A new resource for policy actors and researchers seeking to respond more effectively to the Covid pandemic is now live. The COVID response for Equity Programme (CORE), supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is rapidly mobilising research evidence for the mitigation of the social and economic impacts of COVID and for promoting recovery from the pandemic in low-income countries.
Southern led research
CORE is providing innovative southern-led policy and practice solutions that will strengthen the overall governance of the crisis and its aftermath in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. This includes targeting gender and other forms of equality, and actively seeking to prioritise the needs and interests of those furthest behind.
CORE covers the pandemic’s implications for macro-economic policy; the protection of workers and small producers; and promoting democratic governance and effective, accountable responses. The international cohort of 21 research projects span Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The Covid pandemic has revealed the significance of multiple, intersecting inequalities. The effects of the disease, control measures and secondary impacts have been felt unevenly across societies, feeding off and amplifying structural differences and vulnerabilities linked to gender, class, ethnicity, age, disability, geography and more.
Engaging research with policy
The CORE Knowledge Translation (KT) programme, led by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), aims to increase the use of IDRC funded research to guide national, regional, and global policies and actions to mitigate the social and economic impacts of Covid-19 and promote recovery from the pandemic. The new web resource provides all the latest news and views from the cohort of researchers from around the world and links to their research and policy guidance.
CORE research is already making a difference. Researchers in Latin America, Africa and Pakistan are preparing to present their findings on the impact of Covid on food security and livelihoods to policy actors in the run up to the United Nations Food Security Summit. Simulations and field experiments are being conducted of policy responses to promote inclusive adaptation to and recovery from the Covid-19 crisis in multiple locations across Africa, Asia and Latin America. In India, Kenya and Uganda assessments of the socio-economic impacts of Covid-19 on informal workers are demonstrating the urgent need for policies to target the most vulnerable, especially women.
Keep up to date with all the latest news, research and policy implications from CORE by signing up to the Newsletter at https://c19re.org/.
This news item was first published on the IDS website.