Pope Francis generated a lot of buzz this Easter in a letter to ‘our brothers and sisters of popular movements and organizations’. As you’re probably tired of hearing by now, I’m an atheist, but fascinated by the role of faith groups and leaders in shaping social and political change, so I took a look. Some of the writing is beautiful,

How to combat Covid in crowded informal settlements where people share bathrooms and toilets? In 100 informal settlements in Cape Town and other cities, IBP South Africa is working it out on the ground. This guest post is from IBP’s Albert van Zyl More than 5 million South Africans live in informal settlements—sprawling, crowded communities that frequently lack even the

Well this might work…. The floodgates are opening for Covid research and advice, especially on impact and response in poor countries (has anyone put together a round-up of roundups? I’m drowning) On Impact and Response Arundhati Roy’s absolutely gripping portrayal of India’s crisis Bangladesh sends food aid to sex workers A measured and balanced Reuters Special Report on the UK’s

Irene Guijt introduces the second part of Oxfam’s proposal for addressing the development impact of Covid-19, published yesterday (the first part, dealing with the health crisis, is summarized here). COVID-19 has unleashed global domino effects. Health impacts understandably dominate the news, but the economic impact is where the big dominoes are falling, due to restrictions on people traveling for their

This guest post by Graham Teskey was originally published on the Governance and Development Soap Box blog Pandemics are depressingly common in human history. We all know about the plague, cholera and the Spanish ’flu. What Dani Rodrik called ‘hyper-globalisation’ has stormed across the world since the end of the cold war and has resulted in massive increases in the

Last supper on Zoom ht @MythAddict Lots of good analysis on how to manage Covid response in low income countries where self isolation is not an option, but I would like to read more from southern authors – please send links. Does One Size Fit All? Realistic Alternatives for COVID-19 Response in Low-Income Countries. How to Tackle Coronavirus in Slums.

Huge apologies for posting the wrong podcast (a recording interrupted by a phone call from my brother, ending after 2m with an unacceptable expletive). Here’s the right one. Thanks Katy for alerting me to the screw-up, but it kind of worries me that it was only after 100 downloads that anyone told me!

Some excerpts from today’s briefing: Oxfam is proposing two things that the G20 and other leaders can do simultaneously. The first is to develop a Global Public Health Plan and Emergency Response to tackle the disease head on – preventing and delaying its spread, saving lives now and into the future. The second is to create an economic rescue plan

No excerpt

In times of crisis, faith can be a source of huge personal comfort and community resilience. But as Covid-19 arrives in Africa, some faith leaders are making things worse. This is an edited version of a piece by Amanda Lichtenstein, Rosemary Ajayi and Nwachukwu Egbunike that went up on Global Voices yesterday. Leaders in Africa are grappling with faith in their

This blog was launched slap bang in the middle of the 2008 global financial crisis. Its early months were dominated by discussions of its impact on poor countries and communities. So yesterday I had a plus ca change moment when I read a cluster of excellent pieces discussing the need for urgent debt relief for poor countries struggling to cope

Guest post from Mwanahamisi Singano, a feminist activist  Member of FEMNET The world is witnessing an unprecedent health pandemic.  With more than 440,318 confirmed cases of COVID19 across the world, and almost 20,000 deaths (at the time of publication), the world is shutting down. Everyone is being asked to stay home and be safe, but one thing that everyone has forgotten is that homes are not