Freetown has over 1 million residents, many of whom live in about 68 crowded informal settlements. Residents of these settlements struggle daily to access basic services such as water, sanitation, and health-care services. We found that the government’s COVID-19 response measures (curfews, lockdowns, and travel restrictions) excluded informal residents from contributing to its design, and […]
One in three urban dwellers now live in precarious, marginalised areas, including informal spaces; this is an estimated 881 million people in low- and middle-income countries. People living and working in informal urban spaces face interconnected challenges, including multiple intersecting health risks and vulnerabilities, and complex, fluid governance arrangements, involving a mix of actors, with […]
Much of the current discussion on safeguarding comes from the perspective of the humanitarian sector, and direct service provision and implementation. Additionally, researchers working in global health also experience safeguarding challenges, and research funders and donors require assurance that safeguarding processes and policies are developed and implemented to protect participants and researchers, yet governance in […]
One of our core strategies to affect change is to support capacity strengthening of urban marginalised co-researchers to generate, collect, and use evidence as new localised knowledge to instigate change. Strengthening capabilities of urban marginalised people to engage with research processes is central to the principles of CBPR and meaningful participation of marginalised communities. ARISE […]
This paper applies an intersectional lens to health in informal urban settlements in Freetown, Sierra Leone. We explored how intersecting social characteristics including gender, age, wealth, occupation, and tenant status influence health and well-being outcomes. We found that hazardous environmental conditions, poor waste disposal, and waste burning contribute to health problems at a neighbourhood level. […]
COVID-19 has forced a reckoning about how we live, and in particular how exposure to disease risks are unevenly distributed. This contribution explores connections between the COVID-19 pandemic, chronic disease and conditions of chronic crisis among the urban poor. We suggest two issues in urgent need of attention in the long and short term are: […]
Sumit Mazumdar and Indranil, The Hindu, 7 July 2020 For most regions across the country, the long lockdown has just got over. As the “unlocking” begins, it is becoming increasingly apparent how the Indian state had chosen its sides and revealed its elitist bias during one of the most stringently enforced lockdowns worldwide. Several news […]
This is a recording of a live event that took place on the 1 July 2020 and was organised by UKCDR. This webinar was targeted at the international development research community. It aimed to raise awareness of the new guidance on safeguarding, increase understanding of the definition of safeguarding in the context of international development research […]
This Practitioner Brief has been produced based on the discussions and agreements that took place during the City Learning Platform (CiLP) meeting in February 2020. The meeting was hosted and coordinated by the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC), who also reported on the agreements. Health is intertwined with living conditions in the city. Determinants […]
Alfred Itunga and Beate Ringwald, LVCT Health blog, June 2020 It is Friday evening, at 10 pm. Our children whose bedtime has long passed are still playing in the background. This is when we, Alfred* and Beate** meet online to discuss our work. It is not the usual time for work meetings. But nothing is […]
