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- Convenor:
-
Anis Ben brik
(Hamad Bin Khalifa University)
Send message to Convenor
- Formats:
- Papers Synchronous
- Stream:
- Global methodologies
- Sessions:
- Friday 2 July, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
This panel will provide a space for dialogue and discussion on the implications of the COVID 19 pandemic on the field of evaluation in the global south to address the ethical, conceptual, and methodological challenges that are affecting evaluation work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Long Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly transforming the field of evaluation. Governments, organizations, and evaluators are facing enormous challenges such as increasing complex dynamics systems, uncertainties, turbulence, lack of control, and nonlinearities. As we move towards the post-COVID-19 phase in many countries, governments, international NGOs, evaluators, and international organizations need to transform themselves and rethink the field of evaluation.
This panel will provide a space for dialogue and discussion on the implications of the COVID 19 pandemic on the field of evaluation in the global south: discuss where we are and what it means.
Original contributions will be encouraged from diverse disciplines and methodologies to address the ethical, conceptual, and methodological challenges that are affecting evaluation work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Theoretical and/or empirical contributions with a comparative and regional perspective are equally encouraged. Papers can focus on a single country case or propose cross-country analyses.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 2 July, 2021, -Beatriz Burattini (International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (UNDP)) Isabela Franciscon (IPC-IGUNDP)
Paper short abstract:
This chapter explores how CCTs normalise certain types of familial roles and how they may reproduce social norms. We find that benefit amount limits per family and the prioritisation of women as benefit recipients reward female caretakers while not considering fathers and penalise large families.
Paper long abstract:
This chapter explores how conditional cash transfers (CCTs) can be used to normalise certain types of idealised familial roles and how they may reproduce familial norms. Based the programme designs of CCTs and their expansions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean, this chapter analyses which norms and assumptions regarding families are behind design features and conditions of CCTs. Furthermore, legislative texts and statements by policy makers that justify family-based restrictions in Argentina and Brazil undergo a discourse analysis to identify the family norms that justify these restrictions embedded in programme design. Based on these analyses, we find that conditionalities are not the main components of CCTs used to reproduce familial norms. Rather, benefit amount limits per family and the prioritisation of women as benefit recipients tend to do this in the Region. These features tend to reward female caretakers while not considering fathers and penalise large families. The Argentinian and Brazilian cases show how discourses that reproduce ideas about families influence the policy process in different ways as they constructed deserving and undeserving families and family members. In Argentina, stereotypes about supposedly dysfunctional poor families and malevolent mothers became part of the AUH’s design through a lack of resistance. During the pandemic in Brazil, gendered family roles were questioned, but nonetheless reproduced during the urgent creation of the Auxílio Emergencial by protecting mothers from supposedly aggressive and fraudulent male ex-partners.
Clement Chipenda (University of South Africa) Tom Tom (University of South Africa)
Paper short abstract:
What critical role can social policy play in the face of an unprecedented crisis brought by Covid-19? This is a critical question which this paper addresses as it provides a critical analysis of Zimbabwe’s response to the pandemic, arguing for a rethink of the social policy regime.
Paper long abstract:
Zimbabwe, like other countries in the global south has for years been burdened by the challenges of persistent poverty and inequality. In response to these challenges, it has developed progressive social policies aimed at protecting the poor and reducing vulnerabilities. In 2020 the situation became complicated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has posed an unprecedented threat to humanity. Covid-19 has disrupted everyday life and livelihoods with indications that it would take time for the situation to normalise. Zimbabwe initially had a few confirmed Covid-19 positive cases and fatalities, but upward trajectories have been witnessed. Despite having a challenging socio-economic and political environment, the country has come up with measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, but what is clear is that there exists ‘a crisis within a crisis.’ This paper critically analyses the country’s response to Covid-19, focusing on the critical role of social policy. It shows that the unprecedented situation which the country finds itself in, provides an opportunity to rediscover the transformational role which social policy can play in providing welfare and social protection to citizens.
Rabee Saleh (Lebanese International University)
Paper short abstract:
The low-income -Yemen faces an unprecedented risk with the rise of COVID-19: due to the collapse of the country's health system, millions of lives in danger, especially children. Improving the social protection and social welfare policies is in the core of the responses to the COVID-19 crisis.
Paper long abstract:
In this paper, we focus on supporting the currently affected country's social protection system by delivering humanitarian welfare aid policies. As the country's social protection system is non-functional as a result the political crisis since 2015, there are some key social protection and social welfare funds, the acting social protection Yemeni institutions including (the Social Fund for Development and Social Welfare Fund) having direct linkage with international organizations to deliver comprehensive assistance to Yemeni vulnerabilities.The International organizations seeking to implement effective nationwide shock-responsive and intervention policies to mitigate the Covid-19's socio-economic consequences impacting millions of Yemeni households and extremely leading them to suffer food insecurity, health and nutrition inadequacy, income shortage due to restrictions, etc.
Covid-19 pushes millions of lives into severe poverty and there should be serious support to establish effective social protection interventions including social safety nets and unconditional emergency cash transfer.The Sustainable Development Goals of which 70 percent of the fund goes to rural areas and as achieving the 2030 Agenda requires greater focus on rural development where if implemented in Yemeni rural areas will contribute richly to social and economic recovery and health and education evolution.This research paper describes the practical coordination between the most influencing local and international organizations working in the humanitarian setting to deliver accountable social protection and welfare services to millions of vulnerable households and suggests future plans to empower vulnerable Yemeni population to take part in economic and agriculture activities shifting them from being humanitarian assistance recipients into independent service givers.
Sneha Krishnan (Jindal Global University)
Paper short abstract:
Under World Humanitarian Summit (2016) call for localisation, evaluation of such approaches remains an understudied area. We undertook remote research guiding local agencies to conduct surveys, interviews group discussions in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Faith actors could support humanitarian and development efforts but have to consciously counter gender biases and exclusionary practices.
Paper long abstract:
The international aid community at the World Humanitarian Summit (2016) committed to the localization agenda – to reinforce, not replace national and local systems and invest in local capacities. The evaluation of localisation approaches remains an understudied area.
We undertook remote research guiding local agencies to conduct household surveys (n=100), Key informant interviews (45) and six FGDs (n=36) with key humanitarian and health stakeholders, faith leaders refugee and host communities in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Faith actors such as imams, majhis, moajjins, madrassa teachers, Tablighi Jamaat and mosque committee members appeared to be key actors who played an instrumental role in spreading awareness as trusted sources by means consistent with the worldviews of community members. Faith leaders encouraged people to maintain effective personal hygiene whilst practicing fatalist beliefs that Corona (colloquial reference) was Allah's curse or command, and it can be overcome through religious prayers.
The localisation approach included an investigation into women’s role in advancing knowledge within this intersection of science and faith. We found that although efforts were made for recruitment and training of Rohingya volunteers , there were challenges to include female Rohingya refugees within these settings. Qualitative data demonstrated the vital role played by women leaders in reaching out to the female members of the Rohingya communities. Female leaders are able to not only influence women community members but also encourage children to practice COVID-19 reduction practices, reducing the vector transmission of COVID-19. Faith based leaders play a critical role at the intersection of faith and COVID-19 public health. Local faith leaders can support humanitarian and longer-term recovery actions within the wider discourse on the role of faith and faith leadership in humanitarian response.