EU–Africa Partnership on Migration and Mobility in Light of COVID-19: Perspectives from North Africa

EU–Africa Partnership on Migration and Mobility in Light of COVID-19: Perspectives from North Africa

The pandemic not only acts as a multiplier of existing developmental and socioeconomic challenges in Africa – and thereby contributes to increasing
migratory pressure in and out of the continent – but it also reveals interdependencies between Africa and the EU. It is hoped that the current health and socioeconomic crisis would also act as an opportunity to substantially rethink the relations between the two continents on, and well beyond migration.

"Pray in Your Homes": Religion and the State in North Africa in Times of COVID-19

“Pray in Your Homes”: Religion and the State in North Africa in Times of COVID-19

COVID-19 has led governments across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to take a number of measures to battle the pandemic. Many of these actions directly related to religious practices such as the cancelation of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, closing down mosques and amending the call to prayer from the usual “hayya alas-salah” or “come to prayer” to “salu fi buyutikum” or “pray in your homes”.

What research from conflict-affected countries can tell us about responses to Covid-19

What research from conflict-affected countries can tell us about responses to Covid-19

Europeans are incredibly lucky to largely not know what it feels like to fear for their lives due to war and violence. Yet suddenly, communities in Europe share characteristics with people who live in countries with violent conflict: coronavirus makes lives precarious and incomes unstable. It shows what it’s like when public services are underfunded, unreliable and insufficient.

Pockets of effectiveness. What we can learn from and about africa in the corona crisis

Pockets of effectiveness. What we can learn from and about africa in the corona crisis

Is Africa defenceless in the face of the corona pandemic? This would appear to be self-evident, as even health care systems far better equipped than those of many African countries are currently on the verge of collapse. Nonetheless, such a conclusion is premature. In part, some African countries are even better prepared for pandemics than Europe and the United States. Nigeria’s success in fighting its 2014 Ebola outbreak illustrates why that is the case and what lessons wealthier countries and the development cooperation community can learn from it.