The UN Development Programme’s Oslo Governance Centre (UNDP OGC) and Southern Voice, a network of think tanks in the Global South, have conducted a study on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected governance systems worldwide. It was launched at the global conference, Power Politics and Peace, on 31 May 2022. Read the full report here.
"The pandemic has been a humanitarian crisis with millions dead and suffering. It has led to economic emergencies in hundreds of millions of households. It has created social distress and enormous pressures on public service delivery systems. However, the pandemic has also created opportunities for some, including governments. To put it bluntly, we find that the pandemic and its consequences have been instrumentalized by some governments in order to unreasonably consolidate power and limit democratic space. Three findings in the report we have made are particularly worrying."
Unchecked power and shrinking civic space:
- First, the pandemic has been used as an excuse to abuse state power and restrict civic space.
- Second, the pandemic has increased social exclusion with significant political consequences.
- And finally, the pandemic’s consequences of rising inequality and poverty can be root causes of future conflicts.
The report titled, ‘COVID-19 and the Crisis of Governance,’ was presented at the UNDP Oslo Governance Center Conference on 31 May in Oslo, Norway. You can find more information here.
