                        • COVID-19 as a Critical Juncture and the Implications for Advocacy (Global Policy)
                                                                                                          Duncan Green’s essay on the possible longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on political, economic and social systems, the potential impact on the aid sector, and the implications for progressive advocacy, whether by CSOs or others, in defending past gains, building on new opportunities or heading off new threats.
                                                                                                        • Not back to normal (Elephant in the Lab)
                                                                                                          The bureaucrats lost control. When leaders take away uncertainty, many people feel comforted. More pessimistic and sceptic people may develop dystopian ideas, and conspiracy theories find a fertile ground to flourish. Optimistic and naïve people dream of the COVID-19 crisis supporting a revolution towards a better and more sustainable world. But uncertainty is a fundamental characteristic of complex systems, and a crisis confronts us with many alternative scenarios for the future. Plan for the unplannable.
                                                                                                        • Podcast: At a Distance (The Slowdown)
                                                                                                          A new documentary podcast series on the bigger picture and the interconnectedness of things, calling leading minds to get a whole-earth long-view perspective. Includes: the power of long-term thinking, finding a ‘whole society’ consensus, COVID-19’s impact and the climate crisis, and many more fascinating topics.
                                                                                                        • This is the best time to plan for urban Africa’s next health emergency (Quartz Africa)
                                                                                                          COVID-19 should trigger an extraordinary convening of coordinated emergency foresight teams across sectors and geographical boundaries to develop and effect strategies and action plans for a long-term change to reduce vulnerability to, and the risk of future emergencies.

                                                                                                        Gender Equality

                                                                                                        Global China

                                                                                                        • China, the coronavirus, and the liberal international order (Open Global Rights)
                                                                                                          China’s apparent success in tackling COVID-19 will bolster its authoritarian political system—and its restrictive approach to human rights.
                                                                                                        • Coronavirus: Will China come out on top? (BBC World Service) Podcast
                                                                                                          This podcasts brings together different experts and explores and debates China’s global future with regards to economics and security. China was hit first and will probably emerge out of the crisis first, however it still faces various economic, demographic and global challenges.

                                                                                                        Leave No One Behind – Inclusion

                                                                                                        • COVID-19 and Conflict: Seven Trends to Watch (Africa Portal)
                                                                                                          The global outbreak has the potential to wreak havoc in fragile states, trigger widespread unrest and severely test international crisis management systems. Its implications are especially serious for those caught in the midst of conflict if the disease disrupts humanitarian aid flows, limits peace operations and postpones diplomacy efforts at diplomacy.
                                                                                                        • Inclusive, empathetic communication will be a game changer in the Covid-19 emergency (Masimanyane Women’s Rights International)
                                                                                                          A South African perspective which argues that the language used around the COVID-19 pandemic can have an exclusionary effect on those living in poverty, migrants and the most vulnerable in the community.
                                                                                                        • Redefining vulnerability in the Era of COVID-19 (Lancet)
                                                                                                          Article focusses on vulnerable people who carry more of a risk regarding COVID-19. It argues that people who are not necessarily deemed vulnerable at the outset of the pandemic could become so as a result of policy responses.

                                                                                                          Multilateralism and international cooperation

                                                                                                          Narratives

                                                                                                          • The coming battle for the COVID-19 narrative (Vox)
                                                                                                            COVID-19 (along with climate change) will alter how we think about the economy and public policy, but also the ways in which people talk about their livelihoods and futures. It will likely prompt a leftward shift on the government-versus-markets axis. But more important, it may draw on social values going beyond compliance and material gain to include ethical motivations of solidarity and duty that underpin community.

                                                                                                          Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

                                                                                                          Populism and Authoritarianism

                                                                                                                3. Policy

                                                                                                            • Policy brief: Environmental health and strengthening resilience to pandemics (OECD)
                                                                                                              COVID-19 highlights the need for a comprehensive and integrated approach to human health. Enhancing environmental health through better air quality, water and sanitation, waste management, along with efforts to safeguard biodiversity, will reduce the vulnerability of communities to pandemics and thus improve overall societal well-being and resilience.
                                                                                                            • Statement on the COVID-19 response from civil society members of OGP Steering Committee (Open Government Partnership)
                                                                                                              The civil society members of OGP’s Steering Committee has released this statement on COVID-19 and its risks to open government. Focused on the need to sustain democratic values, the statement is a call to action to governments, donors and international organisations.
                                                                                                            • The time to act is now (Africa Is a Country)
                                                                                                              A letter from more than 90 African intellectuals to African leaders about the continent’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

                                                                                                                4. Operational

                                                                                                            • The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Learning Pathway – Open Access (Humanitarian Leadership Academy)
                                                                                                              The COVID-19 Learning Pathway aims to enable humanitarians, including local responders, to be best equipped to respond to the global COVID-19 pandemic. More than 5,000 learners have already signed up.
                                                                                                            • Urban Considerations for World Vision’s COVID-19 Response (World Vision)
                                                                                                              What puts cities at higher risk of COVID-19 transmission? Poverty and marginalisation of specific groups and spaces creating hotspots of the pandemic in urban areas. This document serves to provide specific recommendations to the four strategic objectives of WV’s global response to COVID-19 in urban contexts, and considers needs beyond prevention and response.

                                                                                                            Thomas Howie

                                                                                                            Communications Manager

                                                                                                            International Civil Society Centre

                                                                                                            Thomas joined the Centre in June 2017 as the Communications Coordinator. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Centre’s global communication strategy, as well as the Disrupt & Innovate platform – a place for civil society professionals and activists to discuss current innovations and future trends in the civil society sector. Prior to the Centre, Thomas worked for 5 years in the European Parliament firstly as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, and then, after the 2014 European elections, for Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen as Head of Communications, where he worked on issues such as the EU-US trade deal, issues around Brexit and as a specialist on the Petitions Committee. Thomas graduated from Bristol University with BSci in Geographical Sciences and holds an MA in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, where he completed research into the role of civil society in the post war peace settlement in northern Uganda.