Paper short abstract:

Following a popular uprising that was led by the 'Neighbourhood Committees (NCs)' among other players, the Transitional Government of Sudan challenges were significantly exacerbated by COVID-19. Yet, the NCs stepped up and played a crucial role in supporting vulnerable citizens during this crisis.

Paper long abstract:

Sudan is currently navigating a very complex transitional period, which started in September 2019 following a momentous popular uprising. The peaceful uprising was led by -what is now known as- the 'Neighbourhood Committees (NCs)' among other key players. NCs have emerged during the uprising as a new form of informal CSOs, and quickly claimed a central role in both governance and development arenas. Comprising of young people, these committees are spread across the country, with state and locality level coordination bodies. Their role began as community mobilisers during the revolution to a monitoring body or what is known as ‘revolutionary watchdogs’. As the transitional government was facing immense challenges in building comprehensive peace and addressing the economic crisis, the COVID-19 crisis posed an additional burden that was beyond the government’s capacity. Despite not having previous experiences in services provision, NCs (supported by traditional NGOs) played a crucial role in responding to the crisis, focusing on supporting vulnerable citizens in a context of a collapsing health system and flawed social protection networks. They worked on forming a link between COVID-19 interventions’ providers and the local communities, customising prevention methods to fit the diverse local context, and mobilising local and national actors towards easing the negative effects of the preventive lockdown. This paper will look into the remarkable achievements (and challenges) of the NCs response to COVID-19. Insights and findings are drawn from a learning review that studied COVID-19 response initiatives implemented by NCs and other NGOs and CSOs.