The reality of COVID-19 in humanitarian settings: What have we learned, and where do we go from here?

Webinar recording

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a direct and indirect threat to health, and social and economic well-being worldwide. Early projections, largely driven by mathematical modelling, anticipated dramatically increased needs across multiple contexts.

Elrha’s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crisis (R2HC) programme funded some of the first rigorous research on COVID-19 in humanitarian contexts. A critical dimension of the research studies was rapid knowledge translation and engagement with health actors to ensure that policymaking and response is informed by empirical, locally contextualised knowledge.

Learning is emerging from this work, not only on critical health issues but also on the reality of the impact of COVID-19 among crisis-affected and displaced people, as compared with early predictions. We also now have a better understanding of how risks of infection and the implementation of public health measures are being managed by health actors, and the impact of these responses on communities.

What will we discuss?

In this 90-minute webinar, we bring together R2HC research teams who have conducted research in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Uganda, along with humanitarian practitioners and experts to capture insights from the research studies and operational experiences. We will explore questions related to:

• Have COVID-19-related needs differed from early projections, and how have humanitarian health actors responded in these settings?
• What public health measures, such as social distancing policies, were effective at mitigating the spread of infection in different contexts? How were priority groups, such as older people, included in these measures, and with what impact?
• What should health actors and governments in low-resource and humanitarian settings consider a) in the ongoing management of the COVID-19 pandemic, and b) in addressing the long-term indirect impacts of COVID-19?

This event will encourage audience participation.

Register for the webinar.

Who are the speakers?

• Dr Gloria Seruwagi, Team Leader, Centre for Health and Social Economic Improvement (CHASE-i), Makerere University (Principal investigator for REFugee Lived Experiences, Compliance and Thinking (REFLECT) in COVID-19)
• Dr Stephanie Nawyn, Co-Director for Academic Programs at the Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen) and Associate Professor, Department of Sociology at Michigan State University (Co-principal investigator for Using Humanitarian Engineering in Refugee Humanitarian Interventions)
• Dr Sawsan Abdulrahim, Associate Professor of Public Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut (Co-principal investigator for Changing Vulnerabilities and COVID-19 adherence: Older refugees in Lebanon)
• Aurelie Ponthieu, Humanitarian Specialist and Coordinator, Forced Migration team, Médecins sans Frontières (MSF)
• Mohammad Al-Zayed, Health Coordinator, Amel Association International

Chair: James Smith, Humanitarian Health Research Advisor, Elrha