COVID-19: Interactions Between the Pandemic and Conflict (Briefing Note n°9)

This briefing note is the ninth output by the COVID-19 Observatory. It presents our analysis on the implications of the management of the current COVID-19 crisis in contexts of conflict.

Working in conflict zones has always been difficult. Setting up humanitarian programmes in such contexts is dangerous, requires complex logistics, strong negotiation skills and a genuine ability to respect key humanitarian principles and to demonstrate the reality of that respect. Populations in affected areas, as well as those fleeing them, are often in situations of dramatic distress, and live in precarious and crowded conditions that are highly conducive to the transmission of contagious diseases, such as COVID-19. Responding to the needs of populations following the effects of the conflict while having to deal with the medical and non-medical consequences of a health crisis such as COVID-19 will require specific approaches, as operations in Yemen, Somalia, DRC, etc. have shown.