COVID-19 and Violent Actors in the Global South: An Inter- and Cross-Regional Comparison

Courts are highly relevant in controlling executive abuses of power in exceptional situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. Latin America’s courts were ready and able to set such limits. Illiberal presidents may heavily undermine judicial independence if they have the legislative support to do so.

A cross-regional comparative analysis of the effects of COVID-19 on violence shows high levels of variation between contexts and in terms of specific armed actors. While Latin America along with the Middle East and North Africa have experienced an overall reduction, violence in sub-Saharan Africa has increased.

COVID-19 paved the way for a left-wing government winning in Colombia’s recent elections. The pandemic has deepened structural inequalities, promoting an unprecedented wave of protest against the right-wing incumbent. Answering with high levels of violence only further increased the call for change.

Non-state armed actors come in a variety of shapes including warlord-led groups. In war or lower-level armed conflict, and violence-prone contexts, these groups pose severe problems to peacebuilding, democratic governance, and sustainable development. This trend analysis maps cross-regional developments.

This trend analysis examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on state and non-state violent actors in the Global South. We provide an ACLED-based interregional mapping of trends in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Neste artigo sobre o terremoto na Síria e o seu impacto no envio de ajuda humanitária, o Dr. André Bank examina, em retrospectiva, como o regime sírio tem respondido à outras crises, tais como a pandemia da COVID-19.

In diesem Artikel über das Erdbeben in Syrien und seine Auswirkungen auf die Bereitstellung humanitärer Hilfe liefert Dr. André Bank Hintergrundinformationen über den früheren Umgang des syrischen Regimes mit anderen Krisen, z.B. der COVID-19-Pandemie. 

Organiser: Volkswagen Foundation Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach (Speaker)

How does the Covid-19 pandemic influence the dynamics of violence in Colombia and Syria.

Courts are highly relevant in controlling executive abuses of power in exceptional situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. Latin America’s courts were ready and able to set such limits. Illiberal presidents may heavily undermine judicial independence if they have the legislative support to do so.

A cross-regional comparative analysis of the effects of COVID-19 on violence shows high levels of variation between contexts and in terms of specific armed actors. While Latin America along with the Middle East and North Africa have experienced an overall reduction, violence in sub-Saharan Africa has increased.

COVID-19 paved the way for a left-wing government winning in Colombia’s recent elections. The pandemic has deepened structural inequalities, promoting an unprecedented wave of protest against the right-wing incumbent. Answering with high levels of violence only further increased the call for change.