Pulling the Pieces Together: Health and community actors as levers of local response in...
Authors: Robert Wilson and Raiman al-Hamdani
This study builds on a research collaboration with Yemen Policy Center and their earlier study of state community relations and the enforcement of Covid-19 measures by security officials in Taiz during early stages of the pandemic. In this report, we examine the local responses to Covid-19 by health authorities, health professionals and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), framing their efforts within the peace and conflict nexus with Covid-19.
The research demonstrates the deeply fragmented context of public authority in Yemen. In supporting a response to Covid-19, civil society actors, women and health actors have once again displayed a profound capacity as local actors to navigate complex conflict dynamics which create competing sources of authority. They show a capacity to operate where linear forms of governance are neither clear nor consistent
In supporting local CSOs and the wider spectrum of actors discussed here in bridging service gaps, there is need for more political analysis of civic-authority relationships in such a fragmented governance and conflict setting.