News & Analysis: Somalia
“As export earnings suffer and social distancing reduces domestic activity, incomes will decline—especially for informal and low-skilled workers, including within large internally displaced populations and refugees.”
“Fear is another lethal hazard of this pandemic, blocking the youngest patients from basic care as everyday medical appointments grind to a halt across Africa, South America and southeast Asia. Such disruptions could fuel the first rise in the global child mortality rate since doctors began tracking it in 1960, according to a report published Tuesday in the Lancet Global Health journal.”
“What are the consequences of the pandemic on the living conditions in African prisons?”
“Despite the massive crisis the West is experiencing, some Western thought leaders continue to insist that a whole continent of 54 countries will collectively and inevitably experience apocalypse as a result of a virus outbreak. Indeed, the white gaze knows no rest, even amid a pandemic that has struck the West.”
“It is often difficult to assess the information that is collected. Patient records in health clinics, for example, are almost always written by hand, and then often gather dust in a corner. Moreover, when governments do publish data online they frequently use formats that make the numbers hard to collate and analyse.”
“Tens of thousands of migrants are trapped in dangerous conditions at frontiers, mines, ports and in transit camps across Africa after states shut their borders in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19.”
“As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, Somalia is already reporting immediate social, economic and political effects. A rapid reduction in remittances transferred into the country from abroad, falling commodity prices and restricted export markets all pose significant risks.”
“In the immediate term, mass humanitarian assistance creates a high risk of Somalia’s top elites diverting critical resources for their own benefit and creating capital flight from the country. This is already well underway.”
“Disasters can transform conflict dynamics. Research shows that disasters such as COVID-19 can create opportunities for peace in conflict countries. For one, they can undermine the ability of conflict entrepreneurs to access conflict areas. This reduces incidents of violence. They can also create the conditions necessary for advancing peacebuilding processes in local communities.”
“The most critical piece of lifesaving equipment of the coronavirus pandemic is in desperately short supply in Africa: According to the World Health Organization, there are fewer than 2,000 ventilators across 41 countries that reported to it.”
A hub for information, analysis, and the global response to COVID-19’s impact on Africa