Health
The document library features summaries and links to editorially-selected publications on the key themes of health, education, nutrition, social protection and WASH. The documents are sourced from academic research, policy papers and global development organisations.
This background paper presents considerations on how the COVID-19 pandemic is accentuating existing vulnerabilities of populations forcibly displaced by war (refugees, asylum-seekers, internally-displaced and stateless persons), in settings across East Africa and the Middle East. In addition to the devastating health threat the pandemic poses, lockdown measures imposed by governments to reduce transmission are having… Read more
This review presents considerations for care and infection prevention and control (IPC) for COVID-19 in home and community-based care settings. Overarching considerations Many guidelines from LMICS recognise the necessity to support home and community-based care for COVID-19 (as deemed clinically appropriate, usually recommended only for ‘mild’ disease) for reasons such as to protect capacity in… Read more
The report explores lessons from conflict and education in emergencies (EiE) seeking evidence-informed recommendations for policy makers that can help in the global response to Covid-19. The report explores transferability from EiE contexts to non-EiE Covid-19-affected contexts. The issue of how Covid-19 will impact on existing EiE contexts and displaced pupils is a vital one,… Read more
This report provides a rapid summary of country-level responses to the management of school closures in 2020, with a focus on the needs of disadvantaged students and the role of technology. The authors consider low-income, middle-income and high-income countries. The authors take a broad view of ‘disadvantage’ recognising that it presents itself in several different… Read more
This report provides a rapid evidence summary of the impact of school closures on marginalised girls and presents strategies which involve elements of education technology to mitigate these negative impacts. In considering the broader evidence on what works in supporting marginalised girls’ education, this report focuses on those that could be facilitated, through use of… Read more
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to education systems all over the world. As remote schooling becomes the predominant model for education delivery in this crisis, teachers and education system leaders need to adapt to ensure the best outcomes for pupils by distance learning. This report provides a rapid evidence summary of best practice… Read more
Transnational Migrants, Informal Workers, and People Living in Informal Settlements This brief presents considerations for COVID-19 management among structurally vulnerable populations in Southeast Asia, including transnational migrants, people working in the informal economy, and people living in informal urban and peri-urban settlements. These vulnerable groups are generally poorly understood, ignored, or left out of formal… Read more
This brief focuses on COVID-19 in Myanmar and how the interplay between conflict, displacement and inter-communal tensions may influence disease control. All health emergencies have social and political challenges, but sensitive consideration and effective management of these is especially important where there is past or ongoing conflict, and where trust in authorities imposing disease control… Read more
This brief considers the rationale for shielding individuals at high risk of severe disease or death from COVID-19 in low and middle-income countries. It provides an overview of proposed approaches to shielding, discusses the categories of individuals who may be identified for shielding, and outlines the likely difficulties of these measures and ways to mitigate… Read more
This brief provides key considerations related to COVID-19 in the context of prisons, jails and similar detention facilities (referred to collectively in this brief as “prisons”). It summarises the particular risks associated with an outbreak of COVID-19 in prisons in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) and highlights approaches that may be used to mitigate those risks…. Read more
The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 pandemic has spread to Africa, where nearly all countries have reported laboratory-confirmed cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Although there are ongoing clinical trials of repurposed and investigational antiviral and immune-based therapies, there are as yet no scientifically proven, clinically effective pharmacological treatments for COVID-19. Among the repurposed drugs,… Read more