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Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Due to the recent developments in the delivery of teaching-learning processes when COVID-19 hit the world with a health crisis and pandemic, it is crucial to look into the quality of courses delivered via online means or through distance education modality. This paper examines implementation and application of quality assurance (QA) landscape in Distance Education (DE). A documentary review using bibliographic inquiry is used as a methodology approach to gather relevant information to address the study questions. Previous studies on QA in DE are examined and arranged into themes using thematic analysis. Findings revealed that most of the literature on QA in DE in Africa and Asia based on the reviewed Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions are basically dealing with frameworks, outcomes and performance, instructional design, student services and challenges as well as parity in terms of quality with the traditional institutions. Therefore, this paper concludes that more studies are needed for QA in DE to match the post-COVID-19 trends on improving QA. This implies that there is a need to expand research on QA in DE to include areas of artificial intelligence.

Purpose: This systematic review paper aims to examine extant empirical research involving educational technology during COVID-19 to provide an aggregated analysis of how the pandemic has influenced educational technology research. Design/methodology/approach: Using a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis systematic review and an integrative review methodology, 50 primary research studies were selected from ten top-ranked educational research journals. These studies were reviewed regarding research purposes, methodologies, instruments, educational level, geographical distribution, and findings of the studies. Findings: The findings reveal four emerging themes--influencing factors, effectiveness, challenges and teachers. The majority of the studies focused on higher education. Quantitative research design based on a questionnaire was the most adopted method of investigation by researchers. Research limitations/implications: Search parameters focused on the top 10 journals in the field of educational technology. Although this provides a level of quality, it narrowed the search. Practical implications: For practitioners and researchers, this study provides a summary of the field to better understand what knowledge we have gained on the use of educational technology to enable a more agile, knowledgeable response to education in future emergencies. Originality/value: This systematic review is unique in examining how the pandemic has influenced educational technology research. It also provides insight into gaps in the research that future researchers can use as a springboard to enable a more knowledge and a more agile approach to future emergencies.

Purpose: The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 has had a profound impact on education institutions at all levels. Open universities, with their privileged delivery method, have been in an advantageous position. In the earlier stages of the pandemic, they made remarkable contributions to assuring learning continuity. However, with more and more conventional universities migrating online, great changes have taken place in the field of higher education, and it is imperative for open universities to adjust their strategies in order to maintain their leading role in a technology-enabled education context. This paper aims to examine what challenges have been faced by open universities during the pandemic and how they will transform in the future. Design/methodology/approach: Six open universities in Asia, Africa and Europe were selected as cases in this research to make a comparative study based on the papers in the volume beyond distance education. Similarities and differences among the cases were analyzed in order to identify the developing trend for open universities in the international context. Findings: The results showed that (1) open universities in these regions demonstrated their resilience in the pandemic; examples were that new technologies have been leveraged to implement totally online delivery with short notice and huge amount of learning resources were offered to the society. (2) However, they encountered challenges of delivering fully online examination due to the lockdown and quarantine policies, and open universities in African and the sole private institution suffered financial pressure due to improving information and communication technology infrastructure and staff training. Another challenge was the fierce competition from conventional universities that open universities in Asia and Europe came across. (3) Four main areas were identified for future development in order to respond to the challenges: No.1 is that programs such as health care, psychology, epidemiology, virology, immunology, data analytics, biology and bio-informatics have stimulated interest for African open universities to develop in the future; No. 2 is that open universities were seeking to innovate their teaching formats; short courses, such as micro credentials, might be developed as agile and flexible offerings which are expected to be suitable to learners in the pandemic context; No 3 is that programs and courses for upskilling in the context of digitalization will be implemented; and No. 4 is that lifelong learning is given a higher priority in order for open universities to stand securely in the higher education sector. Originality/value: The study may give open university leaders a quick insight into their future development.

In developing countries as in developed countries, the COVID-19 crisis has led to near universal school closures that will affect children's ability to learn, especially in countries with limited infrastructure for distance learning. While most children are likely to return to school when they reopen, quite a few may drop out. In addition, the economic recession generated by the crisis will affect livelihoods, leading to higher rates of poverty and food insecurity. This also may have negative impacts on both Catholic schools and their students. This paper, the second in a set of two, looks at likely impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on Catholic Schools in developing countries, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa, a vulnerable region given the comparatively weak performance of its education systems and the limited availability of resources for governments to protect education budgets (acknowledging that many Catholic schools in the region are public schools). How Catholic schools will be able to respond to the twin challenges of school closures and the economic downturn may affect their comparative advantage for the medium term. A key aim of the paper is to make Catholic school teachers and leaders aware of some of the discussions on how to respond to the crisis, and provide links to resources online that may be useful. [For Part I of the series, see EJ1278497.]

A documentary review was conducted on the production and publication of research papers on studying the variable Digital Transformation, Education and COVID-19. The bibliometric analysis proposed in this document aims to know the main characteristics of the volume of publications registered in the Scopus database from 2020 to 2022, achieving the identification of 464 publications in total. The information provided by this platform was organized using tables and figures, categorizing the information by Year of Publication, Country of Origin, Area of Knowledge and Type of Publication. Once these characteristics were described, the position of different authors regarding the proposed topic was referenced through qualitative analysis. Among the main findings of this research, it is found that Spain, with 49 publications, was the country with the highest global production. The area of knowledge that made the most significant contribution to the construction of bibliographic material related to the study of Digital Transformation, Education and COVID-19 was the area of Social Sciences with 253 published documents, and the type of publication that was most used during the period mentioned above was the journal article, representing 54% of the total scientific production.

The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized the education system and forced fundamental changes in the teaching-learning process. The present study aims to explore various modes of education used by educational institutions across the world and provide a holistic understanding of different measures taken by governments and universities to endure the crippling crisis. The radical shift to digital pedagogy followed by online assessments and examinations brought new experiences to both educators and learners. This paper elucidates the extraordinary challenges encountered by various stakeholders in making the required shift to digital learning and the substantial attempts made by educational institutions to minimize learning losses. The paper also presents various opportunities induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the need to develop appropriate mechanisms to deal with such an unforeseen crisis in future. To this effect, some recommendations have been made that may enable educational institutions to eliminate adversities and maintain academic integrity in tempestuous times.

After more than a year of living with the COVID-19 pandemic, much experience has been accumulated by countries around the world. There have been many failures, and there have been some things that have gone well. Adult learning and education in some form has played a significant role in public health since, without the ongoing continuing educational interventions mainly via the mass media, the number of doctors and hospital beds would likely have been insufficient. In this paper we focus on the role of group behaviours in relation to the risk of contagion and we argue that any attempts to define a strategy to combat the pandemic must include a strong commitment to information dissemination and to the training of the populations in order to encourage behaviour change necessary to mitigate the spread of the virus. Against the backdrop of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, this article argues for commitment by governments to use adult learning and education as a tool for health prevention and health awareness and to prepare populations for whatever pandemics and national disasters that might emerge in the twenty-first century, the "century of pandemics". We therefore argue that populations must have at least a basic level of literacy and numeracy as foundational skills essential for enabling citizens to receive and act on vital information during a pandemic or disaster in order to engender greater resilience.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic forced governments, multilateral public health organisations and research institutions to undertake research quickly to inform their responses to the pandemic. Most COVID-19-related studies required swift approval, creating ethical and practical challenges for regulatory authorities and researchers. In this paper, we examine the landscape of ethics review processes in Africa during public health emergencies (PHEs)., Methods: We searched four electronic databases (Web of Science, PUBMED, MEDLINE Complete, and CINAHL) to identify articles describing ethics review processes during public health emergencies and/or pandemics. We selected and reviewed those articles that were focused on Africa. We charted the data from the retrieved articles including the authors and year of publication, title, country and disease(s) reference, broad areas of (ethical) consideration, paper type, and approach., Results: Of an initial 4536 records retrieved, we screened the titles and abstracts of 1491 articles, and identified 72 articles for full review. Nine articles were selected for inclusion. Of these nine articles, five referenced West African countries including Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, and experiences linked to the Ebola virus disease. Two articles focused on South Africa and Kenya, while the other two articles discussed more general experiences and pitfalls of ethics review during PHEs in Africa more broadly. We found no articles published on ethics review processes in Africa before the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and only a few before the COVID-19 outbreak. Although guidelines on protocol review and approval processes for PHEs were more frequently discussed after the 2014 Ebola outbreak, these did not focus on Africa specifically., Conclusions: There is a gap in the literature about ethics review processes and preparedness within Africa during PHEs. This paper underscores the importance of these processes to inform practices that facilitate timely, context-relevant research that adequately recognises and reinforces human dignity within the quest to advance scientific knowledge about diseases. This is important to improve fast responses to PHEs, reduce mortality and morbidity, and enhance the quality of care before, during, and after pandemics., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The paper addresses the impact of COVID-19 on vocational education and training, seeking to discern the outline of possible directions for its future development within the debates about VET responses to the pandemic. The discussion is set in its socio-economic context, considering debates that engage with the social relations of care and neo-liberalism. The paper analyses discourses that have developed around VET across the world during the pandemic, illustrating both possible continuities and ruptures that may emerge in this field, as the health crisis becomes overshadowed in public policy by the prioritisation of economic recovery and social restoration. The paper concludes that, alongside the possibility of a narrowing of VET to its most prosaic aims and practices, the health crisis could also lead to a re-conceptualisation that develops its radical and emancipatory possibilities in both the global south and north.

This paper presents research on girls' and boys' gendered perceptions of their learning during school closures due to COVID-19. The research was conducted in ten countries affected by displacement across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. We applied statistical analysis using multivariate logistic regression models from the results of a survey conducted with parents or caregivers and their children. We complemented the quantitative study with qualitative methodology, which provided a nuanced understanding of girls' and boys' perceptions of their learning and their voiced concerns during the COVID-19-related school closures. Our results show that the children in the displaced settings are likely to perceive a decline in learning during the pandemic, and that the factors influencing this perception differ between boys and girls. Girls' perceptions of learning "nothing" or only "a little bit" were more strongly associated with material barriers, such as limited access to learning materials and household economic circumstances, than was the case for boys. The boys' experience of learning "a little bit" or "nothing" was more strongly associated with increased negative feelings, including feeling sad or worried, increased violence in the home, and increased responsibility for looking after siblings or other children. This research notes the importance of supporting displaced children by providing adequate resources to enable equitable access to learning, and calls for cross-sectoral programming to support displaced children who are dealing with emotional pressure.

The COVID-19 pandemic has attracted a plethora of research from medical-related disciplines other than sociological and migration disciplines . While a significant number of research papers have considered the impacts of the COVID-19 lockdowns and school closures on students, their observations are not directly applicable to the over 5.3 million international students across the globe. The purpose of this study is to understand how African Student Migrants (ASMs) used technologies for social services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Moscow. This study adopted a qualitative research approach to understand the use of digital technologies for social services among 40 ASMs sampled through purposive and snowballing techniques. The findings established that, the use of digital technologies by ASMs played an instrumental role in social services such as accommodation, learning and purchasing patterns rather than social communication, religious or cultural practices, psychological and physical health, and dieting during the COVID-19 pandemic. For policy-level recommendations, tech-savvy developers, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Educational Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the African Union (AU) should collaborate and create digital technologies that are suitable for social services; devise an information platform to capture basic information about ASMs that will enable them to streamline welfare stimulus packages essential to their survival in times of pandemics. This will also serve as a coping mechanism for society to prepare for new social emergencies and use digital technologies to calibrate international education and inform future policies on public health, school closures and mobility beyond borders.

While blended learning is well entrenched in many developed countries as a solution towards enabling access to educational resources and managing student diversity, this may not be the same for rural based universities in developing countries. Yet, blended learning is ideal for the current terrain of the COVID-19 pandemic which requires learning modalities that promote social distancing to reduce the spread of the disease while ensuring that students have access to quality teaching and learning materials and to frequently stay engaged. For many rural based universities, successful blended learning implementation implies an exploration of possible ways to strengthen existing practices. This paper, using the document analysis method, sought to explore the prospects and pitfalls of implementing blended learning in rural- based universities in Southern Africa. The blended learning implementation framework by Graham, Woodfield and Harrison (2013) served as a guiding framework as it was specifically designed to determine success in blended learning adoption and implementation in education. This framework utilises the constructs of strategy, structure and support to differentiate the stages of adopting blended learning. These three stages are in a continuum and comprise awareness and exploration as stage 1, adoption or early implementation as stage 2 and mature implementation and growth as stage 3, with stages differing depending on the extent of formalisation of the institutional strategy, structure and support. Findings indicated prospects of blended learning entail providing opportunities for flexible learning, enabling access to a wide range of educational resources and limiting alienation associated with purely online education delivery. For many institutions, however, implementation of blended learning is still a mirage with the majority still at the first stage of Graham "et al."'s (2013) blended learning adoption and implementation framework owing to technical resource constraints related to unstable or non-existent network coverage characteristic in rural locations, curricular deficit stemming from the blended learning model not aligning to context, thus lowering morale for wider implementation. This is exacerbated by weak goodwill and limited policy guidelines on a specific blended learning model. The study concludes that creating conducive conditions for blended learning in rural based universities necessitates a context friendly implementation model where institutional evaluation data inform strategies, support and pedagogical approaches and related resources that can be used locally. The study recommends governmental support for resourcing rural universities to acquire affordable and usable resources to offset challenges hindering blended learning. Rural institutions should also strive to strengthen support to students and staff to build confidence in the potential of blended learning.

This paper provides glimpses of transactions in chemistry classrooms in five African countries (Burundi, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, and Senegal) during the COVID-19 lockdown. Members of the secondary school community in the countries including teachers, students, and school managers were unprepared for the unprecedent demand in shift from a face-to-face to an online delivery system. From a tepid, faltering start in the early days of the lockdown in Morocco, Nigeria, and Senegal, and recognizing that the end of the lockdown may not be in sight, some minuscule progress is being made in exploring virtual delivery of the chemistry curriculum. Four major challenges to online delivery of chemistry education emerged. These are a teacher capacity deficit for delivering online education, poor internet service, an erratic power supply, and severe inadequacies in infrastructure for open and distance education. Taken together along with poor teacher motivation induced by low and irregular wages, these challenges are depressants to quality chemistry teaching during the COVID-19 period. We foresee that these challenges will persist. The harsh effect of COVID-19 on the economy of all African countries is a sign that funds will be unavailable to address these challenges in the near future. A glimmer of hope can be the reprioritization of funding resources by African governments to online delivery of education, noting that blended learning will be the new normal in the coming decades.

Webster University is classified as a large masters granting private not-for-profit university. The institution has a home or a central hub campus in the Midwestern United States and enrolls approximately 9,700 students. The university exists on four continents with actual campus locations as well as affiliated partner campuses. Students attend classes online or at one of the 60 military or metropolitan campuses across the United States. Students also pursue Webster's programs from more than eight international campuses in Europe, Asia, or Africa as well as affiliate campuses. In this conceptual paper, the author examines the pathways through which Webster University deals with the continuing challenges posed by COVID-19 during March to September 2020. With a unique mix of distributed regional U.S. locations and international campuses, Webster University offers a distinctive case study of distance education and distributed communication in the global education context. Distinctively, Webster University has deepened distance learning to protect the core programs and student service offerings of the institution. Distributed communication has been rapidly standardized and organized to meet institutional responsiveness to global stakeholders. And the net effect of these two approaches has been an ongoing transformation of instructional delivery, operations management, and communication across the institution. By applying a systems approach to the operations and communications engagements prior to and during COVID-19, the case study reveals rapid and ongoing change. The focus of the analysis are personal journal notes, excerpts from select institutional communications, analyses of rapid responses surveys and other content analysis. Prominent themes in this study include tensions around institutional learning and knowledge management that has been applied to stabilize educational service offerings. Deepening distance learning modalities to meet student learning needs also figure prominently. Attempts to foster institutional resilience through operational shifts toward remote work is also a prominent theme. The rapid engagement of focused communication across a distributed network in order manage institutional shifts also figure prominently. Finally, a reliance on an elastic team-based deliberative process for decisionmaking and institution listening also emerge as important to institutional viability.

Scientists and global commentators watched African countries closely in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, predicting an impending disaster: the virus was projected to overwhelm already weak health systems. These expectations were informed by imaginaries of Africa as an inevitable site of epidemic disaster. This paper draws on accounts from Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of the Congo to contrast global catastrophe framings with everyday imaginations and experiences of crisis and crisis management. Utilising ethnographic research, the paper initially explores how COVID-19 was understood in relation to previous epidemics, from HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) to Ebola, as well as political conflict. It then considers how global crisis narratives both inform and are in tension with everyday collective and personal experiences. The paper brings these empirical reflections into a conversation with theoretical debates on the discursive construction of crisis and its effects, and argues that these tensions matter because crisis framings have consequences., (© 2022 The Authors Disasters © 2022 ODI.)

Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains an incurable, progressive pneumonia-like illness characterized by fever, dry cough, fatigue, and headache during its early stages. COVID-19 has ultimately resulted in mortality in at least 2 million people worldwide. Millions of people globally have already been affected by this disease, and the numbers are expected to increase, perhaps until an effective cure or vaccine is identified. Although Africa was initially purported by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be severely hit by the pandemic, Africa recorded the least number of cases during the first wave, with lowest rates of infections, compared to Asia, Europe, and the Americas. This statistic might be attributed to the low testing capacity, existing public health awareness and lessons learnt during Ebola epidemic. Nonetheless, the relatively low rate of infection should be an opportunity for Africa to be better prepared to overcome this and future epidemics. In this paper, the authors provide insights into the dynamics and transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) during the first wave of the pandemic; possible explanations into the relatively low rates of infection recorded in Africa; with recommendations for Africa to continue to fight Covid-19; and position itself to effectively manage future pandemics., (© 2021 Emahi I et al.)

About 74.9 million persons were infected during the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome HIV/AIDS global pandemic with nearly half of them succumbing to the disease. In 2018 alone, Africa recorded over 400,000 AIDS-related deaths which is more than half of the global total. This reflects years of inequality in the global pandemic response. Also, the international response to AIDS in the early years was very slow, with a global programme only developed 6 years into the pandemic. Many African countries still lack pandemic preparedness plans to handle a global pandemic. Thus, this paper highlights the important lessons that can be learnt from the response to the AIDS pandemic and recommends how they can be applied during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Some of the important lessons include: HIV reversed the previous success recorded in health systems of developing countries; the antiretroviral drug development process was prolonged and required long term commitment; and primary healthcare was crucial in preventing and controlling the disease. These lessons can be utilised in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. It is recommended that: there should be solidarity among the nations of the world to fight COVID-19; health authorities should be proactive in curbing misinformation; and interventions should prioritise human rights and focus on vulnerable communities. HIV treatment services should not be discontinued as it is still an ongoing pandemic. A balance needs to be achieved in combating both pandemics as discontinuation of HIV treatment during the coronavirus pandemic could result in more than 500,000 deaths., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

To what extent has Covid-19 policy responses exacerbated the already existing multiple vulnerabilities of female migrants in Southern Africa? Using strategic conversations, the paper explores personal experiences of key conversants, to explore how gender blind policy responses to the pandemic have heightened female migrants' socio-economic challenges. The paper recommends gender sensitive and context specific policy responses to mitigate the existing socio-economic challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses multidisciplinary international research collaboration team formation during the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges faced, strategies adopted, achievements and dynamics in the implementation of research on Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), by the African Translational Research Group (ATReG). The paper also discusses the lessons learnt and future opportunities for global collaborative research. In-depth virtual interviews were conducted with consenting members of ATReG. Questions were designed to provide rich, deep, and insightful opinions, lived experiences and perspectives of ATReG group members on group formation, challenges, strategies and achievements. Interview data was transcribed and analysed thematically, and the results were presented with important quotations presented. The ATReG consisted of English (n = 13) and French (n = 1) speaking sub-Saharan African (SSA) researchers who specialise in public health, epidemiology, optometry, information technology, supply chain management, psychiatry, community health, general medical practice, nutrition and biostatistics. Most members of the group reported an informal but well-coordinated structure of the group. Formed during the pandemic, all group meetings were held online, and many members are yet to meet each other in person. The group collected data from Africans and published 10 peer reviewed journal articles on COVID-19 within two years. It presented in international conferences, engaged with the media and the public and was awarded a national competitive funding in Nigeria all of which which contributed to career progression and academic promotion of some members. There have been challenges in sustaining the research collaboration and maintaining productivity. Challenges include difficulties meeting deadlines and obtaining funding for research activities. However, these challenges have been addressed through a collaborative problem-solving approach. The study found the need for operational and methodological flexibility, centralised coordination, and established funding sources as being essential for long term sustainability and performance of the group. The ATReG's objective of providing useful data on COVID-19 and generating useful knowledge about COVID-19 in SSA has been achieved. In such a multi-disciplinary international collaborative team relaiant on the online medium to operate, the experiences and challenges can be a model for learning for researchers intending to form international multidisciplinary collaborative groups. Nonetheless, there are still many important areas of research which ATReG will continue to pursue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa has a history of grappling with outbreaks and high prevalence of disease. It currently confronts COVID-19 which is escalating because of local community transmission of the disease. Poorly resourced health systems in Africa are ill-prepared for the surging number of COVID-19 cases. This paper emphasizes that in the current battle against COVID-19, policymakers should not lose sight of future policy challenges. COVID-19 vaccine has become available, but patent exclusivities might play a major role in hindering access to it. With little or no indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity of its own, Africa will almost entirely rely on importing COVID-19 vaccines or treatment from third parties. The World Trade Organization's (WTO's) Paragraph 6 System, which relates to export-oriented compulsory licensing, is excessively formal and does not suit a pandemic situation which requires swift action. This paper draws policymakers' attention of to a high priority policy concern for Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to propose that the development and legitimization of African knowledge and validation systems on a pragmatic basis is an efficient and effective means of responding to a myriad of health problems plaguing Africans, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. Whenever there is a novel disease outbreak, the norm is to wait for the development of scientifically proven vaccines for its treatment. However, the scientific validation of drugs is a rigorous and lengthy process, thereby inappropriate for dealing with health emergencies like the COVID-19 outbreak. The alarming rapidity with which the novel COVID-19 pandemic rages globally and decimates humanity has brought to the fore the need for Africa to look inwards in search of viable and efficient alternative approaches to the pandemic. In this paper, I examine pragmatism as a theoretical framework and relate it to proposed African epistemic and validation frameworks with a particular reference to homegrown orthodox and alternative/complementary medicines. I argue that the validation and approval of any knowledge claim based on pragmatism is a more expeditious mode of attending to COVID-19 and other prevalent diseases in Africa. The application of knowledge that brings practical success in dealing with health challenges in Africa without necessarily following rigid and lengthy scientific validation procedures will go a long way toward improving human conditions and well-being. I conclude that pragmatic considerations should ultimately inform local approval to homegrown African medicines for use in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The outbreak and spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is probably the most serious global challenge since World War II. While research has paid considerable attention to the technical, epidemiological and public health aspects of the pandemic in Africa, it neglects the social, economic and political dimensions. Relying on analysis of data on trends of COVID-19 infections from the World Health Organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and a rapid review of available international and national policy/programme documents on COVID-19 control responses in Africa, this study assessed the extant protocols and responses to COVID-19 in relation to urban governance principles. Utilizing the political economy framework, the social conditions of informal labour and business activities during the COVID-19 pandemic are explored with accession to social habitus of informality. The paper argues that in as much as the COVID-19 pandemic is a pervasive health problem it should be treated more as a social and political economy challenge given the large informal nature of urbanism in Africa. The study concludes that urban governance that incorporates collective organization, community groups, non-state and informal actors offers scope in the battle against COVID-19 in Africa. Rethinking African urbanism in line with the principles of the Global Campaign on Urban Governance is also canvassed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how African nations have portrayed the COVID-19 pandemic in their postage stamps. After an introduction, a timeline offering short descriptions of global editions of this theme from its inception until March 2021 will be established. The timeline will consider most issues to the above date, with the caveat that additional examples might still be found, and that more will no doubt be produced after the publication of this paper, as the pandemic persists. Major design types will then be determined based on the preceding information. Then various publications related to Africa will be discussed. These primarily concern the so-called 'Stamperijia' issues, produced in Lithuania, and then bogus stamps produced in the name of various African countries. Apart from the 'Stamperijia' and similar issues, it is noted that only two African nations have produced a COVID-19-themed stamp on the continent itself up to 20 March 2021. The implications of this will be discussed in the conclusion, with suggestions for future action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the determinants of the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) in Africa, based on the framework of social determinants of health. Applying Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) and quantile regressions to panel data and country‐specific socioeconomic background data from 53 African countries, the study finds that enhancing capacity for early testing helps for timeous uncovering of cases, early isolation and contact tracing for effective control of the spread. Other factors such as managing of international movements through reduction of international exposure and ensuring better sanitation and hygiene were found to be relevant in diminishing COVID‐19 spread, whereas alcohol consumption and population density heighten the spread. The work also highlights that stringent measures will be counter‐productive unless they are coupled with measures to create and preserve livelihoods, together with humanitarian relief assistance to the poorest segments of the population. The results are robust to alternative techniques. As policy recommendations, we implore African governments to the promotion of sustainable livelihoods and social safety nets as measures to accompany stringent lockdowns; and good sanitation programmes to become a lifestyle of citizens. Careful attention should be paid to the socioeconomic trade‐off in respect of international travel restrictions given the high dependence of most African economies on tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black bodies have been the site of devastation for centuries. We who inhabit and love these bodies live in a state of perpetual mourning. We mourn the disproportionate dying in our families, communities and the dying in the black diaspora. We are yet to come to terms with the death that accompanied the AIDS pandemic. Tuberculosis breeds in the conditions within which most of us live. We die from hours spent in the belly of the earth where we dig for minerals to feed the unquenchable thirst of capital. Malaria targets our neighbors with deathly accuracy. Ebola stalks west Africa where it has established itself as a rapacious black disease. It kills us. In the black diaspora, African Americans are walking targets for American police who kill and imprison them at rates that have created a prison industrial complex. Africans die in the Mediterranean ocean and join the spirits of ancestors drowned centuries ago. With South Africa as the point of departure, this paper stages a transcontinental examination of black death. It is animated by the following questions. What are the dimensions of black death, what is its scale and how is it mourned? What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for we who are so intimately familiar with death? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the high transmission rate and mortality index of the current coronavirus pandemic, many settings in Africa instituted lockdowns to reduce its rate of spread and avert exponential growth rate. At the early stage, this measure seemed to heighten awareness of the virus and subsequently minimized exponential growth of cases. However, these lockdowns have had great consequences on the weak health systems and frail economy in place in many African countries. In this paper, we examine the impact of lockdown measures in these countries and provides key recommendations in dealing with present and future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic caught the world unprepared, with containment measures impacting both global supply chains and agri-commodity flows. The public health crisis raised some urgent questions: "how can fish and other aquatic foods and supply chains be prioritized as health-related interventions to avert both a malnutrition crisis and gender inequality?" Furthermore, "what are the integrated responses, investment opportunities, and governance mechanisms to effectively address the pandemic?" As "super foods," diets of fish and aquatic foods provide animal-source protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and micronutrients, including both vitamins and minerals, necessary for both the ill and the healthy. The affordability and accessibility of fish could address food and nutrition security needs under lockdown and border closures, boost immune systems, and increase commodity trade. This analytical piece focuses on the continent of Africa, where malnutrition is pervasive, but also where local aquatic food supplies can be utilised during lockdowns and border closures. The paper provides governance insights on national budget support programs and portfolio restructuring to strengthen local aquatic foods production systems to meet dietary needs. Furthermore, the authors advocate for a coordinated multi-sectoral intervention across several well-being domains in the immediate and medium-term involving various partnerships. These integrated responses will mutually limit the contagion while providing support to functional fish value chains for healthy diets, livelihoods, cross-border trade, and long-term macroeconomic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continent-wide Africa Task Force for Coronavirus with its six technical working groups was formed to prepare adequately and respond to the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Africa. This research in practice article aimed to describe how the infection prevention and control (IPC) technical working group (TWG) supported Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in preparedness and response to COVID-19 on the continent. To effectively address the multifaceted IPC TWG mandate of organizing training and implementing rigorous IPC measures at healthcare service delivery points, the working group was sub-divided into four sub-groups—Guidelines, Training, Research, and Logistics. The action framework was used to describe the experiences of each subgroup. The guidelines subgroup developed 14 guidance documents and two advisories; all of which were published in English. In addition, five of these documents were translated and published in Arabic, while three others were translated and published in French and Portuguese. Challenges faced in the guidelines subgroup included the primary development of the Africa CDC website in English, and the need to revise previously issued guidelines. The training subgroup engaged the Infection Control Africa Network as technical experts to carry out in-person training of IPC focal persons and port health personnel across the African continent. Challenges faced included the difficulty in conducting face-to-face IPC training and onsite technical support due to the lockdown. The research subgroup developed an interactive COVID-19 Research Tracker on the Africa CDC website and conducted a context-based operation and implementation research. The lack of understanding of Africa CDC's capacity to lead her own research was the major challenge faced by the research subgroup. The logistics subgroup assisted African Union (AU) member states to identify their IPC supply needs through capacity building for IPC quantification. A notable challenge faced by the logistics subgroup was the initial lack of experts on IPC logistics and quantifications, which was later addressed by the recruitment of professionals. In conclusion, IPC cannot be built overnight nor can it be promoted abruptly during outbreaks of diseases. Thus, the Africa CDC should build strong national IPC programmes and support such programmes with trained and competent professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on ride‐hailing drivers in Africa. It argues that, although ride‐hailing offers paid work to some African workers, the commodified and informalized nature of this work results in poor job quality, the effects of which were greatly amplified during the pandemic. Drawing on a mixed methods approach involving in‐depth interviews with ride‐hailing drivers in Nairobi and digital ethnography, it also provides accounts of drivers' hustles to demonstrate strategies of resilience, reworking and resistance among informal workers. The article concludes by highlighting the need for adequate regulatory frameworks and on‐the‐ground solidarity networks to ensure decent working conditions, and to push back against precarity in the gig economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of tourism for development is widely recognized. Travel restrictions imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 have brought tourism to a halt. Tourism is one of the key sectors driving change in Africa and is based exclusively on natural assets, with wildlife being the main attraction. Economic activities, therefore, are clustered around conservation and protected areas. We used night-time light data as a proxy measure for economic activity to assess change due to the pandemic. Our analysis shows that overall, 75 percent of the 8427 protected areas saw a decrease in light intensity in varying degrees in all countries and across IUCN protected area categories, including in popular protected area destinations, indicating a reduction in tourism-related economic activities. As countries discuss COVID-19 recovery, the methods using spatially explicit data illustrated in this paper can assess the extent of change, inform decision-making, and prioritize recovery efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 is a global pandemic that continues to spread around the world, including to Africa where cases are steadily increasing. The African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is leading the pandemic response in Africa, with direction from the World Health Organization guidelines for critical preparedness, readiness, and response actions. These are written for national governments, lacking nuance for population and local differences. In the greater Horn of Africa, conditions unique to pastoralists such as inherent mobility and limited health and service infrastructure will influence the dynamics of COVID-19. In this paper, we present a One Health approach to the pandemic, consisting of interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration focused on the determinants of health and health outcomes amongst pastoralists. Our contextualized public health strategy includes community One Health teams and suggestions for where to implement targeted public health measures. We also analyse the interaction of COVID-19 impacts, including those caused directly by the disease and those that result from control efforts, with ongoing shocks and vulnerabilities in the region (e.g. desert locusts, livestock disease outbreaks, floods, conflict, and development displacement). We give recommendations on how to prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its secondary impacts on pastoral areas. Given that the full impact of COVID-19 on pastoral areas is unknown currently, our health recommendations focus on disease prevention and understanding disease epidemiology. We emphasize targeting pastoral toponymies with public health measures to secure market access and mobility while combating the direct health impacts of COVID-19. A contextualized approach for the COVID-19 public health response in pastoral areas in the Greater Horn of Africa, including how the pandemic will interact with existing shocks and vulnerabilities, is required for an effective response, while protecting pastoral livelihoods and food, income, and nutrition security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa experienced the third wave of the coronavirus disease in 2019, which caused an 18% rise in cases in most parts of the continent. As of January 2022, the region had an estimated 10.4 million cumulative cases and more than 233,000 deaths, which add up to the burden on the fragile healthcare system, which continues to face a shortage of staff and resources. In addition, the progression of the pandemic further threatens the supply of healthcare workers in Africa due to the increased risk of infection and death, where more than 10,000 healthcare workers in 40 countries have been infected with the virus. This is amid low vaccination coverage, with only 27% of healthcare workers in Africa being fully vaccinated against the disease. Despite the delayed start and slow progression of the pandemic in Africa, there are increasing concerns over the challenges on the African healthcare workers such as economic insecurity and stressful working conditions, which are associated with limited access to personal protective equipment and other vital resources such as ventilators. In addition, the pandemic further predisposes African healthcare workers to social stigma, burnout, insomnia, depression, and fear of safety in their families. The aim of this study is to highlight the challenges faced by African healthcare workers, provide recommendations for change, and emphasize the need to prioritize their physical and mental well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living in an increasingly interconnected world, epidemics and pandemics are increasingly likely to be a vista for the future. This, coupled with the likely devastating effects of climate change, means that humanitarian crises are likely to increase. Now, more than ever before, is the time to scale up investment in prevention and preparedness strategies, and to review our current approaches to delivering health services, including those that address neglected tropical diseases. The Ascend West and Central Africa programme has illustrated the importance of innovation, multisector partnerships, resilience and the opportunity for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Just as the understanding of COVID-19 has evolved over time – particularly the virus' ability to rapidly mutate – so too have the apparent solutions at hand. Nonetheless, vaccinating an adequate number of people remains the holy grail, even if this is unlikely to eradicate the virus altogether. This puts most African countries, where on average only 4.4% of the population are currently vaccinated, at a clear disadvantage. Employing the concept of global public goods, this article argues that in order to halt the pandemic, international efforts should be guided by a weakest-link logic. The good news is that incentives may exist for everyone to act. The bad news is that (1) the current development cooperation architecture is not adequately equipped to offer such a response; and (2) achieving significant immunisation rates in African countries is fraught with a plethora of structural problems. Given that time is of the essence – as the emergence of new COVID-19 mutations constantly reminds us – the final outcome rests on how quickly international cooperation moves forward. In the spirit of 'shoring up the weakest-link countries', both in-kind direct help and enhancing capacity to deal with the virus are needed if Africa is not to be left behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused over 500 million cases and over six million deaths globally. From these numbers, over 12 million cases and over 250 thousand deaths have occurred on the African continent as of May 2022. Prevention and surveillance remains the cornerstone of interventions to halt the further spread of COVID-19. Google Health Trends (GHT), a free Internet tool, may be valuable to help anticipate outbreaks, identify disease hotspots, or understand the patterns of disease surveillance. We collected COVID-19 case and death incidence for 54 African countries and obtained averages for four, five-month study periods in 2020–2021. Average case and death incidences were calculated during these four time periods to measure disease severity. We used GHT to characterize COVID-19 incidence across Africa, collecting numbers of searches from GHT related to COVID-19 using four terms: 'coronavirus', 'coronavirus symptoms', 'COVID19', and 'pandemic'. The terms were related to weekly COVID-19 case incidences for the entire study period via multiple linear and weighted linear regression analyses. We also assembled 72 variables assessing Internet accessibility, demographics, economics, health, and others, for each country, to summarize potential mechanisms linking GHT searches and COVID-19 incidence. COVID-19 burden in Africa increased steadily during the study period. Important increases for COVID-19 death incidence were observed for Seychelles and Tunisia. Our study demonstrated a weak correlation between GHT and COVID-19 incidence for most African countries. Several variables seemed useful in explaining the pattern of GHT statistics and their relationship to COVID-19 including: log of average weekly cases, log of cumulative total deaths, and log of fixed total number of broadband subscriptions in a country. Apparently, GHT may best be used for surveillance of diseases that are diagnosed more consistently. Overall, GHT-based surveillance showed little applicability in the studied countries. GHT for an ongoing epidemic might be useful in specific situations, such as when countries have significant levels of infection with low variability. Future studies might assess the algorithm in different epidemic contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population growth, even if coupled to economic growth, and resources, were already on a collision course, especially in Africa. The 2019 United Nations World Water Development Report provided a dramatic status of world water, however without questioning the main drivers of an imminent water crisis, that were unbounded, unequal, economic, and population growth, within the context of reducing resources in a finite world. Despite the report was a small step forward in awareness, still, it was not proposing satisfactory remedies. With business-as-usual, without acting on the drivers of water scarcity, regional water crises were inevitable in the next 3 decades, starting from Africa. Constrained by political, financial, and energy burdens, the technological improvements that have helped humanity to deal with the increased demand for water, food, and energy over the last 70 years, were likely not enough to avoid the water crisis. On top of forecast is the Covid19 pandemic. Coronavirus cases are (August 4, 2020) 18,446,065 and fatalities are 697,202 worldwide, and still growing. The containment measures enforced for Covid19 infection following the examples in the United Kingdom have already produced significant damage to the world economy. This will limit social expenditures in general, and the expenditures for the water issue in particular. The water crisis will consequently become worse in the next months, with consequences still difficult to predict. This will be true especially for Africa, where the main problem has always been poverty. There is the opportunity of significant health, food, and water crisis, especially in Africa. While the concepts of washing hands and social distancing that are difficult to apply haven't produce so far major issues with the Covid19 outbreak in Africa, borders closure, restrictions on movement, and more poverty will translate in a lack of food and water potentially much more worrying than the virus spreading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]