Governance Challenges During The Covid 19 Pandemic In Africa

This book presents insights into the governance challenge associated with the management of the lockdown measures in relation to the welfare of citizens in selected African states. The intention of the project is to present a critical analysis of the effectiveness and the consequences of the measures adopted by the government of these African countries to contain further spread of the virus, within the context of existing governance challenges in the management of the public sector. This will expose the contradictions in the implementation of public policy and the actualization of its intendment for the promotion of good governance and the welfare of citizens. The benefit thereof is the feasibility of arousing further intellectual engagements on the need for effective management of public sector with strong infrastructural support for the good of all in Africa.

Written amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this edited volume draws on the expertise of social scientists and humanities scholars to understand the several ramifications of Covid-19 in societies, politics, and the economies of Africa. The contributors examine measures, communicative practices, and experiences that have guided the (inter)action of governments, societies and citizens in this unpredictable moment. Covid-19 tested governments’ disaster preparedness as well as exposed governments’ attitudes towards the poor and vulnerable. In the same vein, it also tested the agency of the generality of the African populace in the face of containment measures and how these impacted on everyday social, cultural and economic practices of the ordinary peoples. In this vein, our concern is to understand the relationship between growing vulnerability on the one hand and ingenuity of agency on the other, and how both were embodied, narrated and discoursed by the African poor, university students, religious entities, and middle-classes, and those that bore the major brunt of the lockdowns. Lastly, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted regional trade and other bilateral relations in Africa, creating possibilities for regional entities such as ECOWAS and EAC to demonstrate their creativity (or a lack of it) in dealing with the pandemic. The contributors thus examine the regional dimension of the crisis and particularly evaluate how covid-19 tested the resilience of multilateralism, regional trade networks, cross border informal economies, and human movements. The volume is thus a useful resource for scholars of Africa, policy makers and those who want to understand Covid-19 in Africa. It provides a multiplicity of perspectives of the pandemic and African responses at different levels of society, economy and the political spectrum. The continental focus of this volume gives room for broader comparative analyses. Lastly, this interdisciplinary work benefits from the input of medical historians, anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, political scientists, literature scholars, urban planners, geographers and others.

This book critically reflects on the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by exploring the impact and possible future outcomes in a region already struggling with the effects of a decade of uprisings, failed or difficult political transitions, state collapses, civil war and international conflict. International scholars offer a comprehensive treatment of today's major societal issues and provide a unique, broadly comparative view on public policy responses in the MENA region. Addressing the implications and public policy responses to the crisis, they bring a critical perspective to the emerging challenges of evidence-based policy making; the locus of authority in transnational issues; the nature of governance; and the role of government and implications for civil society. Tackling the psychology, sociology, education, law, and public policy issues related to the social and economic implications of the COVID 19 pandemic, this book will be of interest to scholars and students alike.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the question of local governance and inter-governmental coordination to the centre of public administration. There is a general feeling across the world that the local government space is critical in managing pandemics. This volume is a collection of articles on the experiences of the local governments in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the focus is on South Asia, especially India, it also provides perspectives on Europe, Africa and Latin America. The book will appeal to researchers, policy makers and practitioners who are interested in the interface between public health and local governance, particularly during emergencies. It also provides clues about the design of sustainable policy and governance, including the type of intergovernmental relations that should emerge in the post-COVID situation.

Covid-19 and Governance focuses on the relationship between governance institutions and approaches to Covid-19 and health outcomes. Bringing together analyses of Covid-19 developments in countries and regions across the world with a wide-angle lens on governance, this volume asks: what works, what hasn’t and isn’t, and why? Organized by region, the book is structured to follow the spread of Covid-19 in the course of 2020, through Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, and Africa. The analyses explore a number of key themes, including public health systems, government capability, and trust in government—as well as underlying variables of social cohesion and inequality. This volume combines governance, policies, and politics to bring wide international scope and analytical depth to the study of the Covid-19 pandemic. Together the authors represent a diverse and formidable database of experience and understanding. They include sociologists, anthropologists, scholars of development studies and public administration, as well as MD specialists in public health and epidemiology. Engaged and free of jargon, this book speaks to a wide global public—including scholars, students, and policymakers—on a topic that has profound and broad appeal.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the question of local governance and inter-governmental coordination to the centre of public administration. There is a general feeling across the world that the local government space is critical in managing pandemics. This volume is a collection of articles on the experiences of the local governments in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the focus is on South Asia, especially India, it also provides perspectives on Europe, Africa and Latin America. The book will appeal to researchers, policy makers and practitioners who are interested in the interface between public health and local governance, particularly during emergencies. It also provides clues about the design of sustainable policy and governance, including the type of intergovernmental relations that should emerge in the post-COVID situation.

This book provides the readers with a set of vivid studies of the variety of national approaches that were taken to responding to COVID-19 in the first few months of the pandemic. At its core is a series of reports addressing the national responses to COVID-19 in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa. Country reports present the actions, events and circumstances of governmental response and make an early attempt at producing insights and at distilling lessons. Eyewitness reports from civil servants and public managers contain practical points of view on the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. In different chapters, editors and contributors provide an analytical framework for the description and explanation of government measures and their consequences in a rich variety and diversity of national settings. They also situate the governmental responses to the pandemic in the context of the global governance agenda, stress the important relationship between governmental authorities and citizens, and emphasize the role of ideological factors in the government response to COVID-19. A bold attempt is made in the concluding chapter to model government strategies for managing the emergency of the pandemic and the consequences for trajectories of infection and mortality. As the editors argue, the principles of "good governance" are of relevance to countries everywhere. There was evidence of them in action on the COVID-19 pandemic all over the world, in a wide range of institutional settings. COVID-19 experiences have a lot to teach us about the governance capabilities that will be needed when future emergency situations occur, emergencies that might be created by pandemics or climate change, or various other global risks. Governments will need to be agile, able to learn in real time, good at evaluating evidence in fast changing and complex situations, and good at facilitating coordination across the whole-of-government and in partnership with citizens and the private sector.Paul Joyce is an Associate at the Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham, Visiting Professor at Leeds University, and Director of Publications at IIASFabienne Maron is Guest Lecturer at Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne (URCA) and Scientific Director at IIAS.Purshottama Sivanarain Reddy is Senior Professor at University of KwaZulu-Natal, Vice-President for Programmes of IASIA and Chairperson of the Scientific Committee (PRAC) of IIAS.The International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) is a learned society in public administration established in 1930 and headquartered in Brussels. The Public Governance Series aims at diffusing the scientific knowledge it produces.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – at the interlocking levels of politics, economy, and society – have been different across regions, states, and societies. In the case of the Middle East and North Africa, which was already in the throes of intense tumult following the onset of the 2011 Arab Spring, COVID's blows have on the one hand followed the trajectory of some global patterns, while at the same time playing out in regionally specific ways. Based on empirical country-level analysis, this volume brings together an international team of contributors seeking to untangle how COVID-19 unfolds across the MENA. The analyses are framed through a contextual adaptation of Ulrich Beck's famous concept of “risk society” that pinpointed the negative consequences of modernity and its unbridled capitalism. The book traces how this has come home in full force in the COVID-19 pandemic. The editors, Larbi Sadiki and Layla Saleh, use the term "Arab risk society". They highlight short-term and long-term repercussions across the MENA. These include socio-economic inequality, a revitalized state of authoritarianism challenged by relentless democratic struggles. But the analyses are attuned to problem-solving research. The "ethnographies of the pandemic" included in this book investigate transformations and coping mechanisms within each country case study. They provide an ethically-informed research praxis that can respond to the manifold crises crashing down upon MENA polities and societies