Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe are working with civil society organisations (CSOs) and faith-based organisations (FBOs) to design, develop and enhance local level preparedness systems and capacities to support resilience building during and after crises. Local and national governments, the private sector, the media, and academia are also collaborating with the initiative, to help communities to develop their preparedness and response planning. Working with existing community structures, the initiative aims to mobilise and engage community leaders, key stakeholders, and underrepresented groups. The initiative ensures that the most vulnerable people in the community are at the heart of activities. A lack of capacity, resources and capabilities often creates challenges for local governments to initiate effective disaster risk reduction strategies and support from partners e.g. international humanitarian agencies can help to fill the gaps in the initial planning and implementation processes. Consider establishing new partnerships with international humanitarian agencies to:

• Provide institutional capacity and knowledge on emergency preparedness and response processes;
• Support the design, planning, development and implementation of projects that incorporate new initiatives which enable communities to participate and collaborate on emergency response;
• Support partners to establish local preparedness and response systems, including their own governance capacities;
• Conduct peer reviews to identify lessons learned and share examples of good practices;
• Inform future disaster preparedness and response planning

The activities in this initiative include:

• Train CSOs and FBOs on integrated disaster management. This activity aims to develop localised first response systems and capacities;
• Support and train CSOs and FBOs on Emergency Preparedness & Response Planning capacity development, including strategies for building resilience;
• Establish/strengthen 40 local voluntary community groups on areas such as community preparedness, early warning and response;
• Pilot a ‘Supporting Community-led Response’ programme which aims to enable communities and self-help groups to collaborate on response to crisis, and to address root causes of vulnerability, through workshops, peer review and lessons learned sessions

Underrepresented groups such as women- and minority- owned MSMEs have shown a higher degree of vulnerability during the pandemic. Women- and minority- owned businesses tend to be micro in size (10 employees or less), more financially fragile, and face barriers when accessing professional and financial support services, according to the OECD and McKinsey. Past experiences of barriers to support mean that these groups are less likely to seek support or are unaware of the support that may be available to them. During a recent webinar, it was reported that these types of businesses could add £70 billion to the UK economy, if fully supported. We explore ways in which national and local government can better engage with MSMEs to develop policies and support mechanisms that will adequately address their recovery and renewal needs. The OECD and the UK’s Business in the Community recommend:

• Understand the barriers faced by these business owners by directly engaging with them, for example:
  • Establish and facilitate discussions (e.g. consultation) with MSME owners, organisations that represent them, and others such as banks, insurance companies, and professional services providers
• Design inclusive schemes that acknowledge and remove barriers, increase accessibility, and provide adequate support to women- and minority-owned businesses. Examples include:
  • Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy Fund (CAD 15 million) and the Black Entrepreneurship Program (CAD 221 million)
  • Ireland’s Women in Business 2020 Action Plan
  • Malaysia’s Short-term National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) which includes a USD 12.5 million micro financing program and an initiative aimed to raise funds to help finance microenterprises. Both initiatives are targeted at women entrepreneurs
• Deploy targeted advertising and collaborate with business associations, to raise awareness of new and existing aid schemes
• Reduce the bureaucracy of existing aid measures, by decreasing ex ante eligibility checks and deploying easily accessible digital portals. For example:
  • Switzerland's “bridging credit” scheme which can be applied for through a simple one-page form, increasing to accessibility of financial aid and the speed at which companies can receive assistance
• Create contract/tender opportunities that are targeted at women- and minority- owned MSMEs (see examples from Florida and Indiana)

Consider methods to increase participatory decision-making. The Open City Toolkit (OCT) is a web-based geographic information system (GIS) that supports “integrated and participatory urban planning processes, fostering dialogue between governments and citizens and exchange of knowledge and data between government departments”. The OCT Toolkit, developed by HafenCity University Hamburg (HCU) and Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeir GnbH (GIZ), is now freely available and offers:

• Guidance to help local government and urban planners to visualise and analyse complex urban data, collaboratively among local practitioners and with citizens
• An online introductory tutorial which details the technical components of the system and how these components work together for the tool to function
• A further tutorial series which guides the user of the OCT step-by-step through the process of managing the system.

The OCT is currently being piloted in two cities:

• Bhubaneswar, India where high numbers of people are living in informal settlements (e.g. slums) and the local government are using the OCT to identify land for the development of affordable housing
• Latacunga, Ecuador, where large areas of the city are vulnerable to risk due to their proximity to the Cotopaxi volcano and the local government intend to use the OCT to develop collaborative solutions for volcanic risk governance

The OCT has been adapted to the specific local planning requirements of the two pilot cities mentioned above, but offers open software for the development of further functionalities for new contexts.

The pandemic has disrupted children and young people’s education, physical health, mental well-being, and social development. There is an abundance of evidence that shows how play is crucial for children’s “health, their physical-and emotional growth, and intellectual and educational development”. The social and behavioural skills that children acquire during play can support the development of resilience, increasing children’s ability to manage stress and adversity. Local areas now have an opportunity to increase spaces for play through city infrastructure and land use planning in their Recovery Strategies and Renewal Initiatives. Resilient Cities Network (RCN) explored this topic in a recent webinar. Consider:

• The Reclaiming Play in Cities initiative, which recognises how the “built environment as a critical play and learning resource for children”. Increasing opportunities for play in cities can support communities to build resilience. For example:
  • Barnet, London have taken full advantage of urban regeneration to invest in play infrastructure. Core strategies include “balancing private development with adequate resourcing for the local voluntary and community sector (VCS) to provide play activities for the most vulnerable children in the area”, and the redesign of two local parks
  • Khayelitsha, Cape Town, with the support of the Urban Play Framework (discussed below), began a two-phase intervention to develop a local play culture in the area. With community participation, the first phase upgrades a series of existing courtyards to create a network of designated play spaces. The second phase will link this network to a refurbished nursery which will serve as a central hub to establish a safer, more varied and stimulating environment for play
• The Urban Play Framework which offers guidance on design and ‘placemaking’ in cities:
  • The Urban Play Framework Toolkit which provides methods and tools to support local governments and communities to conduct a play assessment of their area, and identify and co-design play activation initiatives
• The importance of participatory processes and community engagement in the assessment, design, and evaluation of play initiatives so that children are active participants in the process to increase their agency

A recent event organised by Geneva Cities Hub (GHC) and UN-Habitat examined the measures that cities across the world took to tackle economic and financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The session discussed lessons learned and how these might inform and accelerate the development of strategies which effectively prepare for and mitigate the effects of future crisis in cities. One core response lesson identified was that “cities which have best managed the crisis are those who have been flexible in the allocation of resources and capacities to support their citizens”. A further key takeaway was the potential for tools developed by international organisations to support and drive city recovery and renewal. The tools discussed include:

1. The Urban Economic Resilience Performance Diagnostic and Planning Tool which can support cities to:

• Identify the “strengths and weaknesses of institutional and operating” mechanisms with a focus on economic recovery, renewal, and resilience building
• Analyse the “structure and functioning” of cities and effectively measure economic performance. This tool can specifically help cities to understand how these factors impact vulnerability to shocks and stressors, and broader local resilience
• Inform the design and implementation of comprehensive Recovery Strategies and Renewal Initiatives that restore and enhance preparedness, and tackle systemic socio-economic conditions to reduce vulnerabilities

1. The Municipal Financial Self-Assessment Tool which aims to support cities to:

• Analyse city financial health and identify strategies that will improve the “mobilization of local resources, financial management, public spending, assets management (public), investment programming and access to external funding”
• Evaluate local budgets, finance management practices, city savings capacity, investment history and future opportunities, and review financial forecasts
• Benchmark according to a set of comparable key indicators and ratios
• Define strategies for a ‘Municipal Finance Improvement Plan’ aiming for “greater accountability, visibility and efficiency in the use of public funds”
• The local government of Kisela Voda, Macedonia, detailed how this tool supported them to mobilize local resources such as increasing land development fees and selling municipal assets

1. The City Resilience Profiling Tool, designed to:

• Assess and understand unique urban systems by engaging local governments, the private sector and civil society stakeholders to build city resilience
• Support the establishment of strategies that consider five core and interdependent components: “spatial attributes; organisational attributes; physical attributes; functional attributes; and time”

Cities’ have been in the forefront of the fight against the pandemic, by providing emergency services, containing the spread of disease, mitigating the resulting social and economic impact, and coordinating efforts for recovery. In addition, cities have delivered financial aid to companies and families in need, and reduced or suspended municipal taxes (see European Committee of the Regions). Naturally, this has impacted their public finances and there have been various calls to change how cities are funded, in order to increase fiscal resilience. The current funding model for most cities, around the world, is primarily based in transfers from national governments. Own revenues, such as taxes, comprise the second most important source of revenue to cities, followed by external financing. The UN proposes reversing the current model, by decreasing the dependency on national transfers and increasing revenues from own revenues and external financing. The UN recommends the following:

• Provide funding to cities to support economic recovery, for example:
  • National governments could provide emergency funding to cities earmarked for service provision, infrastructure, and special relief programs for populations
• Improve the accessibility of finance and credit for local governments, by allowing them direct access to grant/loan applications and enabling them to develop public private partnerships
• “Strengthen multilateral financing and cooperation” to allow cities to fund recovery and renewal programs. For example:
  • International organizations, development banks, and national governments could establish dedicated global funds to finance urban responses to COVID-19, to help cities and their local economic and financial recoveries
  • The European Union Solidarity Fund will cover 100% of costs incurred by Portuguese cities, associated with the fight against COVID-19
• Channel financial support to productive sectors most at need. City authorities could facilitate coordinated action across urban areas to provide “loan programmes, grants, tax incentives, and temporary rent deferrals” to businesses in need
• Introduce incentives for “sustainable production and consumption through new policies, subsidies and knowledge transfers”. E.g. grants for new clean energy strategies such as green roofs
• “Address dysfunctional and exploitative development practices such as land speculation and unserviceable sprawl”, by, for example, implementing and enforcing clear regulations and introducing taxes to increase own revenues

COVID-19 differs from previous crises in terms of its scale, its complex and prolonged nature, and the fragilities that it has exposed. Yet, the disruptions and losses experienced are broadly similar to those brought about by other recent major emergencies. Consider the lessons learned from previous disaster recovery efforts that aim to “promote longer-term, integrated thinking and planning, to create pathways out of the pandemic that more effectively support recovery” and renewal:

• Analyse how the crisis has changed vulnerability (prolonged crises in particular). Use this knowledge to inform recovery strategies and renewal initiatives (e.g. Ecuador)
• Recognise the long-term needs of recovery and renewal. Acknowledge that the impacts of pandemic are not static and will not end on a particular date (e.g. India). A flexible and adaptable approach will support longer-term activities that can change where and when required
• Plan recovery and resilience programmes that integrate actions to deal with the risk of other hazards that can interact and exacerbate the impacts of the current crisis (e.g. Ethiopia & Mozambique)
• Implement an approach that targets the most vulnerable and marginalised sectors of the population, given the uneven impacts of the pandemic and response strategies (e.g. Montserrat)
• Depoliticise, as far as possible, the recovery agenda by establishing the needs of those more vulnerable above political interests (e.g. Chennai)
• Understand recovery and renewal as a holistic process that focuses on the impacts of COVID-19 on the economic, social, and mental wellbeing of communities (e.g. Dominica)
• Support community-building activities and engage the community in recovery and mitigation activities (e.g. Colombia)

Agriculture is fundamental to sustaining livelihoods, by providing employment, income, and being key in the response to climate change – and food security and nutrition are challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Recovery and renewal present an opportunity to reform agricultural production in line with the SDGs. One of the challenges for such reforms is funding them, given that post-COVID-19 economies will have high levels of fiscal debt. Consider the strategies proposed by United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to fund the recovery and renewal actions needed for a new and more sustainable agricultural sector:

Funding and finance for response and recovery

• Focus response and recovery on food security across the most vulnerable regions, by supporting consumers and producers to acquire essential goods
• Take a regional approach to fund programs among several communities, cities, or counties, instead of focusing only on the local jurisdiction
• Implement focused tax discounts for the most vulnerable producers and consumers
• Promote payments for environmental services (PES) as a mechanism to transfer resources to producers who commit to protecting the environment, or provide an environmental conservation service
• Involve firms in specific social projects, e.g. through "parafiscal" taxes - those taxes based on employees, imports, or exports, and are used to fund part of specific programs, reducing budget pressures without risking the quality of the intervention

Funding and financing to renew

• New types of funding should be used to achieve the sustainable transformation that agriculture needs e.g. Defra’s ‘Sustainable Farming Incentive 2021 (UK) or the Agricultural Sustainability Framework (Australia)
• Invest in climate change mitigation measures in agriculture. For examples, see the following papers: ‘Technical options for climate change mitigation in agriculture’ (European Union); or ‘Strategies for mitigating climate change in agriculture’ (USA)
• Start financial inclusion programs for vulnerable agricultural producers. Such programs can be conditional on producers adopting sustainable cropping practices
• Define new approaches to social responsibility, in which firms commit to work with local government and NGOs in risk reduction programmes

Historically, public health crises, such as pandemics, have transformed various elements of city planning - namely, urban ecology, sanitation systems, public parks, street design and housing regulations - and how people inhabit and interact within urban areas. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed various pre-existing problems, but also brought new opportunities to city planning. National, regional and local governments have the opportunity to address both old and new problems in their recovery and renewal plans. The UN recommends the following:

• “Strengthen coordination between cities, regions and territories through the creation of shared decision-making platforms”, in order to leverage shared interests and align policies
• Recognize the link between public health and environmental quality, and introduce environmental protection measures, such as blue-green networks (natural and semi-natural landscape elements like trees and ponds), urban growth boundaries, land use and zoning regulations, and carbon-taxes to reduce ecosystem deterioration and improve air quality
• Improve logistics and supply chains, including:
  • “connectivity within cities and regions through national urban policies and plans that facilitate the secure flow and movement of goods, services and labour
  • Building regional resilience by strengthening localized means of production for essential provisions such as food and medical supply chains, by, for example, incentivizing investments that support local means of production and/or shorten supply chains”
• Increase resilience, by identifying and improving urban “weak spots”. These are locations vulnerable to shocks or stresses due to issues such as overcrowding, limited or poor connectivity, or being situated in flood plains
• Prioritise neighbourhoods in city planning, with a focus on developing “self-contained and socially inclusive communities”. Consider the concept of a 15-minute neighbourhood, where all facilities can be accessed within a 15 minute walk
• Develop a strategy for public spaces and urban mobility to renew public areas and their potential uses. For example, in Milan:
  • The “Strade Aperte” project which details Milan’s strategies for cycling and pedestrianization to “guarantee measures of distance in urban travel and for sustainable mobility”
  • The “Piazza Aperte” project which aims to “bring public space back to the centre of the neighbourhood and the life of the inhabitants”
• Address housing issues through public health strategies, recognising the social, economic and environmental benefits of adequate housing
• Identify and tackle the fragilities in infrastructure, e.g. the design of buildings such as offices, factories, plants, and hospitals that have emerged as epicentres for COVID-19 outbreaks

During COVID-19, schools were forced to move to remote delivery of teaching. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) note that high levels of pre-existing inequalities (e.g. poverty) have exacerbated the negative impacts of the pandemic on children’s education. The World Bank report predicts that the “shock on human capital will substantially reduce intergenerational mobility and the likelihood of children from low educated families to complete secondary school”. The bank also presents a call to action to address the significant learning loss experienced by Latin American and Caribbean children. As countries are transitioning back to face-to-face or to more hybrid styles of education delivery, consider:

• Work in partnership with schools, community groups (e.g. parental committees) and local social care services to identify vulnerable children and develop targeted measures (e.g. through remedial programmes) to ensure that schools are teaching at an appropriate level for all children. Specifically take into account the learning needs of children from lower-income families who may not have had the resources at home to keep up with remote learning measures
  • For example, ‘Alerta Escuela’, Peru uses early warning systems to identify students who are at risk of dropping out or who are in need of targeted interventions
• Guide and support schools on how best to combine remote and in-person learning (e.g. the Ceibal initiative in Uruguay). To increase accessibility, blended learning recovery solutions should consider low- or no-tech options (e.g. educational TV programmes/local radio/community youth groups)
• Design a long-term transformational plan for accelerating the digital transformation of local and national Education Management and Information Systems (EMIS), for example:
  • The World Bank is collaborating with education agencies to establish a “new generation of EMIS based on an enterprise architecture focusing on learning data”. The programme will collate best practices, tools and guidance that aim to enable education agencies to implement technology-driven solutions that accelerate cost effective educational programmes and generate high investment returns

See also TMB Issue 33 – a case study which explores the “attainment gap” and digital divide, detailing international strategies that aim to support children to catch up on learning time lost during the pandemic

TMB Issue 37 detailed some investment initiatives adopted in France, Sweden, Finland and Chile to stimulate a green recovery. This lesson brings together further examples of how countries are implementing green recovery and renewal plans which aim to cut emissions in the aftermath of COVID-19. Consider:

• Italy has deployed a stimulus support package targeting the agricultural sector, designing “integrated projects” which include green community initiatives and awareness campaigns around environmental challenges
• Ireland committed to “raising the energy rating of 500,000 homes by 2030” in 2020. A new green recovery stimulus package includes a “retrofit skills training initiative” and additional funding targeted at the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland to expand the initiative. This is expected to create an additional 3,200 “quality, sustainable jobs”
• Spain has included funding for “housing renovation and urban regeneration” which aims to improve the “energy performance of buildings”, as part of their Recovery and Resilience plan, which has been submitted to the EU Commission
• South Korea has designed an initiative “green transformation of living infrastructure” which aims to stimulate employment growth and transform “state-run facilities (e.g. community health clinics, public housing, childcare facilities) to zero-emissions”. The plan is to replace “fossil-fuel based utility systems with efficient, green systems, and implement 100 new IT-based systems to help resolve environmental issues, including low-carbon vehicle manufacturing and air quality improvement”

The UN-HABITAT City Resilience Global Programme (CRGP) define urban resilience as the “measurable ability of any urban system, with its inhabitants, to maintain continuity through all shocks and stresses, while positively adapting and transforming towards sustainability”. This gives rise to the following ‘Urban Resilience Principles’ to consider:

‘Dynamic nature of urban resilience’

• Recognise that resilience is a fluid condition and requires that systems “evolve, transform and adapt to current and future conditions”. Resilience building activities require “context-specific” and adaptable plans and activities which account for the complex and “dynamic nature of risk and resilience”

‘Systemic approach to cities’

• Acknowledge that urban areas consist of “interconnected systems through complex networks” and even small adaptions can impact the entire network of systems. A wide-ranging and comprehensive approach is required to account for the interdependencies that exist within urban systems and are exposed to disruption during crisis

‘Promoting participation in planning and governance’

• Co-production of resilience planning and governance can enhance the “prosperity” of stakeholders (e.g. city residents), increase a sense of local ownership and achieve more effective implementation of resilience building plans and activities

‘Multi-stakeholder engagement’

• “Continuity of governance, economic activity and other city functions” is critical to a resilient system. Facilitating collaborative communication and working between all interested stakeholders such as “public entities, the private sector, civil society, academic institutions and the city community”, is essential

‘Strive towards the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs)

• Underpinning resilience building plans and initiatives with SDGs can ensure that human rights are “fulfilled, respected, and protected”

TMB Issue 38 discussed the importance of community involvement in tackling disease outbreaks and presented the recommendations set out by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. This briefing offers examples of good practice in community participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consider:

• Tanzania: local government co-produced infection control measures with business leaders based in markets to integrate leaders’ understanding & knowledge of the challenges of implementing such measures
• Nigeria: the “community informer model” was employed by local authorities for COVID “surveillance, tracing and monitoring” – community informers are key trusted individuals in a community (e.g. faith leaders)
• Pakistan: community volunteers “set up quarantine wards, manufactured and provided free protective suits for medics”, and distributed food to vulnerable people
• India: Community volunteers came together to investigate and identify unknown (“hidden”) COVID-19 fatalities. The volunteer group comprised of expert physicians and data analysts who developed comparisons of official health data and other reports. This encouraged a review of the national death audit process and resulted in improvements in the process so that COVID-19 deaths were accurate and transparent
• USA: Volunteers built a public “Testing Site Locator” app which visualized the geographical location of testing centres to support collection of testing centre-related information and dissemination at the national level. This supported people to locate the nearest available testing centres and also the “health system to plan and distribute centres more effectively”

The pandemic, and previous disasters, have evidenced that communities play a crucial role when preparing for, responding to and recovering from, crisis. Communities and civil societies should be “partners early on in the design, planning, implementation, and assessment of preparedness and response efforts on all levels”, particularly at the local level. We have covered community participation and co-production with communities in various briefings, see TMB Issue 38; Issue 34; Issue 33.

Support for SME recovery is critical in the aftermath of COVID-19, as SMEs constitute the backbone of economies across the world and “account for two-thirds of employment globally” (UNCTAD, 2021). COVID-19 has exacerbated existing problems and created new ones for SMEs. The OECD report finds that SMEs are disproportionately represented in sectors of the economy that have been most severely impacted by COVID-19 (e.g. retail, accommodation and food services). “Constrained cash flows and weaker supply chains” contribute to SMEs tending to be more financially fragile and more susceptible to supply chain disruptions. Many more examples of the challenges faced by SMEs can be found both in this OECD report and others (e.g. a recent McKinsey report). The OECD report presents 15 lessons on effective policy design, including:

• Prompt delivery of SME and entrepreneurship policy support. This can be supported by strengthening digital delivery systems at both the national and local levels
• Develop start-up policies to drive innovative start-ups for recovery
• “Ensure support mechanisms are inclusive and accessible for vulnerable segments of the SME population” (e.g., minority and women entrepreneurs)
• Focus on the digitalisation of SMEs and start-ups, e.g. incentivise/provide targeted financial support/grants (local governments can sign-post local entrepreneurs and SMEs to support services e.g. Business in the Community/FSB UK)
• Establish measures to consult with entrepreneurs and owners of SMEs, to understand their needs, their priorities, and co-produce recovery and renewal plans with them

A current research project, by the Overseas Development Institute, is examining social protection (SP) measures employed during the pandemic in LMICs. The project is producing a series of working papers. One paper examines the inclusion of refugees in government-led SP and the “alignment and integration of cash assistance to refugees and government social protection”. The paper evaluates the effectiveness of social protection responses across four countries in terms of: “Timeliness; coverage adequacy; and level adequacy (value of benefit)”. It also offers the emerging lessons from the study and initial policy recommendations. Consider:

Lessons on the drivers of effective government social protection response

• The maturity of SP systems and pre-existing local and state capacities directly impacted how effectively SP programmes met the needs of refugees during COVID
• Targeting criteria that evaluates eligibility based on risk of vulnerability could be more effective, timely and suitable during a crisis rather than traditional criteria such as length of residency or status
• Benefit levels of government systems are unlikely to be sufficient for refugees’ needs, as these are typically higher than those of nationals and require very careful consideration. The main challenge identified when setting benefit levels which include refugees during the pandemic is that governments are “faced with two competing objectives: (1) preventing social tension and unfairness between population groups” (by varying benefit levels between refugees and nationals); and (2) “ensuring that everyone can meet their basic needs”

Policy recommendations for protecting refugees during a crisis

• Conduct a national socio-economic survey, to include data on refugees’ needs, to develop an overview of the needs of the population across the country. This can enable more effective social protection programme design that effectively meets the needs of everyone
• A review of registration processes can highlight barriers to access for refugees (e.g. in terms of the documents required to register for programmes). Where this is not possible, governments can “draw on international/national/local humanitarian actors’ databases of refugee populations” to swiftly target them with support during crisis
• Hosting governments could consider “integrating refugees into social insurance” (e.g. those with work permits) which may reduce political or public opposition as those receiving benefits will be contributing to national insurance
• Careful consideration of benefit levels and trade-offs between “politically greater acceptability but possibly lower effectiveness” in terms of meeting refugees needs is essential

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)

The pressures placed on the global food system during COVID-19 activated various policy responses across the world to manage supply and demand. Sub-Saharan African countries rely heavily on food imports. This means that international agricultural policy responses to the pandemic in markets on which Africa relies, directly affect the region’s food markets. Potential impacts include “commodity price volatility the availability of supplies and farmers’ planting decisions”. Consider how to address the impacts of COVID and build food system resilience for the future with regard to countries that rely on food imports:

• Design more “holistic policy interventions” which tackle bottlenecks in the vast span of “value chain actors” e.g. suppliers and transporters, traders and retailers, to advance resilience of the entire supply chain
• Invest in market infrastructure, e.g. cold storage systems, to strengthen supply chains of perishable goods
• Establish and increase social protections for particularly vulnerable groups e.g. “urban poor, informal workers and resource-poor smallholder farmers"
• Advance regional and local trade agreements that enable greater food market integration – with the aim of developing resilient domestic and regional food systems, lowering the reliance on importing, and increasing local domestic economic growth

Working from home became the new normal for various sectors during the pandemic. However, this “pandemic-style” of working from home may not translate smoothly to post-pandemic working. A recent McKinsey survey of 100 executives across various industries and locations found that 90% of organisations intend to adopt a hybrid model of working (a combination of remote and on-site working). However, many organisations have only just begun to consider how this new approach will be integrated into organisational practice, resulting in employees feeling uncertain and anxious. Consider:

• Be transparent and open from the start with employees. If still in the planning stage, communicate the uncertainty of plans for remodelling current working practices
• Be clear on the current expectations of employees considering that their personal circumstances may have changed during the pandemic, and they may not be able to make a swift return to the office (e.g. consider a phased-in approach)
• Support and encourage “small moments of engagement”, which can include coaching, mentoring and co-working
• Reimagine the leadership process in your organisation. Train managers on “remote leadership” and re-evaluate current performance metrics so these represent how employees might succeed when working from home
• Develop new codes of practice (e.g. for online meetings) so that employees don’t always feel they must be available and don’t have to go from one meeting to the next, relentlessly
• Establish new ways of monitoring and evaluating employee attendance and productivity, so that employees don’t feel they need to be constantly logged into their computers to prove they are working. Focus on the work output, and assess if employees have the tools and skills to succeed, before assessing how many hours they spent logged in
• Pilot a hybrid approach that suits your organisational context and is tailored to the needs of specific teams and roles (e.g. evaluate what roles require on-site working)
• Develop new ways of monitoring employee wellbeing

There has recently been a new spotlight shone on the impact that communities have had on their local response. A key message from the UK’s Integrated Review was the need to build whole-of-society resilience through enhancing capabilities in local resilience (see a recent TMB case study). TMB has often highlighted the renewal of community resilience through building a Local Resilience Capability (TMB Issue 30, as well as Briefing A in this current issue). Communities are being seen in a new light in local resilience.

This has been further identified in a paper by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, titled ‘Centering communities in pandemic preparedness and response’. This paper emphasizes the importance of community involvement in tackling disease outbreaks and advises of the need to:

• Establish partnerships to work with communities to design, plan, implement and monitor local and national pandemic preparedness and response, for example:
  • In Sur, Oman, the city government developed an intervention of response in partnership with civil society (e.g. community sports clubs, the Omani Women Association, youth groups and voluntary organisations). These groups supported activities to “arrange, maintain, and supervise” pandemic response activities
• Improve community engagement through “clear structures and sustained funding”, recognising that continuous effort is needed (not just a one-off effort during crisis). This can help to develop trust between communities and official service providers
• Recognise that risk communication is key to community engagement, and one part of local resilience capabilities: two-way, bi-directional and co-produced communications are essential to understand needs, communicate responsibilities, and gain feedback (see TMB 37 ‘Risk communications as part of the Local Resilience Capability’)
• Community resilience requires a “sustainable framework for community empowerment and recovery”, including:
  • “Invest in civic mindedness” to establish a culture of social connectedness and empower communities to take responsibility through co-production to understand risk preparedness, response and recovery
  • Establish partnerships between governments and community-based groups/voluntary organisations/businesses to integrate communities into the planning and leadership of interventions that enhance their local resilience
  • “Invest in social and economic wellbeing, and in physical and psychological health” to ensure access to health services

A 2019 report ‘Lifelines: The Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity’, published by the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), highlighted the net benefits of investing in resilient infrastructure in developing countries (which could save “$4.2 Trillion”). Accelerating resilient infrastructure has recently dominated discussions about recovery from COVID-19 across the world and how this can improve health, education and livelihoods. The report included five recommendations for advancing resilient infrastructure:

• ‘Get the basics right’, through regulation and procurement law to improve management and governance to build resilient infrastructure
• ‘Build institutions for resilience’, to tackle wider “political economy” issues. Identify critical infrastructure assets to inform how resources are allocated
• ‘Create regulations and incentives for resilience’, to account for disruptions to infrastructure and encourage service providers to go further than just meeting their obligatory standards
• ‘Improve decision making’, through improved data, tools and skills (e.g. “digital elevation models” which are crucial to informing investment decisions in urban areas)
• ‘Provide financing that is targeted and timely’, focused on preparedness and prevention to improve resilience and reduce the likelihood of needing to spend billions to recover and renew from the impacts of an emergency

A recent webinar, organised by the World Bank and Resilient Cities Network, builds on this report and discusses resilient infrastructure: what it is, how it can be identified and how cities can advance resilient infrastructure so that it achieve multiple goals. You can watch this webinar here.

CarbonBrief have developed an interactive grid where you can explore and track the progress of how different countries across the world are implementing green recovery and renewal plans which aim to cut emissions in the aftermath of COVID-19. Below, we offer some examples of diverse initiatives from across the world:

• France allocated funding to “promote and support environmental performance” in their food and agricultural sector, e.g. funding to support farmers to adapt their farming systems to lower their impact on the environment. France have also allocated funding to create over 1,000 “eco-responsible restaurants in rural communities”, along with investment in “energy efficiency of public and private buildings, social housing, insulation and low-carbon heating”
• Sweden allocated investment to raise the “energy performance of Sweden’s housing stock and to support improvements in rental properties”
• Finland plan to “phase out oil heating in both households and public buildings” and allocated funding to the “wood constriction programme which promotes the use of timber by enhancing industry expertise, developing legislation and building regulations, and providing factual information”
• Chile have committed to plant trees on 24,000 hectares of land and invest in better fire management as part of its “mitigation and adaptation commitments related to forests and biodiversity”. Chile will also have invested in modernisation and irrigation projects for farmers, as part of the COVID-19 budget response

The ‘Going for Growth 2021: Shaping a Vibrant Recovery’ (OECD) report argues that structural policies can deliver a “stronger, more resilient, equitable and sustainable COVID-19 recovery”. Key to building resilience will be policies that transform environmental policies to drive the ‘Green Transition’. A challenge which lies ahead will be public perception and acceptability of environmental policies, specifically those which are market-focused (e.g. carbon tax). These have the potential to raise public concerns on the implications of such policies for employment security and cost of living - due to their impact on certain sectors (e.g. mining). The report offers strategies that can build public support of environmental policies. To illustrate the report uses the change to carbon pricing as an example:

• A phased-in and transparent approach (e.g. gradual raising prices) to give households sufficient time to adapt to the change as necessary
• “Revenue recycling”, which can fund universal transfer payments, reduce taxes, and provide targeted support for communities and households impacted by the change
• Communication with the public and education campaigns on the change, which promote the benefits of carbon pricing and counter misinformation
• Policy naming and branding which does not imply taxation (e.g. “Levy”), to mitigate the development of mistrust of the change amongst the public

The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response recently issued a report calling on the international community to employ a package of reforms to transform the global pandemic preparedness and response system to prevent a future pandemic. The report finds that the current system is unfit to prevent another novel and highly infectious disease from developing into a pandemic. The report recommends a transformational reform of the existing pandemic prevention, preparedness and response system, including:

• Form a “Global Health Threats Council” to ensure political commitment to pandemic preparedness, prevention and response. In the Council:
  • Assign responsibility to key actors through “peer recognition and scrutiny”
  • Establish a ‘Pandemic Framework Convention’ in all countries within the next six months
• Introduce an international surveillance system to:
  • Enable the WHO to share information about outbreaks of concern, and
  • Rapidly deploy experts to investigate such outbreaks
• Immediate investment in national preparedness by:
  • Reviewing current preparedness plans
  • Allocating the required financing and resources to ensure readiness for another health event
• Make The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) a global platform to transform the current market model to one targeted at delivering global public goods (vaccines, diagnostics, supplies)
• Establish a funding model for the WHO to increase its agency and financing
• Develop an “International Pandemic Financing Facility” to:
  • Fund ongoing preparedness
  • Enable immediate finance support for response if a pandemic is declared
• Adopt a political declaration which commits to transformative reform of global pandemic preparedness and response

Cities are central to addressing climate change and promoting environmental sustainability. Floods, droughts, storms and rising sea levels are impacting infrastructure, livelihoods and human health across the world. In particular, urban activities contribute significantly to "climate change and environmental degradation". The UNOSSC, in partnership with UN Habitat, have launched a call for submissions on cities' innovative experiences on environmental sustainability and climate action through South-South and triangular cooperation. They call for examples of innovative environmental sustainability and climate solutions in cities that fulfil the following criteria:

• Include South-south or triangular cooperation approaches
• Are scalable and replicable
• Involve a local government or municipal authority

This call for submissions offers an opportunity to:

• Feature as a case study in the upcoming joint publication by UNOSSC and UN-Habitat
• Join UNOSSC's cities thematic clusters network which offers an opportunity to share experiences and learn about knowledge-sharing and pilot project opportunities

Submit initiatives/projects by June 5th 2021 (please note that this submission date has now expired).

United Nations Office for South-south Cooperation (UNOSSC)

United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat)

Our Recovery, Renewal, Resilience project has recently been recognised by UNDRR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction), joining the global Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments initiative for disaster risk reduction. This initiative was developed in response to the General Assembly resolution 68/211 (2013) to support the development of partnerships at all levels to implement the Sendai framework. The Sendai Framework VC initiative provides specific encouragement to academic, scientific, and research entities in regards to their contribution to disaster risk reduction. The Voluntary Commitment highlights our projects 'Sendai Priorities for Action' including:

• "Understanding disaster risk;
• Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk;
• Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience;
• Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to 'Build Back Better'"

The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitment platform showcases a wide range of work from different organisations and groups across the world, all working to build resilience. The platform serves as a "mechanism to mobilize, monitor and take stock of commitments from multi-stakeholders for the implementation of the Sendai Framework until 2030". You can explore the various projects from across the world or register your own project on the platform here.

Global distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is essential to ensure that all lives are protected. As a result of vaccine shortfall, people in many parts of the world may need to wait up to three years to get the vaccine, during which time COVID-19 will continue to mutate and spread. In addition to protecting human life, global distribution of vaccines is required to protect the economy, which could be "deprived of up to 9.2 trillion dollars" if not (International Chamber of Commerce). Low and middle income countries are reliant on the work of COVAX to provide global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. However, mobilising the necessary support from donors is a challenge. "Greater public-private sector collaboration is required to ensure rapid and fair distribution". Many private sector companies are looking for ways to support the global vaccination effort but are unsure as to how exactly they can do this. The World Bank advises to consider:

• Aggregate funding to mobilize donors, e.g. introduce a pool fund or matching commitments, which can establish a coordinated approach from public and private donors and increase the number of and size of donations from diverse co-funders
• Establish "concessional financing" to support local businesses to develop and improve their service delivery and supply chains to better meet the needs of local vaccine programmes (e.g. small and medium sized businesses in disadvantaged sectors and locations)
• Introduce "results-based finance to improve accountability and outcomes per dollar spent on the vaccination support, as traditional grant funding is tied to inputs, not achievement of outcomes"

A recent UN policy brief identified the significant gap in health coverage as a core reason for COVID-19 having such devastating impacts on people's lives. Universal health coverages means that all people and communities can access the health services that they need, with three key priorities; "equity in access, sufficient quality and no undue financial risk". Consider:

• Establish universal provision for "COVID-19 testing, isolating, contact tracing" and treatment
• Ensure protection of essential health services during the critical phases of the pandemic (e.g. services for sexual and reproductive health)
• Through international partnerships, ensure future COVID-19 vaccines are a "global public good with equitable access for everyone, everywhere"
• Protect and invest in core health systems functions that are critical to protecting and promoting health and well-being, known as "Common goods for health"
• Suspend user fees for COVID-19 and other essential health care; reduce financial barriers to service use
• Strengthen local, national and global pandemic preparedness and aim for healthy societies for the future through a whole-of-society approach

Infrastructure investment has been found to effectively stimulate economic activity. Project prioritization and methods of financing are two key policy and investment questions, noted by the International Transport Forum (OECD). Consider:

• Projects which deliver jobs, stimulate growth in the short- and medium-term should be prioritised
• Those projects that are already in the pipeline with cleared planning and environmental approval should be the focus
• "Interventions should be Timely, Targeted and Temporary: the IMF's TTT principle"
• Local projects should be accurately estimated and the life-span of projects should be effectively forecasted
• Incentives or stimulus packages should be based on aims to drive "decarbonisation, social equity and resilience"

Involving citizens in the recovery planning and development process can lead to more effective policy outcomes and build trust and a two way dialogue between citizens and government. COVID-19 has had diverse impacts on the lives of individuals and communities, and their involvement in deciding the routes to long-term recovery following the pandemic is crucial. Consider the good practice principles for deliberative processes offered by the OECD, which will support the achievement of "high-quality processes that result in useful recommendations and meaningful opportunities for citizens to shape public decisions":

• Clearly define the issue as a question that is aligned with the concerns and challenges faced by different communities
• Invite people to make recommendations for addressing the issues that affect them, respond to recommendations in a timely manner, and monitor and feedback regularly to people on the progress of their implementation (e.g. Scotland's Citizens' Assembly)
• Ensure the process is inclusive and representative of all people in the community, e.g. stratified random sampling to select a participant group which fully represents a community's demographic profile
• Make information easily accessible through public communications. Include the purpose, design, methodology, recruitment details, experts, recommendations, the response, and implementation follow-up
• Establish a mechanism through which people can request additional information, ask questions and keep up to date on progress of activities
• Appoint a liaison person who can feed information in from and out to the community
• Take time to reflect on and evaluate deliberative processes, to ensure learning, help improve future practice and understand impact

Recovery and renewal strategies require community co-production to be influenced by the knowledge, skills and experience of communities. Participation depends on a number of factors. VFL find that time and convenience are crucial when it comes to community participation in recovery, renewal and resilience plans and actions. Measures to facilitate community participation should address the needs of all community members, so as to ensure accessibility, and not reinforce inequalities. Consider whether:

• Local planning and government meetings, forums and workshops are conveniently located and accessible:
  • Select locations and venues that facilitate access for all members of the community. Consider access constraints affecting disadvantaged groups, which may be physical, geographic, economic, or faith related. E.g. provide online access, transport, refreshments, accessibility for people with disabilities
  • Select venues/online forums where different groups within the community already congregate (e.g. different religious groups, women)
• The timing of activities fits with the commitments of the community members who will be participating. For example, work schedules, household responsibilities, school timetables of children and parents (particularly women), farmers' seasonal calendars:
  • Carefully consider people's time, and seek feedback from the community on times that are suitable
  • Draw on appropriate local volunteers to offer childcare where physical meetings are held
• Socio-cultural issues which might prevent some people from participating have been considered:
  • Identify potential barriers related to language, literacy levels, ethnicity, gender discrimination, etc.
  • Provide expert facilitation and translation services, or organize separate meetings with women, people with disabilities, specific ethnic minorities and other groups to facilitate their participation
• Report back to participants on the outcome of their community participation and how thinking/planning has changed as a result of their contribution

Yesterday, RCN launched Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner's R-Cities Board Chair's Agenda for "climate-ready infrastructure that is equitable and produces green jobs". This agenda expands RCN's commitment to support cities across the world in a resilient recovery. The preliminary actions for advancing this agenda include; 'Assessing R-Cities work across the network that advances this agenda; Engaging with existing communities of practice, programmes, and partners to share and exchange knowledge around this agenda; and Mobilizing resources to deliver place-based projects in multiple cities that advance the agenda'. This initiative will support resilience in cities in multiple ways, including:

• Call for de-siloing investments in resilience to create climate-ready infrastructure that is equitable and creates green jobs
• Amplify the co-benefits of city transitions to net zero greenhouse gas emissions
• Demonstrate how interconnected services, that support communities and economies, can withstand the disruptions of an uncertain future with climate-ready infrastructure
• Demonstrate how climate-ready infrastructure embraces innovation and the interdependencies of resilient city systems, that are critical to equitable outcomes for people
• Watch the latest Cities on the Frontline Speaker Series #07 Earth Day which launches this agenda here.

Vulnerable groups of people are those that are disproportionately exposed to a risk. This can change dynamically and it is not a simple process of dividing populations into two groups of 'vulnerable' and 'not vulnerable'. Amid the pandemic, vulnerable groups have emerged from a diversity of communities. They are not only older people, those with ill health or disabilities, or homeless persons, but also people from a range of socioeconomic groups who might 'struggle to cope financially, mentally or physically' with crises precipitated by the pandemic. Consider:

• If the definitions and categories we use to identify vulnerable people, and consider their needs, adequately represents their lived experiences - whether their vulnerability existed prior to COVID-19, has been exacerbated by it, or has been newly created by it?
• Identify the people behind the 'vulnerable' label - who are they, where are they, and why are they vulnerable? - to increase our understanding of the person and the conditions or environment (root causes) that may be making them vulnerable to certain risks
• If there are different levels/spectrums of vulnerability, do we need to organise vulnerability with respect to different forms of risk (e.g. immediate risk to life, risk to mental health, social/financial security, geographic location)?
• Assessing those who may have been defined as vulnerable prior to COVID-19 and the conditions associated with this vulnerability, those who have become newly vulnerable as a direct result of COVID-19, and what factors lead to these people/groups becoming vulnerable
• The risk of under-supporting those who face severe risk if we rely only on our previous (to COVID-19) assumptions or understanding of vulnerability
• Whether re-defining vulnerability may support more effective recovery and renewal strategies e.g. classifying vulnerable groups according to risk levels/spectrums, creating vulnerability indexes and identifying the root cause of each
• Recovery strategies should aim to provide transactional aid to alleviate the negative effects of vulnerability exacerbated or caused by the pandemic
• Renewal initiatives should address the root cause of vulnerabilities through transformational initiatives that aim to prevent people from becoming vulnerable

We identify the core barriers to co-production during the pandemic: Pace, distance and complexity, and provide a broad framework which can be designed into a project's main policy framework to facilitate co-production in preparedness and response.

Follow the source link below to TMB Issue 33 to read this briefing in full (p.3-6).

Concurrent emergencies such as disruption to water supply or contamination of water resources can have serious impacts on healthcare facilities and the health of individuals, which may be amplified during a pandemic. Water outages or contaminated water can disrupt clinical procedures, e.g. maintaining a sterile environment in hospitals. Protecting water supply is also crucial during a pandemic, as poor hygiene is a catalyst for the rapid spread of infectious disease. Consider:

• Early scenario planning to consider different types of water shortages alongside the pandemic, and assess potential impacts on health facilities and public health
• The need to establish new systems to provide immediate support to communities in the event of water supply disruption or contamination during COVID-19:
  • Evaluate emergency response measures (e.g. mass water distribution) to determine if they are COVID-safe, and make necessary amendments if required
  • Plan for the need to construct and install handwashing stations in affected communities, to prevent rapid spread of the virus
• The potential for water stagnation to occur in buildings that have been unoccupied over the last year, which may lead to contamination
  • Identify buildings that have been unoccupied and plan for maintenance contractors to test and repair water systems before allowing the building to re-open

Although home-based working has become the norm for a large percentage of the population, many workers have had to be physically present in their usual workplace. Many who have had to travel to workplaces during the pandemic have changed their mode of transport due to potential infection risks, delays and inconvenience due to cancelled or reduced public transport - i.e. they have changed their commute from public transport to private cars or bicycles. This has reduced their travel time, especially as traffic volumes are below pre-pandemic levels. Consider:

• That traffic congestion and the demand for parking space could increase dramatically as restrictions ease and more people opt for private transport, which may lead to increases in:
  • Infrastructure maintenance costs on roads and motorways
  • Negative environmental impacts, e.g. pollution
  • Road traffic accidents and increased risk to cyclists and pedestrians, plus loss of public space, which may reduce the number of people who choose to cycle or walk
  • Costs and challenges for freight and delivery services
• A travel awareness communication campaign, prior to an ease of restrictions:
  • Raise awareness of the benefits of sustainable travel for improving air quality and reducing pollution
  • Promote the health and well-being benefits of 'active transport' such as cycling
  • Communicate the stringent safety measures in place on public transport to increase confidence and encourage people to travel by bus/train
• Draw on learning from previous crises to predict likely behaviours and inform policies that are fit for purpose, e.g. following the 2008 economic crisis, increased traffic increased congestion (Madrid, Spain)
• Expand and improve cycling and walking space and infrastructure around workplaces
• In cities, reduce speed limits to allow pedestrians and cyclists to be more confident and allow for social distancing
• Promote and expand schemes such as 'Cycle2Work' by removing spending caps and allowing people to by bikes through the scheme that are appropriate and relevant for them (see TMB Issue 7):
  • Introduce a reimbursement scheme to reward cycling commuters, e.g. Netherlands offer 0.19 cent (euro) per kilometre cycled to work, or interest-free loans to purchase bikes
  • Trial an e-bike hire scheme in cities, e.g. Leicester (UK)
• Review congestions charge policies and assess if they are appropriate for post-COVID activity
• Introduce new policies, e.g. workplace parking levy, a charge on employers who provide workplace parking (Nottingham City Council, UK)

Due to lockdown measures and temporary breaks to in-person public service provision, communicating specific information to migrants and refugees on their rights and obligations has been challenging. This includes communications on re-settlement programmes to support their integration into communities (see TMB Issue 29 for guidance on national resettlement programmes). Some countries have introduced temporary policy changes and targeted communication of such changes is crucial so that migrants are aware of the essential services that are available to them during the pandemic, e.g. Spain suspended the obligation to have valid documents in order to access essential public services such as healthcare and vaccination. National information strategies can be complemented locally by reaching out directly to migrants living in communities. Consider:

• Identify and establish contact with the leaders of refugee and migrant groups to communicate important messages
• Collaborate with migration support services, NGOs and local volunteers to develop a targeted online communications platform for migrants and refugees, e.g. “Migration Information Hub”, Leeds City Council, UK
  • Use the platform to inform migrants about COVID-19 related issues and guidelines; access to health care, food, housing, work rights, visa status, signpost immigration services and detail any changes to policy measures
  • Ensure alternative communication strategies are explored, such as information leaflets through migrations support services reach those who do not have access to the internet
  • Provide information on how victims of discrimination can get help and support
• Collect further data and information on reaching specific groups through consultation with the relevant communities, to improve future preparedness for crisis communication with migrants and their families
• Ensure easy access to information by translating key material into the languages of migrant communities:
  • Recruit translation volunteers to support the translation of information and development of multilingual media for the platform, e.g. YouTube videos
• Organise free workshops for migrants and refugees via Zoom, e.g. ‘How to access health services’, to inform on free services, including mental health facilities
• Develop and deliver targeted communication strategies to influence communities’ perceptions of migrants, working with local community leaders and groups, and organisations that support and advocate for migrants:
  • Tackle and counter misinformation online to prevent prejudice against migrants and mitigate the negative impact of the health crisis on immigrant integration
  • Set up a social media campaign that directly addresses the prevention of discrimination and spread of misinformation, e.g. “Somos Panas", Columbia
• Invite the public to help counter the spread of misinformation by sharing fact-based information with their own communities

The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women's experience of work. Women are more likely to work in low-paying and informal jobs, and also constitute a significant proportion of healthcare professionals and essential workers at the frontlines. Women working in these areas, e.g. cleaners, carers, catering staff and early learning and childcare workers, and frontline workers, have had to cope with the immense pressures of providing essential services during the pandemic while also caring for children and relatives. Employers should recognise and address the adverse impacts of COVID-19 on women's experience of work, including groups of women who have been badly affected by job disruption, such as BAME women, single parents and young women. Changes to workplaces are also a direct consequence of the pandemic, meaning that some women may be at higher risk of violence or abuse. Employers play a vital role in helping women who experience abuse to access support, and should recognise that sexual harassment doesn't just occur face-to-face, but also through online platforms. Close the Gap offer guidance on an intersectional approach to workforce planning, to support local government to develop gender-sensitive employment practices. They advise to consider:

• Participate in an employer accreditation programme, e.g. Equally Safe at Work
• Collect new intersectional, gender-disaggregated data on the impact of COVID-19 on employees, e.g. access to childcare, well-being, the experience of employees at work during COVID-19:
  • Conduct a gendered analysis to identify varying experiences of women and men during COVID-19
  • Use this data and analysis to inform any return to work plans/policies and to promote staff well-being
• Conduct an equality impact assessment prior to the implementation of new workplace policies
• Engage with women working in lower paid roles to ensure their experiences are used to inform plans for recovery
• Offer support to women who are working at home, including:
  • Conduct risk assessments to determine support needs for working from home
  • Assess working arrangements and their sustainability
  • Offer flexible working to staff with caring responsibilities
  • Regularly check in with employees to see how they are managing
• Available support for female employees who are more likely to be affected by COVID-19, including those who are disabled, pregnant, returning from maternity leave, BAME
• Raise awareness of Violence against Women (VAW) policies in view of the rise in domestic violence during lockdowns:
  • Communicate zero tolerance of VAW
  • Signpost to local specialist services, e.g. Women's Aid
  • Raise awareness of reporting processes for VAW

Many individuals and families have experienced negative economic impacts from COVID-19 as a result of business closures, job losses and reduced working hours. Globally, governments have introduced financial stimuli through small business loans and furlough schemes, in an effort to mitigate the consequences of financial losses caused by the pandemic. As many stimulus packages are scheduled to end in the coming months, business owners are concerned that they will be unable to continue to pay staff, and employees are concerned that they may be made redundant. Consider:

• The need to quickly increase the capacity of local financial support and advice systems:
  • Partner with and commission community advice services, e.g. Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)
  • Build capacity and train volunteers to increase the range of specialist and generalist welfare and debt advice that is available
  • Seek support from local businesses that can provide financial and other advice
• Increase community and business awareness of how to access support services:
  • Run information campaigns targeted at groups that need support
  • Bring together sources of good advice from trusted partners into a single location/source to make information easy to find
  • Sign post and onward refer members of the community to services
• Integrate debt and financial advice and budgeting support with forms of direct financial support

Concurrent incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as locus swarms destroying farms in Africa, forest fires devastating the US, flooding in the UK, show us that climate change actions are crucial when considering renewal strategies. Communities that are more vulnerable to natural disasters are disproportionately challenged during a pandemic. Natural climate solutions protect and restore nature, which can help mitigation of (and adaption to) the impacts of climate change, e.g. coastal wetland can defend communities from storm surge and sea level rise, well-managed forests can protect water supplies, reduce wildfire risk and prevent landslides. Consider:

• Raise awareness locally of the value and potential benefits of nature-based solutions for communities in mitigating risks of future natural disasters
• Engage with local businesses as potential sponsors of nature-based solutions
• Establish a volunteering scheme with employees of local businesses to support nature-based initiatives
  • Partner with local voluntary groups and community based organisations to establish community-led conservation efforts
  • Establish a 'plant a tree initiative', to build and enhance local forestry
  • Encourage roof top gardens and balcony gardens - create online gardening tutorials for creating mini urban gardens
• Work with local land owners to identify appropriate actions that support nature-based approaches, e.g. planting marram grass to stabilise sand dunes or peatland restoration

Vaccination certification for COVID-19, sometimes referred to as immunity/vaccine passports, are being considered by some countries as a strategy to relax the strict measures that have been imposed on society over the last year. The document is designed to certify people as immune to COVID-19 based on vaccination. Consider the ethical issues associated with varying restrictions on individual liberties based on possession of a vaccine certificate. Consider:

• If a vaccination certification programme could cause unequal treatment of individuals by segregating members of society into different tiers of infection risk and contagiousness, for example:
  • Members of groups who live with systemic discrimination and marginalization may face more barriers to accessing particular areas of society or activities if they are not certified as vaccinated
  • Differences in exposure, access to health care and vaccination certification may lead to some groups having higher or lower proportions of vaccine-certified people
• If the application of vaccination certification should only be used with existing precautions and should not prevent non-vaccine certified people from accessing areas or activities, e.g. people who have not received a vaccination certificate should not be prevented from travelling but may be required to take a test/quarantine on arrival as per the existing precautionary measure
• Whether vaccinations certifications should:
  • Impact a person's ability to exercise fundamental rights such as voting, accessing and social care or education
  • Cause an increase in cost or burden for vaccine-certified individuals, e.g. frontline healthcare workers who are vaccination certified should not be expected to manage more work
• If the perceived benefits of vaccine certifications could increase the risk of people increasing their exposure to intentionally become infected and receive a certificate, which poses risks to an increase in community spread and could potentially cause harm to others
• The perceived value of vaccine certificates and counterfeit market activity/certificates
• How to mitigate implementation risks, e.g. certification being managed by certified bodies, results being processed and confirmed by licensed laboratories, and certificates being issued by health authorities
• To protect personal data and minimize breaches of confidentiality, legal and regulatory measures should be put in place to limit the access to data by governmental authorities

Migrants and refugees face a multitude of health and safety challenges that have been intensified by the pandemic, such as: losing employment and income; eviction and homelessness; and lack of access to 'safety net' support. In addition, some countries have temporarily suspended issuing residency permits, leaving people with irregular status in their country of asylum and further impacting their access to employment and social services. To support migrants and refugees, consider:

• Participate in national resettlement programmes (e.g. SRP UK) to guide preparations, ongoing support and integration of migrants and refugees into local communities
• Establish a working group to enable collaborative working between local councils, community groups and related agencies to determine how local authorities can meet legislative requirements of resettlement programmes
• Inform and prepare local communities where migrants and refugees are to be resettled
• Identify registered and unregistered refugee populations in communities
• Conduct risk and vulnerability assessment mapping
• Include migrants and refugees in social protection schemes to support those who have lost income generating opportunities
• How systems will protect migrants and refugees from harm, irrespective of their status, with access to essential health and social care
• Agree that immigration status is not a legitimate basis to deny access to essential public services (e.g. healthcare, vaccination), and communicate this to public services, migrant and refugee populations, and wider groups
• Invest in risk communication and community engagement at local levels to disseminate information in the relevant languages of migrants and refugees
• Partner with humanitarian actors to provide services
• Establish humanitarian service points or 'safe spaces' which are not subject to immigration enforcement activities, where humanitarian actors can provide essential services to vulnerable migrants

The success of the vaccine programme will, in part, depend on how many people accept the vaccine. The prevailing narrative in a country may influence those who are anxious about the vaccine or uncertain about whether they should have it. Often there are vocal groups in support of, and in opposition to, vaccines and those groups are already very active around COVID-19. Governments will be a main facilitator of vaccine programmes so (in collaboration with partners) should consider addressing voices that oppose vaccine programmes. WHO provides guidelines for responding to vaccine deniers, including broad principles for health authority spokespersons on how to behave when confronted. The principles are based on psychological research on persuasion, public health, communication studies, and on WHO risk communication guidelines. The WHO guidelines cover:

• Tactics by vocal vaccine deniers e.g. skew science, shift hypothesis, censor, and attack opposition
• Who is the target for advocating vaccines i.e. the public are your audience, not the vaccine deniers
• The speaker should represent the well-grounded scientific consensus
• Verbal and nonverbal skills, and listening skills
• Do's and don'ts of verbal and nonverbal communication
• Constructing the argument to support vaccination

There is not yet sufficient global supply of COVID-19 vaccines - echoing the challenges faced at the beginning of the pandemic when there was insufficient PPE. Variation across regions/countries in the availability of vaccine brings the risk of accentuating long-term health inequalities and could entrench wealth inequalities, as some regions/countries are yet to begin their vaccination programme. This could lead to challenging questions for officials and elected leaders on the prioritisation of who receives the vaccine. For example, "Is it right to vaccinate a low-risk person in Country A (that has vaccine) rather than a high risk, front line health worker in Country B (that does not have sufficient vaccine)?" Consider how vaccine distribution plans and priority groups may polarise public opinion on the value of life and risk, including:

• The UN note that a 'me first' approach could prolong the pandemic as well as cause further economic and human suffering
• Changes to vaccination supply plans or redirecting vaccine stock to other regions/countries to manage targets may heighten public discomfort and disturbance
• Creating tier systems for access to vaccines can lead to fracture lines emerging in society, prompting civil disturbances or protests which may also increase transmission and lead to local outbreaks
• Individuals not agreeing with their classification may reject authority and breach guidelines
• Negative publicity for officials in managing change and social order may impact coming elections

Vaccines must be a global public good, which contribute to the equitable protection and promotion of human well-being among all people. At national level, a clear aim for vaccine programmes is essential, e.g. reduce immediate risk to life, in order to inform the identification of priority groups. As sufficient vaccine supply for whole populations will not be immediately available, WHO have provided a Prioritization Roadmap and a Values Framework, to assist with the prioritization of target groups. The WHO guidelines and framework advise to:

• Identify groups that will achieve the vaccine programme aim where there is an immediate risk to life, e.g. Stage 1 Priority Group - Care home residents, staff and volunteers working in care homes; Stage 2 Priority - Frontline health workers and those of 80 years of age and over. Priority groups should be listed and detailed to cover the whole population that is to be vaccinated
• Clearly define groups within priority phases, e.g. workers who are at very high risk of becoming infected and transmitting COVID-19 because they work in, for example, frontline health care, COVID-19 treatment centres, COVID-19 testing laboratories, or have direct contact with COVID-19 infected patients
• Avoid classifying groups as 'essential workers' as a qualifier
• Make priority groups explicit, straightforward, concise and publicly available
• Assess the prioritisation of those who are in high population density settings, e.g. refugees/detention camps, prisons; or who are not recorded in existing systems, e.g. un-registered persons
• Recognise vaccination as a global issue to begin conversations that identify how we will achieve the aim of reducing immediate risk to life globally, through international collaboration

Schools have an increased need for support during lockdowns to provide children with the resources they need to learn effectively. Many other organisations are also under significant pressure during COVID-19, but some are coping particularly well as customer demand has increased hugely. Such organisations may have the capacity, capability and willingness to support the parents of schoolchildren in their local community. Consider encouraging local organisations and others to:

• Coordinate community activities on behalf of a school, for example, to:
  • Collect unused computers from businesses and the public so they can be reformatted and given to school children to enable them to access online learning support
  • Provide computer training and skills for local parents so they can assist their children, particularly young children
• Offer free printing of schoolwork for parents of school children who do not have printing services at home
• Make servers available to host school content which can be downloaded by parents
• Contribute financially to support schools to pay for new forms of online schooling, new content, and access to privileged services
• Work with schools to support them to build capability, for example, to:
  • Evaluate and learn the technology that is available and how to use this in online learning
  • Convert materials to make them suitable for online learning
  • Remap donated computers to enable them to be distributed to school children
• Provide specialist services to schools, e.g. readers of braille, sign language, adapting written materials into the spoken word, supporting children with disabilities
• Provide COVID-19 hygiene supplies to schools (e.g. facemasks and hand sanitising stations)
• Actively help Head Teachers in their role, for example, to interpret guidance and its application in their schools, and to support networking and mutual aid between schools

Research shows that young people experience more long-lasting labour market impacts due to economic crises than adults, including being the first to lose jobs, working fewer hours, taking more time to secure quality income, and wage scarring where earning losses recover slowly. The International Labour Organisation reported that 17% of young people employed before the pandemic had stopped working entirely, and 42% reported reduced incomes. Additionally, it is widely reported that it is becoming increasingly difficult to source workers with the right skills in sectors where job opportunities exist. Consider developing youth employment initiatives, aimed at promoting domestic employment, skills development, capacity building and enabling equal access opportunities for vulnerable youth:

• Assess your own organisation’s operations and capacity to understand where youth employment opportunities may be protected or enhanced:
  • Recognise the contribution of people who joined your organisation as young people in entry-level roles and try to ensure that restructures do not remove roles that provide a talent pipeline into your organisation.
  • Monitor for age in any furlough and redundancy plans to ensure young people in your existing workforce are not disproportionately affected
• Map labour market information of unemployed young people such as knowledge, skills and abilities, with potential sectors of employment, including consideration for the supply and demand aspects of the labour market
  • Establish a working plan with employment services centres to support registration, profiling, referral, temporary work placements and on-the-job training
• Collaborate with local government and private and public organisations to establish sectors in which temporary employment opportunities for young people could be created e.g. public works and infrastructure maintenance (Nepal)
• Align vocational education and training aimed at up-skilling young people with employment initiatives such as apprenticeships and work experience programmes
• Provide youth-targeted wage subsidy programmes to help young people enter, re-enter or remain in the labour market by reducing costs of recruitment, retention and training
• Continue to provide careers advice in schools, colleges and universities to help young people navigate their employment options during COVID. Ensure careers advisors understand the current labour market and options open to young people so that they can provide timely advice

Alexander Kreh, MSc and Prof. Dr. Barbara Juen, University of Innsbruck, discuss stressors and challenges faced by healthcare workers, and presents results of a survey of healthcare personnel and the stressors they experience. The authors conclude by suggesting how organisations can build and maintain personal resilience among their frontline workers during COVID-19.

To read this briefing in full, follow the source link below to TMB Issue 28 (p.2-9).

COVID-19 vaccination rollout is taking place in many countries, with many more planning to implement mass vaccination strategies for in the near future. The widespread nature of the pandemic has meant that huge numbers of people require vaccination, and a result, demand for vaccines currently far outstrips supply in some countries[1]. Fear surrounding COVID-19 has led to criminals utilising black markets to develop and sell fake vaccinations on the dark web[2]. The demands on government vaccination programmes has also promoted the online sale of other fake medicines such as the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the steroid dexamethasone[3] as these have been associated with COVID-19 treatment. In other cases, some online vendors were claiming to sell vaccinations or medicines that would have never been shipped to buyers[4],

And in the UK, there were incidents of scammers turning up at people’s doorsteps offering a vaccine for payment, following a spate of fake text messages[5].

Vaccines are a financially lucrative commodity, and while the pharmaceutical industry is prepared with regular audits and vetting of supply chains, minimising human contact, stops and handovers during distribution, and real-time digital devices which measure temperature and location, there are other risks. Some of those at risk include:

• Desperate consumers believing they can purchase the vaccine online
• Hospitals and healthcare facilities that have been hit with a barrage of phishing and ransomware attacks which can try to sell fake vaccines
• Vaccination centres which may be points of vulnerability; one supply chain security expert stated “we need to tell people at the vaccine centres that they carry gold”[6].

The rise in fake vaccines and medications requires approaches that protect people, and infrastructure.

Protecting people

• Widespread information campaigns that advise people not to buy any vaccines online, with particular focus on informing people with pre-existing health conditions or those in certain vaccine priority groups as these groups may feel an urgency to be vaccinated
• Remind people that they should consult their registered doctor about vaccination, and only be vaccinated at an official vaccination point[7] and that NHS England will never ask for bank details, Pin numbers or passwords, when contacting you about a vaccination
• Monitor online chatrooms and forums that may be regularly used by vulnerable groups to scan for attempts to sell fake vaccines and medications
• Set up and regulate certification organisations which undertake due diligence on sources of drugs (e.g. pharmacies) and medications e.g. pharmacychecker.com to create a transparent solution for the public to check the sources of their online medications to ensure their legitimacy and safety
• Work with healthcare professionals to build trust in vaccinations. The spread of fake vaccines may deter people from legitimately being vaccinated

Protecting infrastructure

• Regularly assess cyber security and train staff in recognising and reporting any phishing scams or malware attacks
• Train staff and volunteers administering vaccinations in the safe and careful disposal of empty vaccine vials which could be stolen and used to package fake vaccines that look authentic[8]
• If required, consider security at vaccination centre sites, especially those which have been set up in temporary locations or do not have adequate security systems

References:

[1] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-regulator-warns-of-fake-covid-19-vaccines-online/46279734

[2] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/11/27/asia-pacific/covid-19-vaccine-china-black-market/

[3] https://iea.org.uk/will-there-be-a-black-market-in-covid-vaccines/

[4] https://www.ft.com/content/8bfc674e-efe6-4ee0-b860-7fcb5716bed6

[5] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55577426

[6] https://www.ft.com/content/8bfc674e-efe6-4ee0-b860-7fcb5716bed6

[7] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-regulator-warns-of-fake-covid-19-vaccines-online/46279734

[8]https://www.dw.com/en/officials-warn-of-fake-covid-19-vaccines/a-56123830

The SDGs, represent the world's agreed economic, social, and environmental targets for 2030, and can act as a common scorecard to ensure there are objective standards for assessing progress. Localising the ambition of the SDGs to develop local economic development strategies can help integrate social and environmental standards within local economic agendas, reduce disparities between regions, generate local business opportunities and jobs, and aim to include all marginalized communities. Consider how the SDG framework can support inclusive and diversified economic growth:

• Integrate SDG targets into on-going budget reviews process, thereby improving resource allocation and performance evaluation
• Examine the link between ongoing public policies, the SDG targets and budget expenditures
• Analyse the official indicators related to budget-planning instruments
• Partner with the private sector to launch impact investment initiatives that address the SDGs, recovery and renewal from COVID-19 and sustainable economic renewal

Renewal through Place requires consideration of transformation of where we live, available infrastructure, health and care systems, businesses, and neighbourhoods. We bring together some of the core issues related to Renewal through Place, concerning Relocation and Regeneration and the relationships this has with navigating, experiencing and utilising Place post COVID-19.

Follow the source link below to read this case study in full (p.18-20).

Alongside the health and environmental risks, COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerability of current economic models. Circular economies are those that produce significantly reduced waste with the aim of producing zero through sharing, reusing and recycling products and byproducts - and the circular economy is becoming increasingly relevant during COVID-19. Consider:

• Developing more 'pay for service' models that do not require people to own goods in times of financial uncertainty e.g. using launderettes rather than having the burden of owning a washing machine provides alternatives to manage consumption, either by reducing expenditure, or opting for the basic alternative. These can be designed to support social distancing and COVID-19 measures
• Redefining and classifying what is considered essential if resources are limited or strained in order to prioritise needs. The circular economy may require redefining and rethinking the importance of certain roles, tasks, products and services e.g. the shift in perceptions of those in retail or waste management have been classified as essential workers
• Focus on local supply chains. Local supply chains can be more environmentally friendly and can also be more secure. De-globalization is a clear post COVID-19 trend. World trade is expected to contract between 13% and 32% in 2020, which indicates reliance on international supply chains may be seen as riskier than sourcing products and components locally
• Incentivize businesses, big and small, to become part of the circular economy e.g. encouraging businesses to take more responsibility for providing reusable facemasks to their staff, or supporting projects which aim to clean up and protect ecosystems from plastic waste such as disposable gloves and masks