Past Event

Navigating civic space in a time of Covid: One year on

11 March 2021 13:00–14:30

The declaration of the Covid pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 11 March 2020 had huge implications, not only for public health. For several years, IDS along with numerous watchdogs, research institutes and activist groups has studied rapid changes in civic space the world over. Further transformations in civic space have taken place in the context of the pandemic itself, the restrictions introduced to control its spread and associated enforcement practices. Civil society actors have responded to these in a range of ways.

‘Navigating Civic Space in a time of Covid’ is a project undertaken by IDS and partners of the A4EA programme in Mozambique, Nigeria and Pakistan, using an innovative virtual observatory methodology to monitor and interpret these changes from June – December 2020. One year on from the declaration of the pandemic, this seminar will share our findings and preliminary interpretations of what they mean for the present and future of governance relations in these already-fragile contexts.

NB – Navigating Civic Space in a time of Covid is a A4EA sponsored program.

Speakers:

  • Rosie McGee, Senior Fellow, Power & Popular Politics cluster, IDS
  • Ayesha Khan, Senior Researcher at the Collective for Social Science Research based in Karachi, Pakistan.
  • Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, Founder and director of research and policy at SPACES FOR CHANGE | S4C
  • Salvador Forquilha, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Social and Economic Studies (IESE) in Maputo, Mozambique.

Discussant:

  • Arthur Larok, Federation Development Director for ActionAid International,

Chair:

  • John Gaventa, Director, Action for Empowerment and Accountability Research Programme (A4EA)

How to watch

Watch live on YouTube when the event starts at 1pm or register below to watch on Zoom

Register

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