Update on Peace Operations and COVID-19

Coordinated by Abdhelak Bassou & Youssef Tobi (PCNS), this study examines the potential link between increasing threats of violence & terrorist activity & the spread of COVID-19. … the first chapter examines the impact of the evolving COVID-19 situation in the Sahel region on both levels of extremist violence and responses by local and state authorities, by focusing on the pre-existing conditions that were already in place prior to the outbreak of the pandemic specifically in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

Women and young people must be part of Africa’s plans to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, which is feeding factors driving conflict on the continent, UN Secretary-General told the Security Council on Wednesday. 

The covid-19 pandemic has brought a changing international order into focus. As the virus swept the globe, it highlighted both the interdependence of today’s world and the obstacles to international cooperation. Now that the world is moving into a new phase of the fight against the virus, there is a chance to work together better – both on the recovery from covid-19 and on other transnational challenges in its aftermath.

Covid-19 vaccines are not just coveted as protection from the deadly virus, they are also a currency in the battle for global influence, experts say, especially between China and Russia.

Despite the competing priorities brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Vladimir Voronkov, head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), said that it was “crucial” for Member States to remain focused and united in thwarting terrorism. “While ISIL has not developed a purposeful strategy to exploit the pandemic, its efforts to regroup and to reinvigorate its activities [has] gained further momentum”, he said. 

[…] Across the Lake Chad Basin region, violent conflict, climate-related change such as droughts, governance neglect and, more recently, the effects of COVID-19, are creating a confluence of challenges. These interlinked and mutually reinforcing challenges have made the Lake Chad Basin region one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises over the past decade.

Criminals and violent extremists are exploiting the pandemic to build their support networks, undermine trust in government and even weaponize the virus, according to a research report published on Wednesday by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI). 

The UN’s 75th anniversary this Saturday, which falls as countries continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, is an opportunity to accelerate action to achieve a global ceasefire during the crisis, Secretary-General António Guterres has said. 

While levels of conflict worldwide appear relatively unchanged this year, longer term the pandemic may yet have a major impact on political violence and instability. What can the UN and others do to head off the threat?

Despite the broad political support and hopes for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ global ceasefire initiative, the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by the continuation of political violence across conflict-affected countries.