PSRP joins the Covid Collective to study the nexus between conflict, peace, and Covid-19
The Political Settlements Research Programme (PSRP) at the University of Edinburgh has joined an exciting and interdisciplinary collective of social scientists, from inside and outside academia. The FCDO-funded Covid Collective, which is based in the International Development Studies department at the University of Sussex, will produce cutting edge social science research to address the global challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The PSRP has three main projects underway in collaboration with the Covid Collective. The first project, Covid-19, Peace and Transition Processes explores how Covid-19 and pandemic responses are affecting peace process dynamics, modalities, and prospects for successful mediation among the main conflict actors, at national and local levels. This project focuses on South Sudan, Yemen and Syria. The second project, PeaceTech, Tracking Data and the UN Ceasefire Call provides data and analysis on how the UN Global Ceasefire call is being received and taken up. It also considers what other conflict-related issues health interventions are having to navigate, with what consequences for political trust in both health providers and political leaders. Finally, the third project, Regional Responses to Covid-19, and Handling of the Covid-19 Transition nexus uses innovative data and documentary analysis techniques to understand new limitations on where and how internationals support both peace processes and pandemic responses. The project examines how this international engagement re-shapes the role and capacity of regional organisations in the conflict and health realms, and how new forms of regional coordination are playing out in-country. The main case study for this project is Kenya. View all PSRP Covid-19 research and outputs.
As a member of the Collective, the PSRP is focusing on the delivery of timely research useful to policymakers and in-country practitioners as to how to manage peace and transition processes in conjunction with the pandemic. It also aims to pioneer innovative research methods using technology, data-combining visualisations which can bring together global Covid19 peace and health data, remote forms of research, and artificial intelligence.
The PSRP’s engagement in the Collective is overseen by Professor Christine Bell (Lead), Allyson Doby (Communications), Dr. Harriet Cornell (Project Management), and Dr. Rebecca Sutton (Representative to the Covid Collective Advisory Board).
Read more about the Covid Collective.