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Begin New Search Topic Pandemic Publishing Institution Arab Reform Initiative (ARI) Publication Year within 10 Years

1. COVID-19 Vaccination in the Time of Austerity: How and for Whom?

Author:
Joelle M. Abi-Rached and Pascale Salameh
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
As countries begin to roll out vaccination for COVID-19, the Lebanese caretaker government has yet to provide details about its vaccination strategy, raising concerns about its ability to provide vaccines due to the country’s economic and governance crisis. This paper, written by public health professionals, raises a number of questions about the vaccination strategy that the government should address and calls for an open, inclusive, and transparent process to placate the worries of citizens given the privatization and politicization of the country’s health sector.
Topic:
Public Health, Vaccine, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Middle East and Lebanon

2. Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Physician Safety and Coverage in Lebanon

Author:
Nadim El Jamal, Taghrid Hajjali, and Elie Al-Chaer
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Similar to other countries, Lebanon experienced the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic imposed on its healthcare system. Physicians, among other healthcare workers, felt the large toll of the pandemic. The growing number of physicians infected with the coronavirus has uncovered gaps in the policies and laws meant to protect and ensure physician safety. These include gaps in physician coverage for healthcare, disability, and death, in addition to particular vulnerabilities of trainee physicians, along with the absence of specific laws, strategies, and agencies to ensure the safety of the healthcare work environment. This paper highlights these gaps and proposes solutions to address them.
Topic:
Security, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Middle East and Lebanon

3. Constitutional or Unconstitutional: Is That the Question?

Author:
Eya Jrad
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
On 25 July 2021, Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and froze the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, creating a constitutional crisis in a country already embattled by dire COVID-19 conditions. This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the constitutionality of the measures taken by Kais Saied, by examining both the text of the Constitution and the context to argue that a contextual interpretation is needed in order to adjust to the dynamic nature of societies.
Topic:
Democracy, Constitution, State Formation, Legislation, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Political Crisis
Political Geography:
Africa and Tunisia

4. Data with borders for a borderless virus: Insights and recommendations from the case of Lebanon

Author:
Ghinwa El Hayek, Sirine Anouti, Ghina R. Mumtaz, and Lilian A. Ghandour
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Timely access to complete and accurate data proved to be one of the major lessons learned for an evidence-informed national public health response. In Lebanon, COVID-19 data reporting was mired with issues such as the fragmentation of publicly available data across many official reporting sources. This paper addresses the issue of data collection and sharing and provides recommendations for ways forward.
Topic:
Public Health, Pandemic, Data, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Middle East and Lebanon

5. Beyond Morocco’s agricultural boom: The invisibility and precariousness of a female agricultural workforce

Author:
Lisa Bossenbroek and Hind Ftouhi
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Women workers play a key role in the agricultural sector in Morocco. While their working conditions are known to be dire, the crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded their economic and social insecurity. This paper discusses the exploitative treatment of female agricultural workers, the poor state and social support given to them so far, and puts forward recommendations on how to improve their lives.
Topic:
Agriculture, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Farming
Political Geography:
Africa and Morocco

6. The Mediterranean Region: A Hotspot of Inequalities in the Aftermath of COVID-19

Author:
Farah Al Shami
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic, which broke out in China in late 2019, reached the Mediterranean region by late winter 2020. While the impact of this crisis has been notorious on a global scale, it was remarkably more pronounced in the Mediterranean region as a result of economic fragility, exposure and transmissibility, and more importantly the quality of state and non-state responses which had a multidimensional multiplier effect on wealth distribution, access to health and education as well as other essential services, regional disparities and gender inequality, among others. Ever since its outbreak, COVID-19 has significantly exacerbated existing inequalities and has created new ones. It has also exacerbated vulnerabilities and created new forms of vulnerability, thus increasing the gaps on various levels between different social groups. These consequences were also more concentrated in the Mediterranean region as compared to the rest of the world, as the region had already been witnessing rising trends of inequality in the last decade, and especially before the pandemic hit, due to political instability, economic decay and inefficient public policies. While this reality has been experienced by both the northern and southern sides of the Mediterranean, it has been more intense in the latter. However, this is not to deny that constantly increasing inequalities in recent history has made both poles of the Basin much more susceptible to an enigmatic and acute shock such as COVID-19. The impact of COVID-19 on multifaceted inequality in the Mediterranean is neither consistent nor linear. The region has witnessed declines in several forms of inequality and surges in several others. Yet, the overall impact in terms of the number and magnitude of increased inequalities versus reduced ones is negative, making the Mediterranean a hotspot of inequality in the aftermath of the sanitary crisis. Moreover, amplified inequalities have manifested in the Mediterranean Basin in the form of inter-country inequalities and intra-country inequalities – the former being mostly part driven by inter-sectoral imbalances. Inter-country inequalities have likely further cemented the north-south divide in the Basin. This paper examines the different forms and faces of inequality in the region by trying to conceptualize the situations of different countries, despite their dissimilar and divergent contexts. It proves that COVID-19 has massively increased multidimensional inequality through various channels and at a relatively higher rate with respect to other regions. The paper also demonstrates that the Mediterranean is the microcosm of the north-south cleavage, as it is the closest place where the South meets the North, which makes it a natural starting point for dialogue concerning the north-south dichotomy and inequalities. As such, this paper highlights the need for tangible cooperation across borders, between sectors, and among citizens and their representatives, both within the region – between the North and the South – and with other regions, to advance reforms that address the factors of inequity and inequality in an already fragile and shaky regional context.
Topic:
Inequality, Public Health, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Mediterranean

7. Syria’s Growing Economic Woes: Lebanon’s Crisis, the Caesar Act and Now the Coronavirus

Author:
Jihad Yazigi
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
The already bleak prospects of the Syrian economy have worsened in recent months with the Lebanon crisis, the enactment of the Caesar Act and now the coronavirus pandemic. This paper examines their impact on the Syrian economy and the population at large. While the cumulative impact is hard to assess at this stage, Syria’s population will remain heavily dependent on the international humanitarian effort. The future of this effort will itself depend on major donor countries whose own economies are likely to emerge weakened from the coronavirus pandemic.
Topic:
Economics, Public Health, Humanitarian Crisis, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Middle East, Lebanon, and Syria

8. The Future of the Algerian Hirak Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author:
Dris Nouri
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic to Algeria has forced the Algerian popular Hirak to suspend demonstrations that continued without interruption for over a year despite the authorities’ various manoeuvres to disrupt them. This paper examines the Algerian authorities’ attempt to exploit the suspension of the protests to deal with the Hirak and assesses the ability of the popular movement to overcome this period.
Topic:
Protests, Public Health, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Oppression
Political Geography:
Africa and Algeria

9. After the Pandemic: Reimagining the Role of State and Non-State Actors in (Re)building National Health Systems in the Arab World

Author:
Fadi El-Jardali
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
In the Arab region, countries have become increasingly dependent on non-state actors, notably the private sector, for healthcare provision and any response that includes the State alone may not be sufficient to address the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper explores how state and non-state actors in Arab countries have collaborated so far and suggests ways forward to ensure quality healthcare services for all.
Topic:
Non State Actors, Governance, Health Care Policy, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa and Middle East

10. Tunisia Facing COVID-19: To Exceptional Circumstances, Exceptional Measures?

Author:
Eya Jrad
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
With COVID-19, Tunisia is dealing with an unprecedented emergency that is testing its newly established democratic institutions. This paper explores how Tunisia’s different institutions have responded so far to the crisis, and sheds light on how each is trying to assert its role under the exceptional circumstances imposed by the pandemic.
Topic:
Governance, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa and Tunisia