East Africa Research Facility Concept Note

An effective COVID-19 response in East Africa requires rapid evidence generation and synthesis across multiple disciplines and sectors that leads to the delivery of usable policy- and practice relevant products. This initiative sought to establish a research and analysis facility to meet this goal, which would be managed by a consortium consisting of the Centre for Humanitarian Change, and the Rift Valley Institute. The facility consulted with key decision-makers on an ongoing basis to identify priority evidence and knowledge gaps based on its expertise and networks and is providing a call down facility for DFID Country Offices and other stakeholders.

The facility was intended to  meet the diverse and changing range of evidence needs required by the COVID-19 response, using multiple methodological approaches across thematic areas and geographies of interest to convene a wide network of experts, gather data remotely and conduct analysis.

The consortium was subdivided into several key working groups:

• Communications.
• Remittances & Diaspora.
• Politics & Conflict.
• Economy & Food Security

An additional group was formed focusing on gender based perspectives related to COVID-19. For a full summary of the meetings see below links:

Communications
Africa Voices Webinar: Case Studies-Somali views in the early days of COVID

Somali language Whatsapp info box
Hagaha Coronavirus developed outside of the group, with interface, audio messaging, following WHO guidelines.

Diaspora & Remittances:
Blog posts on remittances and economic impact
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2020/04/07/remittances-affect-the-somali-covid-19-response/
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2020/04/23/somaliland-and-covid-19-emerging-issues-and-economic-impact/
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2020/05/05/puntland-and-covid-19-local-responses-and-economic-impact/