War, Peace & the In Between Podcast
Episode 6: Comparing Regional Responses to Covid-19
In this episode we continue the conversation started in Episode 3, in which we introduced the importance of regional responses to the pandemic. We compare the responses from regional organisations around the globe, including the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Organisation of American States (OAS), and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to demonstrate how each regional organisation has used its unique areas of expertise to support responses to the pandemic.
Our guests also outline the findings of a mapping exercise looking at the effects of Covid-19 around governance and accountability of responses in Southern Africa and the continent. We ask how these responses might change governance going forward, and how each organisation is collaborating with other organisations and actors in the international system.
Featuring special guests Dr Kathryn Nash and Hannah den Boer from the University of Edinburgh alongside Nicholas Maple from the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
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Guest Bios
Dr. Kathryn Nash is a Chancellor’s Fellow in the University of Edinburgh Law School. She received her PhD in Politics and International Studies from SOAS University of London, and her research interests include global governance, the role of regional organizations in responding to complex crises, and peace and security. Her book – African Peace: Regional Norms from the Organization of African Unity to the African Union – was recently published by Manchester University Press.
Hannah den Boer is a research consultant with expertise in development and peace and security. Since 2019 she has worked on multiple research projects at the Political Settlements Research Programme. She has recently assisted in research for Dr. Kathryn Nash on a project on responses by intergovernmental organisations to the COVID-19 outbreak. Currently, as part of an interdisciplinary team at the University of Edinburgh, she is doing research on climate security and conflict for a project by UNEP.
Dr. Nicholas Maple is a postdoctoral researcher at the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. His current projects look at the role of the global refugee regime in urban displacement in southern Africa, and the impact of COVID-19 on migration governance in Africa. His PhD research investigated the reception afforded to refugees in southern Africa, with a focus on the refugee camp and urban space. He is also a tutor and module convenor on the MA in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies at the Refugee Law Initiative, University of London.