COVID-19 and development – effects and new realities for the Global South
WIDER Development Conference
COVID-19 and development - effects and new realities for the Global South
Mon, 6 September 2021
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Wed, 8 September 2021
SESSION RECORDINGS NOW AVAILABLE
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented new challenges, and undone hard-earned progress on the pathway to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The 2021 WIDER Development Conference takes place online during 6-8 September 2021. The three-day conference provides a platform for sharing knowledge on the effects of the pandemic in different regions across the Global South with the aim of connecting research and policy communities around the world to discuss how to move forward.
On day one Oriana Bandiera joins to discuss COVID-19 and extreme poverty. There is also a special session in honour of the late Benno Ndulu. Day two, 7 September, features a stellar line-up of experts in our policy panel on data gaps. On the final day Staffan Lindberg delivers a keynote on COVID-19 and democracy, the event closes with a panel discussion on recovery and the future of development post-pandemic.
Throughout the event participants are invited to participate in fireside chats, attend a poster session, join our capacity development and training sessions, and more. The event also provides opportunities to engage with other attendees through networking events.
The 2021 WIDER Development Conference takes place online during 6-8 September 2021. The three-day conference provides a platform for sharing knowledge on the effects of the pandemic in different regions across the Global South with the aim of...
With data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey, this paper examines how firm-level resilience capabilities interact with government support in the reduction of lay-offs among formal firms in Central America. We estimate two latent variables to...
Around the world, the pandemic, and the measures taken to address it, have had far reaching effects on poverty, inequality, and governance. And even...
The opening keynote of the recent WIDER Development Conference, COVID-19 and development – effects and new realities for the Global South, was given...
Monday 6 September 13:20-13:40 Hoa Ho How work has changed with COVID-19: Evidence from loan officers in India Timothy Köhler COVID-19 in the context of extreme unemployment and inequality: Estimating the effects of South Africa’s national lockdown...
Industrialization Trends in the Developing World: New Evidence from the GGDC/UNU-WIDER Economic Transformation Database Presenters: Emmanuel Mensah & Hagen Kruse, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC), University of Groningen, the...
The World Income Inequality Database (WIID) provides the most comprehensive set of income inequality statistics available and can be downloaded for free. The WIID can be used to better understand income inequality trends and how they interplay with...
In this capacity development session you will recieve an introduction to UNU-WIDER's Government Revenue Database (GRD) and the 2021 update with an overview of its key variables as well as some examples of using the GRD in research. This will be a...
In this keynote address, Professor Oriana Bandiera presents new research on the differences in productivity between rich and poor countries, and the implications of COVID-19 for the extreme poor in low-income countries.
In this lecture, Professor Lindberg presents the latest findings from the V-Dem Institute on the trends for democracy and autocracy in the world, and the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had for rights and freedoms.
The closing panel will bring together a set of leading thinkers to discuss how COVID-19 changed development. The panel will take stock on what has been learnt about the effect of the pandemic on lives and livelihoods of citizens in developing...
This WIDER Development Conference Special Session will commemorate the life and work of Professor Benno Ndulu, Chair of the Board of UNU-WIDER, who passed on 22 February 2021 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The panel will recall his many contributions as...
The availability of accurate and timely data is essential for sound policy making in the Global South. More and better data can be an accelerator for sustainable development. However, the pandemic has stymied government efforts to collect reliable...
This session explores how risks associated with Covid-19 affect observed behavior and stated preferences in the Global South. M. Hilmy and B. Archibong study revealed preferences using field experiments, while S. Amuakwa-Menza, J. Magat, and A...
This panel brings experts together with professional backgrounds in Africa, Asia and Latin America to reflect on the lessons that can be drawn from the worldwide covid crisis about global health governance. How to evaluate the global health...
The Covid-19 pandemic caused one of the worst economic contractions, social disruptions, and psychosocial distress in living memory. The full impact on lives lost, livelihoods disrupted, and economies reeled into recession in Africa is yet to be...
In July 2020, Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) awarded funding to PEP for COVID-19 Responses for Equity (CORE), a new COVID-19 crisis recovery research initiative. Through this initiative, PEP is working with local...
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all segments of society, highlighting the interconnected nature of the pandemic and broader sustainability challenges as it sweeps across sectors and boundaries. Its impacts are widespread in both economic and non...
The COVID-19 pandemic has had dramatic effects on lives and education systems including widespread school closures. The school closures come on top of a pre-existing learning crisis and threatens to further widen learning gaps, leaving even more...
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted upon the way that production is organised and the way in which consumption takes place. There has been a much greater reliance on remote work and an increased use of automation technologies in many sectors, allowing...
While the pandemic had an immediate and disproportionate negative impact on the livelihoods of most informal workers, it has been widely assumed that their livelihoods would recover once the initial government restrictions were lifted and the...
This session discusses the labour market implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated policies from a macro- and microeconomic perspective. The panel of speakers will present evidence from large cross-country datasets to provide novel...
This panel discusses the impacts of the pandemic in South East Asia with 3 research papers covering Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The pandemic has had differential impacts – in mortality and morbidity – but also in terms of the impact of...
This session is convened by ODI and Southern Voice and discusses appropriate macro-responses to COVID-19 to promote a including a responsible economic stimulus, a stable financial sector and a revival in exports. Chaired by Andrea Ordonez, Director...
The papers in this session offer a significant insight into the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the firms and market sector in developing countries. The paper on Ethiopia uses primary data collected just before the start, and a few months into the...
This section presents several studies about the effects of COVID-19 on human capital. The papers use different methodologies, provide insights for different countries, and complement each other. Abay et al. (2021) for Ethiopia and Dessy et al. (2021)...
While the need for protecting the vulnerable has increased dramatically in the last few years, most developing countries face considerable fiscal constraints. The pandemic has further exacerbated this situation and policymakers are confronted with...
This session explores topics related to political stability and health governance in light of the Covid-19 pandemic in various contexts. The panel addresses important questions on health-seeking behaviours, the varied effects of social distancing...
While the pandemic has presented undeniable challenges to public health and the global economy, we still have limited understanding of its political implications. How has the pandemic, and its related policy response, affected violence, rebellion...
The pandemic has affected people’s lives across the globe. One major concern is how much people’s incomes suffered, leading to greater poverty and inequality. Public policies such as taxes and benefits can help bolster societies against the worst of...
The evolving category of ‘essential services’ has found new meaning in the context of a global pandemic. The role of many groups of informal workers as ‘essential service’ providers or ‘essential workers’ has been highlighted. While the roles of...