From Practicum to Publication – Ecole de Guerre Practicum (Spring 2020)

From Practicum to Publication

AUP Student Assessment of the Humanitarian Response to Covid-19 Authored by the Ecole de Guerre Practicum Spring 2020, The American University of Paris

FROM PRACTICUM TO PUBLICATION

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Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………... 3 •

Professor Susan H. Perry

Chapter One: Human Rights and Humanitarian Principles in Emergencies ………………………………………………………… 5 •

Karl Baldacchino, David Brown (ICRC), Annika Johnson, Kieran McTague, Stuart Johnson, David Sohmer

Chapter Two: Protection of Health and Aid Delivery Systems .. 17 •

Mary Alice Platt, Sandy Baro, Jenna Beasley, Bileh Dougsiyeh, Kenya Sanchez Vicarte

Chapter Three: Pandemic Vulnerabilities of Women, Children, and the Elderly .....…………………………………………………. 31 •

Maura Partrick, Delaney Anderson, Prizma Ghimire, Ki Byung Park

Chapter Four: Mobilities - caring for the homeless and refugees during Covid-19 ……………………………………………….…… 42 •

Lisa Bauman, Madeleine Cella, Sarah Gorenflo, Kendall Jimenez, Azheen Mustafa

Chapter Five: Freedoms and Technology …………………….... 53 •

Sandra Lefaure, Tomislava Tomova, Collin Frey, Caleb Lemke, Ricky J. Marc, Marissa Stanley

Epilogue: Learning from Covid-19 …………………………….…. 58 •

Professor Susan H. Perry

References …………………………………………………………. 59

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Introduction The Covid-19 virus hit Paris full force in March 2020. It would claim more than 30,000 victims in France during our Spring semester and send tens of millions of people into lockdown. Universities were closed immediately, and professors were required to move their courses online. At The American University of Paris, the transition was exceptionally smooth, although something was lost in the changeover: AUP’s signature practicum at the French War College (École de Guerre).

The Exercise Coalition is an annual, polyvalent simulation of a military intervention organized and operated by the French War College, with civilian partners. Several hundred École de Guerre officers prepare military intervention plans for a region in crisis (one that strongly resembles Western Europe). Two opposing sides put their plans into effect during a complex simulation run by computer. AUP is a privileged partner in this exercise. After two months of preparation, each of our students plays the role of a UN or NGO humanitarian worker on the ground in a conflict zone during the ten-day simulation phase, working in close cooperation with military players to create a humanitarian aid plan that provides relief to tens of thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire.

Exercice Coalition 2020, a simulated crisis, was cancelled this year due to the very real threat posed by a global pandemic. As the course professor, nothing in my thirty-five years of university teaching prepared me for the transition from an on-site practicum to a digital book. Fortunately, the entire class – all 26 AUP graduate and undergraduate digital natives – reached out from worldwide lockdown to design and contribute to this volume via AUP’s online platform.

This book is comprised of five chapters that cover a range of the most pressing humanitarian issues in a health crisis. Half of the class elected to continue in their assigned roles with UN humanitarian agencies and international NGOs to respond to the unfolding Covid-19 pandemic. Weekly, these students analyzed the scope of the crisis as it unfolded, in France and abroad. Their blog posts form the backbone of this publication.

The other half of the class opted to write research papers on humanitarian assistance; their abstracts are interspersed with the blog posts throughout the chapters in this volume.

Each of the five chapters focuses on a particular aspect of the Covid-19 crisis: (1) the principles of humanitarian intervention and the coordination of a rapid UN response; (2) the key role played by international non-governmental organizations; (3) the difficulties in reaching vulnerable populations, such as migrants and

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children; (4) the pro-active stance adopted by the UNHCR; and (5) the scope of human right violations committed by public and private actors alike.

A special thanks to David Brown, Armed Forces Delegate for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who served as a class mentor and whose interview was transcribed (Kieran McTague) and appears in short quotations throughout. Our chapter editors (Karl Baldacchino, Lisa Bauman, Sandra Lefaure, Mary Alice Platt, and Maura Partrick) assumed responsibility for digital layout, a meticulous, time-consuming task. AUP alumni Nicole Santiago and Cody Mannick, along with Annika Johnson, accompanied the chapter teams throughout their editing endeavors.

The two-month lockdown of AUP professors and students was a seminal challenge. This book represents our response to that challenge, a real-life test that every student passed with brio. By exploring how others were responding to Covid-19, we were able to contribute our analysis to a crisis that is still evolving, choosing to become positive, active participants during one of the toughest periods in recent history.

Professor Susan H. Perry Paris, June 16, 2020

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Chapter 1: Human Rights and Humanitarian Principles in Emergencies The Covid-19 pandemic is just one more challenge that humanitarian actors must overcome. The virus further complicates existing operations of various UN, international and national agencies, and organizations which provide life-saving aid. This chapter will discuss the contributions of the Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Program, two UN agencies that support international and local responses to crisis; in addition, this chapter will address the application of International Humanitarian Law to crisis and cyber warfare.

Image Source: Inter-Agency Standing Committee

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The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors across the clusters indicated in the above graphic to ensure a coherent response to emergencies, guaranteeing that crisis-affected people receive the assistance and protection they need. One of the UN agencies that OCHA works directly with in coordinating and delivering humanitarian aid is the World Food Program (WFP). The WFP focuses on “emergency assistance, relief and rehabilitation, development aid and special operations… in conflict-affected countries where people are three times more likely to be undernourished than those living in countries without conflict.”

OCHA initiated the ‘Humanitarian Response Plan’ (HRP) in March 2020, calling for a total of 2 billion USD in required funding to address the ramifications of the Covid19 crisis around the world. The agenda suggested that a shortage in funding could hamper the preparation of pre-positioned aid, leading to further suffering. The WFP has also highlighted underlying concerns when providing aid, such as the notion of ‘aid worker phobia’ and the principled dilemma of humanitarian workers choosing between the humanitarian imperative to provide lifesaving aid and not spreading the virus.

The following chapter will highlight all of these issues, as analyzed by AUP students who were preparing for the roles of OCHA, WFP and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) humanitarian workers, when the Covid-19 crisis struck.

OCHA Unveils Their Humanitarian Response Plan to Combat Covid-19 Annika Johnson, OCHA In March of 2020, The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) published a ‘Humanitarian Response Plan’ (HRP) regarding Covid19. The report outlines a series of strategies pertaining to different elements that need to be addressed in order to mitigate and adapt to the effects of Covid-19. As the lead coordinator for humanitarian responses, OCHA sets the agenda and works with all stakeholders and UN organizations to ensure policies are being met with full force.

Additionally, OCHA has established a line of communication with the Red Cross and Crescent Movements, as is usual in times of conflict or disaster. The health response is fully aligned with the World Health Organization (WHO) and strives to uphold the humanitarian principles of the United Nations. HRP teams work in specific regions in

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which the situation is already critical or expected to become particularly devastating due to the vulnerability of that region.

Image Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid

The report acknowledges that, while all countries are being affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, OCHA’s role is to aid countries which are less equipped to combat the virus on their own. The HRP works with national government response plans to combat the spread of the virus. However, this does not compromise the operational independence of the OCHA system. The role of the HRP is to complement national policies and provide redress for shortcomings at the national level, wherever necessary.

For OCHA, mobilizing and securing additional funds for humanitarian operations are among their chief objectives established under the organization's mandate. Given the scope of the crisis, funding these efforts has become increasingly difficult. National governments throughout the world have delayed or ceased to contribute to international humanitarian operations. The report estimates that 2.01 billion USD will be needed to fund OCHA’s global humanitarian response plan. Of particular concern to OCHA and parties included in the HRP are indirect socioeconomic impacts induced by the global pandemic. One example cited in the report is the threat to human rights.

David Brown Speaks on the Operations and Activities of the ICRC During the Covid-19 Pandemic Interview by Kieran McTague, Caleb Lemke, Kendall Jimenez, Madeleine Cella David Brown is a staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). A group of students from the American University of Paris were granted the opportunity to interview him about the ICRC’s approach to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this

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Q&A, David Brown discusses in detail how the ICRC is coping with and addressing the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr. Brown noted that the ICRC has about 100 operations in roughly100 countries.

ICRC staff is complying with confinement measures in about 80% of the cases. 50% of the ICRC staff is still able to continue their work out in the field.

David Brown: The ICRC concentrates on the victims of armed conflict. The ICRC works in countries with weak and fragile economies and political systems which are currently under additional pressure. Societies can be very fragmented, affected by poverty and corruption and affected events such as climate change. The ICRC works in tough environments, and the Covid-19 pandemic makes life harder. One of our area regional representatives said, ‘this is just one crisis on top of another’. A lot of the staff in the field recognizes this. The ICRC’s activities continue to focus on the victims of armed conflict. This includes displaced persons, people whose livelihoods have been destroyed, detainees or people who have been injured by armed conflict.

The good news is that the ICRC has been operating in these environments anyway, we understand the context we’re in and the sort of people we’re dealing with.

The ICRC has a vast network of existing contacts and brings a vast multidisciplinary skill set to operations. The ICRC is acclimated to working in the field, is experienced and has a lot of expertise.

The ICRC is starting slightly on the front foot, but this doesn’t mean that this is not a massive crisis which is having a massive effect in many ways in the areas we work. The work of our delegations in European countries and the United States is based more on humanitarian diplomacy and is looking ahead beyond the crisis. The ICRC has made an appeal for about 250 million USD. 70% of that appeal has been met. That money will be used not only to address the here and now, but probably to address the longer-term consequences of our work.

WFP’s Commitment to Work with International & Local Partners Karl Baldacchino, WFP The World Food Program (WFP) is not working alone to address the current pandemic, and neither is it the only UN agency providing aid. WFP has worked alongside partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN High Commissioner for

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Refugees (UNHCR), and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to draw up a Covid-19 Pandemic Global Response Plan. The WFP aims to create and sustain international staging hubs of prepositioned aid, provide maritime services, ensure weekly cargo airlifts into priority areas, as well as deploy humanitarian workers into these areas. Early on, the WFP partnered with the WHO to deliver $500,000 of medical supplies, including 50 ventilators, oxygen kits and other medical equipment, to China’s hardest hit provinces, Hubei and Wuhan.

Image Credit: WFP/Jama Hassan

Three WFP employees were sent to the WHO-led Interagency Supply Chain Coordination Cell in Geneva to pool their expertise with other humanitarian partners. This has led to a total of 85 consignments that WHO delivered to 74 countries through WFP’s management of the UNHRD, deploying $1.4 million worth of personal protection equipment (PPE), health kits and key supporting emergency items to countries such as China, Iran and the Pacific Islands. Further coordination has occured through WFP’s activation of its Operational Crisis Management Team (O-CMT) to ensure that the health, safety, and travel of humanitarian workers is secure. This extends into WFP’s involvement in various coordination bodies such as the Emergency Director’s Group (EDG), the Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network (GOARN) and the Pandemic Supply Chain Network (PSCN).

The WFP continues to work alongside partners in the field to sustain school feeding programs and food distribution. In countries such as Armenia, Mauritania, Colombia, Burkina Faso and Somalia, school closures have affected at least 9 million

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children, placing a total of 300 million children in vulnerability since they often depend on school to get their daily meal(s). Due to the Coronavirus, the WFP has adapted its methods of aid distribution to respect social distancing guidelines. The alternative methods include take home meals, cash, vouchers and food delivery services.

Airlift services have delivered 93.5 metric tons of emergency aid such as food, water, and soap to Sudanese refugees in Chad, stating that the health of the most vulnerable directly impacts the health of everybody. UNHCR’s Cécile Pouilly has stated that Covid-19 does not discriminate and requires funding focused towards all agencies tackling in parallel operations and the pandemic, allowing the cooperation of all partners to continue running smoothly. As air travel restrictions increase, more funding is required to support dedicated humanitarian workers who are staying behind without rest and recuperation leave, and air crews who cannot be changed over when arriving in destination countries for fear of spreading the disease.

WFP’s Contribution to the Humanitarian Response Plan Karl Baldacchino, WFP As the virus spreads beyond Europe to Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, it has moved into regions without the strong healthcare systems that Europe, East Asia, and the United States have. Both flexibility and speed remain key. Drawing on WFP experiences with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the agency is using past experience with pandemics as a launchpad to rapidly adapt resources and build a new set of tools that address the complexities of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite the tension between local and international NGOs, our local partners provide key access to people in need of life-saving aid. This is explains WFP’s $350 million call, as part of the wider $2 billion UN appeal, for aviation, shipping, storage and transportation, and engineering services aims towards; the agency aims to complement the work of local partners in the field, providing them with the food, water, sanitary, and shelter items needed to survive in the beyond perilous conditions they now face. WFP has delivered food, water, cash, and sanitary items stored in Panama to places such as Haiti, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Chile, Colombia and El Salvador. WFP and partner agency, the World Health Organization, continue to advocate and urge governments to allow access to all cargoes entering their borders, to allow logistical airlift support in their country when delivering aid to people, and to include school feeding programs in the national safety net plans being drawn up.

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The rise of ‘Aidworkerphobia,’ particularly in Africa, is proving to be particularly challenging. It requires a deepening of mutual trust with locals who are receiving aid. The WFP must do no harm to places “where half the population cannot afford nutritional food, [and] disaster looms.” As Yemen begins to share in this phobia, the FP has sought alternative inroads to the delivery of aid through other means. Iran is an example of a successful adaptation of 170 refugees screened and working in WFP workshops to sew face masks for their own and surrounding communities. 31,000 additional Iraqi and Afghani refugees were accounted for as food and cash were delivered. The Red Crescent Society in Iran received masks, gloves, and coverall gowns donated by Japan and airlifted from WFP’s UNHRD location in Dubai.

MSF Work Blocked in the Mediterranean as Result of Covid19 Government Responses Mary Platt, MSF While Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been able to develop several projects related to Covid-19, their work with migrants in the Mediterranean Sea is now blocked.

For the last four years, MSF has been rescuing migrants in conjunction with SOS Méditerranée. In this partnership, MSF provided medical care to migrants and SOS Méditerranée handled the logistics of maritime rescue operations. SOS Méditerranée “was founded by citizens in May 2015 in response to the deaths in the Mediterranean and the failure of the European Union to prevent these deaths.” The two organizations worked together on the ship, Ocean Viking, which operated out of Marseille, France. Despite having succeeded in rescuing more than 30,000 migrants over the last four years, MSF ended its partnership with SOS Méditerranée on April 17th. Sophie Beau, Managing Director of SOS Méditerranée, explained that their operations could not continue without a guaranteed port for disembarkation and given the increased risks to workers during this global pandemic. In an interview with France 24, Thierry Allafort, Managing Director of MSF France, stated that MSF wished to continue its work in the Mediterranean, despite the risks outlined by Beau. Given the humanitarian imperative – the right to receive and offer humanitarian assistance – MSF must continue to help migrants in need in the Mediterranean. Hassiba Hadj, a humanitarian affairs advisor with MSF, emphasized that in light of the humanitarian imperative, MSF’s work in the Mediterranean must continue, even without a guaranteed European port for disembarkation. The Covid-19 pandemic should not block MSF’s critical life-saving work.

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Image Source: Doctors Without Borders

The termination of this partnership places the lives of many migrants at risk.

However, MSF outlined that the root of the problem lies in migration policies of European countries. These migration policies have existed for years, but MSF specifically called on governments not to use the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to implement deadly migration control policies. This practice was apparent over Easter weekend, as “Malta and Italy failed to respond to multiple overloaded dinghies in distress in their search and rescue regions, and declined a place of safety for disembarkation to nearly 200 people rescued by two non-governmental organization (NGO) ships.” Annemarie Loof, MSF Operations Manager said that these policies, as well as Germany’s call to NGOs to stop search and rescue activities “are discriminatory and disproportionate” relative to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the pandemic, more than 700 migrants attempted to flee Libya for European ports over the past week. These migrants still require assistance.

MSF has been able to help many vulnerable populations in France during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean is of critical importance and the pandemic should not block this work. Maritime rescue is a matter of life-or-death, and MSF must find a way to continue its work to help these migrants.

Addressing one crisis cannot be an excuse to allow another to worsen.

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The Application of International Humanitarian Law to Cyber Warfare Abstract - Kieran McTague The technology used in war is constantly evolving and improving. Since the 1990s, cyberattacks have been a top national security priority for many States. Most cyberattacks have occurred outside the scope of armed conflict. To date, most attacks have targeted key civilian infrastructure, stopping the delivery of essential services and causing considerable collateral damage. This paper will examine some of the positive and negative aspects of cyber weaponry.

Cyber weapons can be programmed to be very specific in their targeting and impact, and may achieve military objectives without causing direct casualties. Unfortunately, not all cyberattacks can be finetuned to this degree. Unlike a traditional kinetic attack, cyberattacks may penetrate interconnected networks; self-replicating malware may penetrate military computer systems and then spread to civilian networks. From a legal perspective, this is problematic. This paper examines how international humanitarian law and customary international law provide a framework for the conduct of cyber warfare in the context of international and non-international armed conflict.

A Challenge for International Humanitarian Law - A Crisis of Trust: From Election Meddling to Infodemics Abstract - Stuart Johnson Scholars have begun to pay serious attention to the production and impact of different forms of disinformation, but there is little scholarly literature regarding their impact in a humanitarian crisis or in wartime. This paper will first analyze the context within which today’s disinformation is taking place, provide case studies to support my arguments, and present the Covid-19 crisis and how best to fight this new ‘infodemic’. The author will examine post-truth theory and international legal frameworks that can be used to confront hostile disinformation campaigns, especially the work of the International Humanitarian Fact Finding Commission. Two Ebola country studies will be provided to compare and contrast the management of disinformation. Finally, the paper will examine Covid-19 narratives and make recommendations to the UN and international NGOs hoping to combat disinformation campaigns. In the contact of Covid-19, this paper argues that we should be thinking more deeply about how to use international law to effectively deter disinformation campaigns, which hamper the delivery of humanitarian aid and reduce the likelihood that citizens will proper protect themselves.

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The Economic Impact of Covid-19 Annika Johnson, OCHA Beginning in May 2020, many countries affected by the Coronavirus global pandemic are starting to experience a ‘flattening of the curve.’ In these regions, attention has shifted to the economic repercussions of the Covid-19 outbreak. Given the intense effect of nearly all economic sectors and the sharp decline in supply and demand, a widespread economic recession is increasingly likely. Many reports suggest the world is facings the most substantial economic downturn since the postwar period. As countries experience the economic weight of controlling the coronavirus outbreak, the UN reports a shortfall in fundraising efforts for the ‘Global Humanitarian Response Plan for Covid19’. This plan estimated a minimum of USD 2 billion to fund adaption and mitigation initiatives around the world, especially in vulnerable regions. OCHA recently reported that international donors have managed to pledge 1/4th of the $2 billion requested. The amount received is undoubtedly significant; however, it is not nearly enough to maintain and extend the essential services provided by different UN organizations. OCHA highlights the fact that while the world races against the same viral enemy, "not all [countries] begin from the same starting line." Repeatedly OCHA has stressed the need to continue essential services to vulnerable regions where conflict, refugees’ crises, and economic struggles persist. The World Food Program warns that shortfall in funding could result in a halt to certain essential services. Humanitarian assistance represents one of the impending financial repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic. There will be severe implications for the world’s 'most vulnerable' if UN organizations fail in reaching fundraising targets for humanitarian assistance.

Covid-19 and Humanitarian Assistance in Conflict Zones Annika Johnson, OCHA In a recent article published on OCHA's website, the organization reminded readers of ten humanitarian crises to remember amid the global Covid-19 pandemic. In the past several weeks, OCHA has fulfilled the role coordinator for the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as taken steps to address enduring humanitarian crises. Despite the UN Secretary-General, and more recently, the Pope, calling for global ceasefires, preexisting conflicts persist. Moreover, a handful of new, small-level skirmishes have ignited, resulting in additional humanitarian challenges. Therefore, OCHA has made clear its intentions to continue to deliver essential aid to the regions it has been servicing before the outbreak of the virus. Within this, the issue of averting the

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spread of Covid-19 in these conflict zones to prevent a "crisis on top of a crisis. In sum, the organization is working vis à vis the Global Humanitarian Response Plan for Covid19 to increase funding operations for Covid-19 in order to avoid diversion of funds from existing operations.

It must be noted that at that time, no Level-3 emergency had been declared concerning the outbreak of the coronavirus. This may change should the outbreak spread to regions such as the Sahel Region in Africa, or in other regions where food scarcity is particularly bad. However, L-3 emergencies are typically reserved for regions where the most complex and challenging emergencies occur. Thus, the decision to activate an L-3 emergency will likely not occur in relation to Covid-19.

While much of the world is working against Covid-19, the governments of the most affected regions, such as Europe, have demonstrated a strong capacity to mitigate the effects of the virus. The same cannot be said for regions such as the Sahel, where conflict, drought, food, and water security, in addition to Covid-19, threaten the stability of the region. Currently, many of these regions are not experiencing the outbreak at the same level as other affected regions. However, in continuing support, and at times directing more considerable attention, OCHA is preventing catastrophe for some of the world's most vulnerable populations.

Using Drones to Deliver Humanitarian Aid Abstract – David Sohmer This paper explores how a combination of drone technology and a UNER mobile application can be used to support emergency relief operations. It begins with a discussion of two kinds of drone technology: surveillance and delivery drones. In this section, the reader will learn about the technical capabilities of surveillance drones and delivery drones, as well as the differences between the two. Following the technical discussion is a proposal for how the UNER may leverage these capabilities to support UNER emergency relief operations with a drone surveillance and delivery network or an aerial humanitarian corridor.

The second half of this paper develops the groundwork for a UNER mobile application.

The first section focuses on user experience, including first-time user registration and examples of hypothetical situations where the mobile application would be helpful to the user. The second section discusses the application’s potential benefits to humanitarian agencies, such as tracking and managing IDP flows in real time and increasing the overall efficiency of the humanitarian response. Emergency virus response may render this technology increasingly relevant.

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Further Concerns Regarding the Lack of Oxygen & ‘Aidworkerphobia’ Karl Baldacchino, WFP The spread of the coronavirus to Africa has exposed many critical issues that our operations, and those of our partners, will need to surely address. Firstly, there is the fact that oxygen gas, equipment and trained health workers who can handle both are in very short supply across the continent. In Ethiopia, for example, a study found that only 2%IDV out of 78 hospitals have oximeters to measure gas in blood systems, 14% had standards to regulate the use of oxygen and health workers to handle it, and 41% had biomedical engineers to maintain the equipment. With oxygen in short supply prices have increased, with Somalia seeing $100 for 6.6m3 to last an individual 24 hours in comparison to $15 in Kenya where an oxygen plant was built in 2014. WFP will work with partners, especially the WHO, to provide such equipment which under International Law has been an essential medicine since 2017.

Secondly, although diseases such as pneumonia claims most lives in Africa, investment and provision of such equipment must not neglect other diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, polio, cholera, but especially measles and Ebola with the former likely to increase in rate as 117 million children will not receive vaccination in 24 countries due to cancellations and the latter has slowly reappeared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Thirdly, a major obstacle for WFP is the increasing ‘Aidworkerphobia’ and a xenophobic outlook that citizens in the DRC and South Sudan have adopted. Local NGOs have complained that the virus is a scam for money.

Image Credit: WFP/Ashwini Rai

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Chapter 2: Protection of Health and Aid Delivery Systems Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors without Borders, is an international humanitarian organization whose mission is to aid those in most serious or immediate danger, regardless of race, religion, gender, or political affiliation. Maintaining missions in over 70 countries, MSF employs tens of thousands of healthcare professionals both locally and internationally. The organization focuses on delivering emergency medical assistance to vulnerable populations affected by conflict, pandemics, natural disasters, and exclusion from healthcare. They abide by the core principles of impartiality, independence, neutrality, bearing witness, accountability, and transparency.

MSF is the largest independent international organization in the world, allowing them to move autonomously to access any population, without restrictions or the promotion of a political agenda.

With respect to Covid-19, MSF reacted quickly in order to effectively reduce the contagion effect. A robust logistics deployment has facilitated MSF’s ability to respond to the crisis swiftly and precisely, including the setup of temporary health facilities, water and sanitation resources, and the distribution of vaccines. MSF regularly reinforces vaccine coverage in the areas where they work. Additionally, the organization educates populations on preventive measures to avoid disease transmission. MSF is an important actor in the global Covid-19 response, currently implementing interventions in every country where they have an active mission. These interventions have involved a variety of activities, centered around the goal of supporting existing healthcare systems, protecting vulnerable populations, and ensuring the continuity of essential medical services. Throughout the pandemic, MSF’s work has been critical to upholding health and aid delivery systems.

Supplementing National Healthcare Systems March 25th – Mary Alice Platt, MSF Under normal circumstances, MSF monitors epidemics through an organization called Epicentre. In this role, Epicentre “conducts field epidemiology activities, research projects and trainings in support of [MSF]”. This work has extended to the Covid-19 pandemic. In an interview with the newspaper, Libération, the director of Epicentre,

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Emmanuel Baron, spoke about epidemics and Covid-19 specifically. He said that: “The need for rapid decision-making is a hallmark of all epidemics.” As a major actor working on international health, MSF is fully able to participate in the rapid response demanded by a pandemic of this nature.

MSF is generally not the first actor to address the medical needs of a population during an epidemic. They work with existing structures to meet the needs of people who struggle to access medical care. MSF’s website states that: “Epidemics can place the strongest health systems under strain – but the people at highest risk are mainly those living in poverty or in areas of great instability.” As such, MSF’s response to Covid-19 has focused on meeting the needs the most vulnerable populations. MSF’s first activities regarding Covid-19 took place in Asia. The first update about this work was released on January 31st, 2020. In this announcement, the organization declared that they had offered support to existing healthcare systems in mainland China and Hong Kong – the principal locations of cases at that time. These activities were: “training of healthcare staff on methods to prevent and control infections, and health education for vulnerable and at-risk groups.” Notably, MSF sent teams to Hong Kong to begin healthcare education. Karin Huster, MSF’s Project Coordinator in Hong Kong, explained her team’s work in an update on February 14th: “Our teams have already conducted face-to-face sessions with street cleaners, refugees and asylum seekers and the visually impaired in recent weeks.”

MSF responded quickly to this pandemic given the information that was available at the time. The organization’s response addressed the initial needs of strained healthcare systems and the need for awareness-raising to prevent of the spread of Covid19. However, as this virus has spread, MSF has had issues related to a shortage of supplies, and an inability to move workers with the institution of travel bans. Sending supplies and workers was the main effort of MSF in the early stages of this epidemic, and the organization has found their capacities severely limited as they approach the virus in France.

April 6th – Kenya Sanchez Vicarte, MSF As the third week of government quarantine measures began in France, the number of Covid-19 cases continued to rise. French authorities recognized that results for flattening the curve would not be seen for weeks after these extraordinary measures were put in place. Even the best performing European hospitals were overwhelmed by the number of patients. For this reason, MSF asked for greater solidarity throughout the European Union. The organization has one main outcome in mind: the protection of all medical staff at the forefront of this pandemic.

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MSF continues to receive requests for an increase in personnel and supplies for all of their missions. However, as staff falls ill due to a lack of protective gear and increased travel restrictions, the organization’s ability to respond to such requests has been weakened. The sharing of resources in this battle against the pandemic has become crucially important. In early April, a temporary hospital was set up by MSF in Reims, France. MSF was able to strengthen the region’s intensive care capacities, as an overflow was inevitable. In Belgium, MSF launched its largest medical intervention ever. Although these countries have strong healthcare operations in general, the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted that most modern-day healthcare systems are unaware of how to organize an effective flow of patients when dealing with such a crisis. MSF has been able to offer its expertise from previous outbreaks, such as cholera and Ebola, to assist in training to prevent new infections and treat in the best conditions possible given limited supplies.

Additionally, MSF has provided assistance to populations that formal government policies left behind. MSF has set up Covid-19 camps throughout Europe where migrants, unaccompanied children, and the homeless can be tested and receive treatment should they present symptoms. These camps hold as many as 50 to 150 beds.

European governments must ensure that the necessary supplies be mobilized to the countries that need them the most. Border closings have significantly affected MSF’s ability to supply resources and personnel to the most impacted regions. MSF requested that cooperation between states be increased to avoid competition and bidding for muchneeded supplies. Such bidding occurred mainly in the United States, as supplies went to

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federal states that can pay a higher price for supplies and not to those which had the greatest need. In April and May, the greatest number of cases in Europe was found in Italy and Spain. MSF insisted that the European Union mobilize their supplies to such countries that are struggling to maintain their health systems. Ports should remain open and transit should be facilitated. All available trade and transportation must be focused on reducing the burden that this pandemic has caused on global healthcare operations.

April 22nd – Mary Alice Platt, MSF As of April 17th, MSF criticized the lack of medical visits to nursing homes. After a period of non-intervention in nursing homes in France, MSF decided to begin interventions in mid-April. The organization sent teams to nursing homes in the heavily hit Île-de-France region. These healthcare professionals helped reinforce safety and preventive measures, while also providing both medical and psychological care to residents and workers. MSF’s presence was especially helpful in preparing nursing homes for safe visits. France’s policy regarding nursing home visits evolved rapidly. On April 19th, French Health Minister Olivier Véran announced that visits to nursing homes would begin starting on April 20th. Véran outlined that visits moving forward would be limited to two visitors at a time, and that physical contact would be prohibited. He also stated that visits would be supervised by the individual nursing homes. MSF’s intervention helped improve the safety measures employed by these institutions.

In addition, MSF began working at Henri-Mondor Hospital on April 8th. HenriMondor is located in Créteil, in the Île-de-France region. MSF worked to improve the hospital’s treatment capacity. In early April, MSF also helped to improve capacity at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) in Reims, France. To avoid running out of space, the CHU requested a “mobile” hospital from MSF. This temporary tent structure provided 12 beds for intensive care patients. The CHU converted additional beds for intensive care patients, and with the addition of the mobile hospital, CHU was able to offer approximately 30 new beds to service these patients. Unlike their intervention in Reims, at HenriMondor, MSF provided “organisational and technical support as well as staff – 5 nurses, 5 assistant nurses, 1 doctor – in charge of managing a new 15-bed care ward.” These healthcare professionals were charged with the care of patients who had recovered enough to be removed from intensive care, but who still required in-patient hospital care.

MSF’s expansion of its operations in France was impressive. On April 17th, Thierry Allafort, Managing Director of MSF France, explained in an interview with France 24 how MSF was able to mount a significant Covid-19 response in France. MSF does not usually have a large presence here, but with travel bans in place for most countries, many MSF staff members, who normally work internationally, were forced to remain in France. Even though France benefits from these additional local healthcare workers, they still face the

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challenge of limited equipment. Allafort outlined that the organization had between three weeks and one month’s worth of personal protective equipment supplies remaining. MSF decided to explore the possibility of sanitizing used, single-use personal protective equipment. If successful, this could be an option to better protect their employees.

Obstacles to Covid-19 Response April 4th – Mary Alice Platt The French government has constantly updated its recommendations regarding Covid-19. One area of particular concern to MSF has been that of testing. As of March 26th, the French Health Minister released an update regarding recommended procedures for testing people who might have Covid-19. The Minister stated that only people demonstrating symptoms of Covid-19 who fell into the following categories should be tested: those hospitalized for the disease, two candidates from any group home setting, any health professionals, at-risk people, pregnant women, and organ donors. This policy limited the ability of medical professionals to test potential Covid-19 patients. MSF was struggling to continue to treat vulnerable populations given these limitations.

When the French government decided to close a migrant camp in Aubervilliers at the end of March, MSF was responsible for the medical assessment of migrants. In a report on the situation, Corrine Torre, Head of Mission France for MSF, outlined the failure of the French government to facilitate the work of MSF. She explained that MSF was asked by the Agence Régionale de Santé (French Regional Health Agency) in Île-deFrance (ARS-IDF) to help assess the health of these migrants in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, ARS-IDF only provided MSF with five kits to test 600 people from 6 different sites. Even with the aforementioned governmental policy of testing two candidates per group, the number of tests provided to MSF was grossly insufficient.

Furthermore, MSF lacked masks and basic protective equipment to complete their work.

Regions throughout France began to call on businesses to donate their mask stocks to their local ARS in order for them to be distributed to health workers. MSF hoped to benefit from this initiative to be better prepared to assess the health of vulnerable populations.

MSF also began to work with emergency shelters in Seine-Saint-Denis to support existing healthcare structures.

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MSF also pressured governments to push for an affordable cure to Covid-19. In a press release on March 27th, “[MSF] called for no patents or profiteering on drugs, tests, or vaccines used for the Covid-19 pandemic, and for governments to prepare to suspend and override patents and take other measures, such as price controls, to ensure availability, reduce prices and save more lives.� In this way, MSF successfully used their platform to draw attention to global issues related to Covid-19.

April 13th – Kenya Sanchez Vicarte, MSF The healthcare industry has found itself in a unique position where all sectors are looking towards the development of effective treatment and a vaccine for Covid-19. The declared global pandemic has created a situation where scientists are communicating and collaborating much more on a global scale, instead of simply competing. If significant progress is made in one laboratory, that success is quickly shared with others. The goals for everyone are the same: to develop a vaccine as fast as possible. MSF asked governments to create and enforce policies to allow all people to afford any necessary drugs, and therefore save more lives.

Countries such as Germany and Chile lifted patent rights in order to mass-produce and set price limitations on vaccines and other medications. Israel issued a compulsory license for those working on the development of a Covid-19 vaccine, specifically to avoid patent regulations. Monopolies over the distribution and quantities produced is something MSF seeks to avoid. Many clinics have move forward with clinical trials, making the possibility of a vaccine much more probable in the near future. However, many larger pharmaceutical companies have not agreed to withhold the enforcement of patents. Profit should not be placed above health, and large pharmaceutical companies must not use

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this pandemic for the sake of profit. Many public resources have been funneled into the research and development of this vaccine, so price fixing should be completely out of the question.

MSF supports the implementation of compulsory licenses as medical tests and drugs for the treatment of Covid-19 are released to the market. Issuing these licenses can ensure that there are plenty of suppliers available and that the prices stay at a stable and reasonable rate. MSF has confronted first-hand the dangers of medical shortages in desperate situations. The inability to provide drugs to all those who require them will only result in continued mass contagion. In March, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, attempted to buy and move a German pharmaceutical company in clinical trials for the Covid-19 virus to the United States, in order to ensure that Americans would be the first vaccinated. MSF has made clear that drugs need to be available in those areas of the globe that need them the most.

A New Paradigm for Aid in Somalia: Al-Shabaab and the Need for Resilience Humanitarianism Abstract – Bileh Dougsiyeh Somalia’s protracted civil war exacerbates the multitude of existing humanitarian challenges faced by vulnerable populations. International humanitarian aid organizations have sought to alleviate these conditions by implementing short-term humanitarian aid interventions, such as medical support and the provision of food. The provision of aid, however, is stymied by Al-Shabaab violence, pushing key humanitarian organizations to suspend operations, leaving millions of people without urgently needed support.

In the last few decades, there has been greater international focus on building resilience to render communities capable of persevering in conflict zones, rather than delivering short-term aid. This paper will examine the ways in which the challenge of intractable violent conflict requires a new paradigm that shifts away from the classical Dunantist model of humanitarianism towards a model of resilience humanitarianism. This new paradigm posits that people, communities and societies (can) have the capacity to adapt to or spring back from tragic life events and disasters.

This paper will explore the challenges faced by NGOs in delivering aid in Somalia within the context of Al-Shabaab violence, and will conclude with a new proposal for aid delivery that leverages the concept of resilience humanitarianism.

April 12th – Jenna Beasley, MSF The Covid-19 pandemic has put incredible stress on some of the most developed healthcare systems in the world. Luckily, these systems are not facing other forms of overt conflict, such as war. However, certain states have had to fight the two battles

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simultaneously, and MSF is extremely aware of the particular need that these states face.

While Covid-19-related coverage is flooding traditional news media, political conflicts rage on, including in the region of northwest Syria. While the war in Syria started over nine years ago, certain areas are still facing violence today. Since the beginning of 2020, “the fighting has put more than 80 hospitals out of service” in the region. Medical services are already pushed to the limit as a result of the humanitarian situation in northwest Syria, so further propagation of Covid-19 is especially important to avoid.

While complications surrounding the virus in Western Europe have to do with the deadliness of the illness itself, simple protective measures are simply not possible to implement in places like Idlib. As Cristian Reynders, Field Coordinator for MSF operations in northwest Syria reminded us, “many families have to share tents with other families,” making self-isolation impossible. Likewise, frequent handwashing and practicing good hygiene measures is not an easy task “when you live surrounded by mud,” as many families do in Idlib. Finally, there is essentially nowhere to go if you live in the region and develop severe symptoms; “hospitals are already overstretched and are completely unequipped to deal with a public health emergency.”

Clearly, those living in Idlib Province face struggles that most people cannot imagine. The situation in conflict-ridden zones also poses unique challenges to humanitarian organizations. In his publication, Reynders makes note of some specific challenges. First and foremost is the dilemma of whether or not to operate at all, given that MSF cannot satisfy all essential needs of the population. Thankfully, MSF decided to continue their efforts in northwest Syria, despite the threat of a regional propagation of Covid-19. MSF is implementing appropriate health measures where they can, ensuring social distancing during the distribution of essential goods, limiting the number of people who can wait near MSF trucks for a medical consultation, and setting up hygiene facilities and new triage systems in Syrian hospitals.

Overall, northwest Syria remains unprepared for the spread of Covid-19. Although MSF is doing its best to provide essential services and goods to the population, Chris Reynders concluded by saying “pragmatically speaking it probably won’t be enough if Covid-19 starts spreading tomorrow in Idlib province… a public health emergency in the midst of all this could quickly become catastrophic.” Appropriately, he suggests that the only potential remedy to the situation is through “immediate international mobilisation” which gives medical service providers and humanitarian organizations the proper means to deliver support not only in the case of a virus outbreak, but to provide those in northwest Syria with the basic needs of food, shelter, and sanitation.

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April 13th – Sandy Baro, MSF As of April 13th, 2020, Nigeria counted 323 confirmed cases of Covid-19. Out of the 323 confirmed cases, 85 people had recovered, and 10 had died of the virus.

MSF has been working in the state of Borno, situated in northeastern Nigeria, since 2014. Borno state is suffering from more than a decade of armed conflict and disease outbreaks, such as malnutrition, malaria, measles, and cholera. The armed conflict in the region has created approximately 1.5 million internally displaced people, who not only have to be protected from disease outbreaks, but now face the specter of Covid-19.

Many of these displaced people live in overcrowded camps with poor water and sanitation facilities. There are limited supplies of hygiene essentials and no private spaces. Ajia Adam, one of the displaced people in an MSF camp, testified: "You have to get up early if you want to get enough water. I have seven children, and sometimes the water just isn't enough for us to drink – we have to beg our neighbors for drinking water.”

MSF teams remain concerned about the effect that Covid-19 may have on the region, and more precisely, on the camps. Siham Hajaj, MSF Head of Mission, stated: "In all the settings for internally displaced people where MSF has operations in Borno state, gaps in essential water and sanitation facilities exacerbate the threat posed by COVID-19. These gaps, combined with the levels of overcrowding, and endemic health issues with a lack of corresponding health infrastructure, underscore the population's vulnerability. There is no doubt about the danger posed by COVID-19.”

Given these issues, it is imperative that MSF assistance be maintained for this population, as failure to do so will cost many lives. The organization has been working in Pulka, at a comprehensive hospital with outreach activities, surgical capacity, maternity care, and treatment for sexual and gender-based violence. MSF opened a Covid-19 ward in this hospital to provide medical assistance to those who show signs of the virus. MSF has focused on raising awareness about Covid-19 and teaching the population the right preventive course of action. However, social distancing remains an abstract luxury, and frequent hand washing diminishes a precious resource.

MSF hoped to build more water and sanitation facilities in the camps, and expand the camps to decrease the number of people sharing a tent. MSF continued to deliver supplies of hygiene essentials like soap and water to the camps. Given the number of people per camp (approximately 63,000 people), MSF has been struggling to acquire larger quantities of supplies rapidly.

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April 16th – Jenna Beasley, MSF MSF has been adapting its usual activities in Cameroon in order to best prepare the state for the inevitable spread of Covid-19. Although the country had over 850 confirmed cases in mid-April, MSF was careful not to redirect all of its resources to fighting coronavirus in Cameroon, given that there is ongoing violence in several regions of the country. This highlights an important point – while non-essential businesses, schools, and some government functions were brought to a halt in many places around the world, war does not stop because of a pandemic. Humanitarian organizations must also remember their duty to provide care during traditional conflict.

Europe and North America remained hotspots for Covid-19, but the number of confirmed cases in Sub-Saharan Africa was also rising. It is crucial for organizations like MSF to remain active in Sub-Saharan Africa, given the disparity in healthcare resources between countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. MSF pointed to an important World Health Organization statistic in their project update on Cameroon, noting that only “five beds for one million people” are available in 43 African countries, compared to “4,000 beds per one million people” in Europe. Seeing how countries like Italy, France, and Spain struggled to keep up with the number of patients coming into their hospitals makes this statistic even more worrying.

In order to prepare hospitals for the propagation of Covid-19 within Cameroon, MSF adapted some of its activities. MSF has been assisting the Hôpital Général, in the capital of Yaoundé, “in triage, safer patient flow, and infection prevention and control measures.” They also constructed additional rooms to provide more beds for patients. In other regions, MSF have been supporting hospitals in similar ways, making sure to educate the local call center operators and ambulance staff on how to recognize cases and then safely transport patients to medical facilities.

MSF has not been reluctant to acknowledge the challenges it faces in providing care abroad. The restricted global movement of people and goods has curtailed the quality of care that humanitarian organizations can provide. In Cameroon, this is especially concerning given the additional resources needed to cover MSF’s activity in response to armed conflict and Covid-19. Although MSF, and Cameroon as a whole, face an extremely unsettling time, MSF has valuable expertise that has already been tested in the country on other occasions. The organization has been present in Cameroon for over thirty years and provided support during outbreaks of “HIV/AIDS, Buruli ulcer, measles and cholera.” The trust that already exists between the organization and the national government demonstrates the continuing need for the international community to support humanitarian organizations during this pandemic.

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April 20th – Sandy Baro, MSF As of April 20th, 2020, Ivory Coast counted 688 confirmed cases of Covid-19. 193 people had recovered from the virus, while six people had died.

MSF has been working with Ivorian authorities to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. In-country movement has been restricted. The Ivorian government closed the country’s borders and imposed a reduction of flights. Airports have become a point of increased surveillance, as many Ivoirians living in Europe decided to come home to their families due to the pandemic. MSF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, started screening passengers at Abidjan airport, and referring those showing Covid-19 symptoms to health centers. Over the course of four days in April, an MSF doctor and two nurses examined more than 800 passengers from Europe, Asia, and the United States. MSF’s team also set up a hygiene system, and raised awareness amongst passengers about the need for self-isolation and the measures to be adopted at home to limit the risk of transmission to their family members.

MSF is also present in Bouaké, Ivory Coast's second-largest city. The organization assessed the capacity of medical infrastructures to manage cases should Covid-19 break out in the town, and provided training activities for health workers and screening at the different city entry points. MSF teams also implemented water and sanitation activities – setting up hand-washing points in six health centers, as well as at the university hospital center. MSF set up a field hospital to add 10 beds for the care of potential patients.

Abdoul-Aziz Mohamed, Executive Director for MSF West and Central Africa, stated: "Bouaké is located on the northern road that connects to the border of Burkina Faso and Mali. With the current evolution of the situation in Burkina Faso, it is essential to ensure a presence there to be able to react fast if a case is confirmed and quickly cut the chain of transmission. To do this, it is necessary to prepare for the management of cases, to ensure the protection of health personnel, and above all, to invest in raising awareness among people.”

MSF’s main goal has been to raise awareness about Covid-19 amongst the population. The risk is that the community takes this virus lightly. Either people believe they are resistant to infection or, if they catch it, they won't die from it. MSF’s goal is to change their mindset regarding Covid-19 and to teach preventive measures to avoid spread of the virus. The organization’s priority has been to keep activities running in the African countries where MSF works and to offer support for disease prevention and treatment of people with Covid-19. In West Africa, MSF teams have coordinated with health authorities and the World Health Organization to support the response, as in Senegal and Burkina Faso.

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Chapter 3: Vulnerabilities of Women, Children, and the Elderly The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is the UN agency responsible for addressing the humanitarian and development needs of children worldwide. Save the Children, an independent non-governmental organization, also focuses on the well-being of children by providing access to healthcare, clean water, food and shelter, and education. Both organizations work within the framework of international humanitarian and human rights law.

In times of crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF, in collaboration with NGOs, such as Save the Children, work to ensure special protection for children, which includes access to health services, education, and safe living environments in a way that respects their lives and moral integrity.

In addition to the protection of children, other vulnerable populations, such as women and the elderly, are supported by these organization’s efforts. This chapter addresses some of the challenges faced by these vulnerable populations during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the responses from UNICEF and Save the Children. For example, UNICEF and Save the Children raised funds and delivered food and health services to vulnerable populations: in Colombia, school meal programs provided to children via take-home deliveries, whereas in Sub-Saharan Africa, the organizations trained an additional 100,000 health workers to be deployed to at-risk communities. To guarantee continued access to education, these organizations collaborated with local field officers to provide an outreach program, #LearningAtHome. This initiative was accessible online and through radio and phone services in an effort to continue providing holistic education to children and their caretakers during the pandemic.

Children are the future of the world and if we can’t help these vulnerable populations, then we don’t have much of a future.

Women March 30th – Maura Lucy Partrick, UNICEF As Covid-19 continued to spread across the globe, disproportionately impacting many families who are economically insecure, UNICEF France, reconsidered its approach to aiding caretakers – specifically women. The Italian anti-violence network Donne in Rete Contro la Violenza reported that during confinement, vulnerable

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populations were at increased risk. If we take the example of domestic violence in the home, women at risk were not able to leave their homes and had no privacy in asking for help. Donne in Rete Contro la Violenza also reported that “the financial burden of stopping work combined with mental stress and increased alcohol use are triggers for domestic violence” where “women need privacy to safely report violence...there has been a 6080% decrease in phone calls to violence hotlines in the month of March 2020 compared to March 2019”.

Children in these circumstances were also be subjected to abuse by male members of the household. Domestic violence shelters in Italy initiated a “safe chat” service where victims could reach out through platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp to discreetly report their situation. UNICEF recognizes that while women from any socio-economic class can be victims of domestic violence and abuse, women in lowincome housing need extra support as they are either unable to work at all, or work in an essential job where there is the worry of transmitting the virus to their families. UNICEF Chief of Early Child Development Dr. Rebello Britto stated “the fall-out from the pandemic –job losses, prolonged stress and deterioration of mental health –will be felt by families for years to come...for the most vulnerable children, the absence of adequate social protection systems exacerbates their exposure to the crisis”. As such, UNICEF has been working with employers, urging them to continue supporting social protection and considering the well-being of their employees during this time of confinement and unemployment. Not everyone is equally affected by the pandemic. UNICEF continues to implement policies and provide resources to those disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and the confinement.

April 1st – Sandra Lefaure, HRW As the third week of confinement started in France, Human Rights Watch (HRW) researchers investigated a worrying situation: police precincts and hotlines in France and across the world are witnessing an increase in domestic violence reports. For many women, confinement means being stuck at home with their abusers and risking their life daily. One word, one movement, one noise can trigger abuse from their husband or partner. The French Ministry of the Interior reported an increase in domestic violence of 32% per week, up to 36% per week in Paris. Those percentages are of deep concern, especially when we know that more than 100 women have been murdered by their partners or husbands each year in France for the past 3 years. Can we expect an increase of that number due to the confinement?

Women and children across France have the right to protection and the right to life. Dubravka Simonovic, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women explains that “the risk [for those women] is aggravated in a time when there are no or

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fewer shelters and help services available for victims; when it is difficult to access those that are still open; and when there is less community support; fewer police interventions and less access to justice as many courts are closed." To compensate for the lack of safe places for those women, the Minister of the Interior, announced on March 27th a plan for women to discreetly request help when visiting pharmacies. In addition to pharmacies, “the French government announced it would put victims of domestic violence in hotel rooms and finance pop-up counseling centers in grocery stores, amid a surge of reported domestic violence cases since the lockdown began on March 17.” HRW has been concerned that these actions are not enough to protect the victims of domestic abuse.

What happens to the women who cannot go outside without their partner/husband? How is the French government planning to help the women at risk in their own homes? The government created a national number for abused women, the 3919, but in some situations, women still do not have the freedom to call this phone number and receive assistance.

Children March 23rd – Maura Lucy Partrick, UNICEF As the Covid-19 pandemic continued to spread across the globe, schools closed their doors to prevent and contain the spread of the virus. UNICEF expressed concern about the negative impact that the closing of schools has had on children everywhere; many have been denied structured education or access to proper nutrition. UNICEF along with UNESCO found that in Latin America and the Caribbean, 95% of children were no longer in school due to the Covid-19 crisis. Attempts at remote learning lacked structure and trained educators, as most schools closed indefinitely. The possibility of a return to normal is slim, and UNICEF worried that the rates of children dropping out of school permanently will rise, especially for those children already in a vulnerable position. In order to reduce the number of vulnerable children from dropping out of school permanently, UNICEF continued to create and offer new solutions to adapt to school closures through remote learning - especially for those children living with a disability or without Internet.

According to statistics from June 2019, 92.3% of the French population has access to the Internet. For households that do not have access to the internet, UNICEF was prepared to use radio or television - 28.6 million households in France have a television - to broadcast school lessons and other educational programs. In the case of television,

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Yan Shenglian working at the check point of her village during the COVID-19 outbreak. © Photo: UN Women/Feng Xinlin

Abstract – Ki Byung Park

Situation of the Korean Peninsula amid Covid-19 While South Korea initially struggled with a spiraling number of cases and then emerged as the model of pandemic crisis management, North Korea reported nearly zero cases of the novel coronavirus. Governments on both sides of the Korean Demilitarized Zone took the disease seriously by understanding the potential for severe political and economic consequences, but their different approaches shed light on how countries struggled to report on and defend against Covid-19.

South Korea reformed its health policy after the MERS outbreak by granting the government authority to monitor and track individual patients and to allow private companies to produce tests rapidly (Pak). Hence, South Korea was busy testing hundreds of thousands of people when the coronavirus spiraled out of control. More importantly, the government emphasized transparency, disseminating information about the virus’ spread such as the possibility of infections at the neighborhood level.

Kim Jong-Un demonstrated leadership by calling on citizens to unconditionally obey regime directives of the hygiene measures. As of early April, Kim’s regime announced that no one had been infected by Covid-19; this report is doubtful, given the North’s proximity to China, where a robust flow of traders and smugglers operate along the border. In fact, North Korea’s military was on a lockdown for about 30 days and reported that 180 soldiers had died in January and February, which indicates that North Korean troops had Covid-19 symptoms (Song).

Pyongyang requested medical aid through backchannels, since any help must be approved by the relevant UN Sanctions Committee. North Korea managed to receive 1500 test kits from Russia and aid deliveries from the ICRC, including N95 face masks, personal protective equipment and infrared thermometers that were transported to Pyongyang’s health authorities in March (Kim Jeongmin). This indicates that there might be something going on inside North Korea regardless of their official reports.

Overall, South Korea has dealt directly with Covid-19, while North Korea has focused on regime power by launching ballistic missiles that are no match for a resilient and deadly virus. North Korea’s lack of most basic medical supplies and a failing public health system illustrates their unpreparedness for Covid-19.

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UNICEF could ensure that the channels being used to broadcast school sessions could be accessed without cable television.

UNICEF has also launched an outreach program called #LearningAtHome, which will be accessible online and through radio and television services. The #LearningAtHome program consists of different educational activities and challenges children and their caregivers can do from home - there are activities geared towards education and entertainment, as well as tips on safe hygiene and health practices.

In addition to providing these services for children and their caregivers directly impacted by the closure of schools across the world, UNICEF is also working with the UN on the launch of the Covid-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan on the 25 of March, 2020. This global humanitarian response plan was developed to “analyze and respond to the direct public health and indirect immediate humanitarian consequences of the pandemic, particularly on people in countries already facing other crises” where UNICEF will not only be involved in programs surrounding education, but health as well. As the crisis continues, UNICEF will continue to provide updates on the measures they are taking to ensure and protect children’s health, education, and safety.

© UNICEF/UNI317268/Frank Dejongh “A teacher conducts a lesson that is being videotaped for broadcast on national television.”

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Abstract– Prizma Ghimire Reintegration of former child soldiers in post-conflict Nepal Children around the globe have been impacted by armed conflict, both as victims and participants. During a decade-long Maoist revolution in Nepal from 1996 to 2006, thousands of children were abducted from their homes and schools to be recruited as Maoist rebels. Today, these child soldiers are a vulnerable population given their traumatic experiences during recruitment and conscription. On November 21st, 2006, the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels signed a comprehensive peace agreement. One of the key discussion points in the process included the reintegration of former child soldiers in post-conflict Nepal.

This paper will examine the multitude of challenges that reintegrated child soldiers face in Nepal: educational and economic deprivation, community resistance, family separation, PTSD, stigmatization, and discrimination adversely affecting their integration process. This study explores the reintegration programming and policies of former child soldiers formulated by CAAFAG WG (Children Associated with Armed Force and Armed Group Working Group). Vital aspects of reintegration programming include community-based approaches in addressing vulnerable children, psychosocial care, family reunification, vocational skills, livelihood training, and education crucial to transitioning former child soldiers and achieving successful integration back into their communities. This research encapsulates reintegration trajectories, policy analysis and provides key recommendations several years after demobilization, looking broadly at socio-economic and political indicators significant to the reintegration of former child soldiers in post-conflict Nepal.

April 6th – Maura Lucy Partrick, UNICEF In the one month since the WHO announced that Covid-19 was a global pandemic, UNICEF has continued to meet the needs of millions of children and their caregivers disrupted by the closing of schools and the worsening of the public health crisis. On March 30th, UNICEF released a statement detailing the precarious situation of many women and victims of domestic abuse who are sequestered at home and, in some locations, cannot escape even for quick exercise because of government restrictions. UNICEF has continued to work closely with women’s shelters and organizations dedicated to ending abuse, sometimes being able to remove women safely from home situations and relocate them during confinement.

The situation for women and girls is also precarious in schools, where UNICEF found that girls and disabled children in school have suffered the most from school closings. Jim Ackers, Regional Education Adviser at UNICEF’s Regional Office for South Asia stated “we are concerned that prolonged school closures could hit girls and the most

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vulnerable, including those with disabilities, the hardest...girls are often obliged to take care of household chores and look after siblings...we are also concerned about the psychological impact on children of increasing incidents of domestic violence during lockdowns�. 92.3% of the French population has access to the Internet, so many children can access online learning platforms and continue their education remotely. Until the development and wide-spread distribution of a viable vaccine, UNICEF will continue providing aid to those most impacted by the pandemic.

April 5th - Delaney Andersen, Save the Children The World Health Organization (WHO) stated in their January 30, 2020 report that they aimed to “provide intensified support for preparation and response, especially in vulnerable countries and regions�. Save the Children has been particularly concerned with how developing countries and states with weak health care systems and insufficient resources have responded to the pandemic. Covid-19 continues to impact families across the world which depend on the informal economy for their livelihoods. They are being impacted by institutionalized measures designed to stop the spread of the virus, since many individuals cannot earn an income by working from home or self-isolating.

Increased restrictions by governments in Africa, for example, are having adverse effects as children and their families across the continent have been struggling for decades with disease, conflict, climate and food crises. The lack of income will particularly impact the poorest households in each country. According to the World Bank, there is one doctor per 5,000 people in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. Save the Children works with community health workers in training and supplying necessary personnel and equipment. As part of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, Save the Children is training an additional 100,000 health workers in the coming six months.

In order to minimize inevitable long-term consequences children will endure as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Save the Children has issued a warning: an estimated 84 to 132 million people, half of them children, risk falling into extreme poverty as a result of the global pandemic. Additionally, health systems are overstretched, meaning that hundreds of thousands of child deaths could occur this year. Regarding the global educational crisis, an estimated 1.5 billion children and students have so far been unable to go to school and many of them have limited access to distance learning. With global stay-at-home orders, increased instances of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of children have been reported. Families which fall into extreme poverty must rely on their children, in some cases, for additional income. In the United States, rising poverty levels are predicted to impact children more than any other sector of the population. Schools may continue to be closed periodically; many parents may lose their jobs, it may become harder to secure food, and health needs will be put off for children around the world. Inger

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Ashing, the CEO of Save the Children issued a statement saying, "If leaders at all levels don't come together to face this crisis, not only will many more lives be lost but millions of children will suffer in the years to come. That is a future we cannot accept".

The first week of April witnessed a decrease in cases in China and other Asian countries that were hit first. Nonetheless, Save the Children was increasingly concerned about under-developed countries unable to respond in the same capacity. Much of Europe and the United States have become hot spots for outbreaks, which is disruptive to families and children regardless of economic and social status. Save the Children has continued to focus on populations who are more vulnerable or live with heightened threats. The organization continues to monitor the ever-changing global situation and to offer support to those in need.

April 16-22nd – Lisa Bauman, UNHCR Since the beginning of this crisis, it has become clear to UN High Commissioner for Refugees that the wellbeing and safety of women and children has been disproportionately comprised with the implementation of pandemic prevention and containment measures. Children in vulnerable populations have essentially lost access to an education for an indefinite period, with a distressing prediction that many will not return upon school reopening. The Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at UNHCR, Gillian Triggs, expressed the heightened protection risks of women and girls during the pandemic. Confinement procedures adopted by many nations have considerably increased the risks of partner and familial violence through “restricted movement, reduced community interaction, the closure of services, and worsening socioeconomic conditions”. Reports reveal that the rates of neglect, abuse, and child marriage have been rising as families struggle with the pandemic. School closures are of concern as an education provides children with an opportunity to escape certain prejudices and stigmatizations. For many children, school was also the only place that they received meals or access to clean water. This pandemic threatens the previous work done to improve conditions for children in vulnerable populations, so UNHCR and UNICEF are partnering to ensure further commitment to the previously implemented Blueprint for joint action. This initiative is aimed at expanding “refugee children’s access to protection, education, water, and sanitization services”. As it has become more difficult to provide these services to children, these two organizations are focusing more efforts on guaranteeing response services geared towards minors.

Triggs has outlined many scenarios in which procedures regarding confinement and quarantine have harmed women and children throughout the world. Many survivors of violence rely heavily on life-saving support such as psycho-social services, but under Covid limitations, they have been impossible to physically access. UNHCR has done its

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best to adapt and provide social support remotely for survivors of abuse. The organization rendered security services, support assistances, and safe shelters easily accessible during the pandemic. The organization also distributed emergency cash assistance, but Triggs has pointed out that services for women and girls who have survived gender-based violence need to be deemed vital by national authorities. The most vulnerable people in every community must be considered when creating and implementing Covid-19 response measures. UNHCR has continually fought for persons of concern throughout this pandemic. Unfortunately, constraints ranging from border restrictions to confinements to finances have greatly inhibited the work that the organization is meant to do. The organization has suffered from disrupted supply chain operations and an inability to financially support the health needs of all 70.8 million persons of concern during the pandemic. Covid-19 has affected every country, but it affects populations without sufficient hygiene and sanitization resources more severely. Violence and abuse among women and children have increased because of certain response measures. UNHCR and its partners will continue in its attempt to help and protect every person of concern, but given the evolution of the pandemic, this seems an impossible task.

Š UNICEF/UNI325634// Frank Dejongh

April 23rd – Sandra Lefaure, HRW After 5 weeks of confinement in France, Human Rights Watch has noted multiple cases of children and young adults being abandoned across the country.

Since the confinement started, minors or young adults have been being kicked out of their homes by their parents or guardians for different reasons. A reoccurring issue has been the refusal of families to accept a minor’s sexuality. Overnight, these adolescents have had to take care of themselves and find a safe place to stay that is not the street.

Because of confinement, most shelters have been closed for a month at this point and those that are still running have reached full capacity. HRW has asked that the French government work to find a solution to welcome those young people into a safe environment until they can get back on their feet. Another issue is that of physical or psychological violence for younger children stuck at home with a tyrannical guardian; they

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often have had no possibility of an escape that would have been provided by attending school. 44% of abused children are under six years old, which means that self-protection or calling the 119-emergency number is not always feasible. HRW has recommended that these children have a daily check-in with a social worker in order to make sure they are safe. However, the closing of welcome centers during confinement has made it complicated a child to be removed in an emergency from his or her home in order to be placed in a center or with a host family.

HRW has also witnessed instances of young adults having their entire lives upended because they have been evicted from their homes or shelters during confinement upon turning eighteen. This means that they are effectively being turned out onto the streets during the pandemic, often with no place to go and no network they can rely on. This was the case of Mohammed-Lamine, who on April 4th, his eighteenth birthday, was thrown out onto the street by a government worker from the Aide Sociale à l’Enfance (ASE), who asked him to leave the hotel where he had been living and receiving help. Before confinement this would have been appalling, but during confinement, the gravity of the situation is striking. It should be noted that the legal code of social and family action was amended just prior the start of confinement confirming that social support is to be offered to young people who have reached the legal age of adulthood to enable them to complete the school or university year they have started.

The Elderly April 6th – Sandra Lefaure, HRW As France completed a third week of confinement, the number of cases continued to increase daily. The Ile-de-France region became the new focal point of the epidemic in France; most people dying from Covid-19 were more than 75 years old. In order to protect senior citizens in Etablissement d'Hébergement pour Personnes Agées Dépendantes (EHPADs) across the country, the Health Minister, Olivier Véran recommended the individual isolation of all residents. The confinement of each resident to his or her room, with no possibility to spend time in the common areas and see neighbors, is designed to stop or mitigate the spread of the virus within each facility. For the government, this was a necessary step especially; the critical situation in the Marne department led to 32 deaths in different EHPADs across the department, as well as 142 confirmed infections, with an additional 67 hospitalization. Residents were not the only ones at risk from the virus, as 51 employees of those EHPADs were infected, and two hospitalized.

On paper, these strict confinement measures seem to be the perfect solution.

However, HRW workers note issues rising from these choices. The isolation of each resident in nursing homes has created distress among senior citizens. Some residents

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have had a hard time understanding why they could no longer receive visits from their families, why they had to remain in their rooms 24/7 without seeing their friends living in the EHPAD, why they could not eat in the common dining room with everyone, nor why they could not maintain their daily activities. These deprivations of human contact with familiar faces for the elderly is a violation of their equal rights. For many of them, interactions with loved ones or even just friends from the nursing home is their only “raison de vivre.” Without the interaction with the outside world, some of those residents refuse to eat, which leads to malnourished elderly in these facilities. The stress of isolation has had unintended consequences, which can cause major health issues, putting residents at risk in the name of avoiding the pandemic.

© “Josefa Ribas, 86, who is bedridden, looks at nurse Alba Rodriguez as Ribas's husband, Jose Marcos, 89, stands by in their home in Barcelona. Ribas suffers from dementia, and Marcos fears for them both if the virus enters their home. “If I get the virus, who will take care of my wife?”” (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

April 8th – Jenna Beasley, MSF Médecins Sans Frontières has fallen into a routine with their initiatives in France, and there are hopes that the effects of the strict measures of confinement are beginning to show. The organization’s mobilization in Île-de-France and other French regions is centered around populations like migrants and the homeless. In other countries like Belgium, these populations are considered along with the elderly, who have accounted for at least 93% of Covid-19-related deaths in that country. As the risk for serious symptoms is already high among this demographic, MSF visited nursing homes in order to support Belgian hospitals sustain their efficacy. While at nursing homes, MSF staff carried out several important services; teams “verify if residents are infected by the virus, isolate other residents, and provide care in the absence of regular visits from doctors.”

Additionally, they trained the staff within the nursing home on how to properly disinfect surfaces and use protective gear most effectively in the case of a shortage. MSF teams completed visits to more than 150 nursing homes in Brussels.

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Chapter 4: Mobilities - caring for the homeless and refugees In any crisis, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is charged with caring for and protecting any displaced peoples, particularly refugees and asylum seekers. Created in 1950 after the end of the Second World War, the original mission of this organization was to help the millions of displaced Europeans “who had fled or lost their homes� during the war. Over the next 10 years, UNHCR expanded its reach by aiding refugees during the Hungarian Revolution and the decolonization of Africa. Today, this organization works in 134 countries to ensure the provision of critical aid to persons of concern during times of conflict. Another organization that aims to protect vulnerable populations in warzones is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Founded in 1859 after the battle of Solferino, the main objective of this organization was to actively protect victims of war. The organization has done so by acting as a channel for communication during conflict situations to uphold international law and protect vulnerable populations such as prisoners of war and civilians. Both organizations work closely with each other, UN agencies, local governments, and humanitarian organizations to ensure protection and make up for potential gaps in provisions for mobile populations.

As threats to health infringe on well-being and human rights, UNHCR and the ICRC step in to provide support for vulnerable populations. Most of these communities do not have access to health and housing resources, because they are surrounded by ongoing conflict. Health crises simply add another layer of danger to these populations that UNHCR and the ICRC are mandated to help. Actualizing their mission statements, UNHCR and the ICRC have provided aid to millions of people during previous epidemics, such as Ebola and the Spanish flu, and draw on these experiences during the current pandemic.

This chapter visits vulnerable populations across the world to see how UNHCR and the ICRC are able to provide support in different regions. Although familiar with outbreak regulations, there have been unprecedented reactions that have hindered efforts. With border restrictions infringing on operations and the additional expenses of prevention and treatment methods, UNHCR has had difficulty providing all persons of concern with necessary sanitization and health materials during their pandemic response.

This obstacle is of main concern for UNHCR given the usually overcrowded and unsanitary conditions of most living environments for migrants and refugees. The ICRC has directed focus to the need for a response in the situations of those in detention and

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displacement camps with the implication that these vulnerable populations are not being addressed by governments that are dealing with the broader implications of the virus.

“This wouldn’t be a 21st century crisis if refugees didn’t manage to get the most screwed at the end. This might be the one thing that coronavirus hasn’t upended."

- Ian Bremmer

Early Response Measures March 31st – Lisa Bauman, UNHCR With Covid-19 continuing to threaten the world, UNHCR is growing its online live blog to highlight positive actions of refugees and governments around the world “to stay smart, stay safe, and stay kind” in their responses to the virus. The organization uses this platform to emphasize the abilities, skills, and resources of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers and their potential contribution in the fight against Covid-19.

Some countries are beginning to implement UNHCR’s response recommendations. Portugal, for example, is granting full citizenship rights to all migrants and asylum seekers during the pandemic so that they have full access to the healthcare system, welfare, and more.[vi] Malaysia has announced that its medical personnel will test anyone who seeks medical attention during the pandemic regardless of citizenship status.

A government spokesperson for the United Kingdom has stated that there will be no immigration checks for anyone requiring testing or treatment, and treatment will be free.

UNHCR commends these actions and hopes to see more like them implemented in the near future.

UNHCR recognizes the role of thousands of refugees with previous work experience in the medical field volunteering to help those suffering from Covid-19. With medical staff overwhelmed around the world, these refugees see their skills as an opportunity to help their communities and are bravely subjecting themselves to an increased risk of contracting the virus in order to help. They are offering to join researchers in their search for a vaccine and boost the country’s fight against Covid-19.

In the United Kingdom, hundreds of refugee doctors are urging the government to quicken the processing of their accreditation paperwork. Germany is turning to its migrant community for help in their shortage of medical staff, and has stated that they will be able to work in Covid-19 relief efforts without German accreditation as long as they have proof of accreditation from their home country. UNHCR publicizes stories such as these with hopes that the heroic, selfless actions of these refugees encourage countries to be more inclusive in their responses to Covid-19.

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Every act of kindness and compassion, no matter how small, is important to UNHCR. Using sewing machines provided by UNHCR in 2018, a community of internally displaced Ukrainians in the Donetsk Oblast region of the country are voluntarily making face masks to donate to local residents. Refugees living in Niger are making handmade soap to give to their community as a way to stay healthy and promote proper hand washing practices. These small acts of kindness are saving lives around the world.

By consistently updating the world about actions such as the above, UNHCR is actively changing the narrative of these usually ignored, vulnerable populations during this global crisis. Refugees, migrants, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons have proved that they are a part of the global solution by acting swiftly, compassionately, and selflessly in countless countries. UNHCR is still raising money to support the need for increased health needs within refugee camps and hopes to see an increase in donations as stories are being told.

April 11th – Sarah Gorenflo, UNHCR Sometimes it feels like we’re playing a waiting game. Even though Covid-19 has hit Syria, overall confirmed cases among refugees remain low. This is a huge blessing, but the need to prepare for the coronavirus remains urgent. With everything changing so fast, it’s hard to know what the latest and most up-to-date information is on this coronavirus and all the many implications. This, in turn, can make it hard to decide on the best practices to implement in our camps. Do we encourage the refugees to wear masks?

What types of masks work? Can some actually increase the chances of getting the virus?

The death toll is rising worldwide and, at first glance, Covid-19 seems to be an equal-opportunity infector, as heads of state, celebrities, essential workers, and more all fall ill. But the UNHCR knows what many others are starting to figure out: socioeconomic status makes a huge difference in the extent to which people are able to prevent contraction, much less survive the pandemic. There have been reports of a teenager dying in the United States due to the medical facility wrongly believing he had no insurance (access to healthcare is a major socioeconomic factor that’s very broken in the United States), and doctors in Italy having to choose who lives or dies due to the overwhelmed healthcare system. Of course, there’s also the life-threatening danger essential workers and healthcare providers are facing with little other choice due to the scale of the pandemic, reliance on a paycheck, and determination to aid the sick, often with inadequate protective equipment. Such systemic violence and inequalities are being exposed all over the world. Yet, refugees inherently face these difficulties without a global pandemic exacerbating them. Hearing the stories from around the world, knowing the virus has yet to fully hit the refugee community, is nerve-wracking.

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However, it’s not all bad news! Not only are there spots of joy and heart-warming stories coming out of this time of quarantine, but we also heard today of a soon-to-be announced donation to UNHCR to fight Covid-19! Sony Corporation, a long-time partner, is establishing the US$100 million “Sony Global Relief Fund for Covid-19.” The money is to go toward three areas: “assistance for individuals and organizations engaged in frontline medical and first responder efforts such as UNHCR, support for children and educators who must now work remotely, and support for members of the creative community in the entertainment industry.” Three million dollars of it has been specifically earmarked for UNHCR “to help protect refugees from the threat of this pandemic.” It’s a small fraction of UNHCR’s $255 million appeal, but a very welcome start. Staff are already brainstorming on the best places to invest the funds; it’s incredible how quickly millions of dollars disappear when stretched across 134 countries. Hopefully, more funds follow suit as we all come together to fight this pandemic for the good of all.

April 17th – Madeleine Cella, ICRC On April 16, the ICRC posted a blog entry about how the Coronavirus response hinges on respect for international humanitarian law. The blog entry describes how “the coronavirus is not one, but rather one more, calamity” that affects people impacted by conflict. The ICRC indicated that 168 million people are currently dependent on humanitarian relief because of conflict, violence, and disasters. Thus, the ICRC Legal Division has “produced a basic reminder of the key provisions of international humanitarian law, relevant to the Covid-19 pandemic in conflict situations, that we must all keep close at hand when a pandemic hits countries at war.”

The post is a concise, helpful review of the international law most relevant to the pandemic. For example, the ICRC discusses the mandate for adequately staffed and wellequipped medical facilities and water supply facilities. It also goes into the rights of certain groups, specifically detainees, older persons, and those with pre-existing health conditions. The blog post is accompanied by a short podcast recording reading the blog post out loud. This would be beneficial to anyone who is visually impaired.

This is a theoretically helpful resource, but I question the actual efficacy of producing such a document. Who is the intended audience of this reminder? Is it intended for leaders of countries that contain conflict zones? Is it intended to remind citizens of their rights? Theoretically, this could be important and helpful for those in conflict zones to understand their own rights and to guarantee that the ICRC maintains access to some of the most vulnerable locations, prisons being an example. However, I doubt whether this blog post has a wide enough reach to be effective in that manner.

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It might be interesting to think about whether this document could potentially help citizens in non-conflict zones. Governments across the globe are referring to their pandemic response as a war. Would IHL apply in this scenario? Could citizens potentially hold their leaders accountable under IHL following this pandemic? The answer is likely no, but it would be interesting to see a movement for potential social commentary. We have seen movements like this centered around climate change, and I wonder if there could potentially be a way to harness IHL in the same way to bring greater attention to certain leader’s failures and promote accountability.

https://www.icrc.org/fr/document/libye-le-coronavirus-sinvite-au-milieu-des-bombes-et-des-obus

Obstacles to Response Measures April 1st – Sarah Gorenflo, UNHCR As the coronavirus rapidly spread across the globe and the epicenter moved to Europe, UNHCR is increasingly worried about the impact on refugee camps. Given the high rates of infection, this is inevitable; the only question is when.

The main medical advice given by the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control to limit the spread of Covid-19 is to wash hands longer and more often, as well as to socially distance. This includes not only physically staying away from others, but also limiting trips outside of our homes. For many refugees, particularly those living in camps, following these precautions is an impossible luxury. The situation is daunting as a recent Foreign Policy article aptly summed up: “The United Nations and aid organizations are now faced with the task of trying to protect the world’s 70 million

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displaced people from a virus that has devastated some of the world’s best health care systems… Often, it’s not that camps have weak health systems—which experts warn will be overrun by the coronavirus—but that they have no health system at all.”

UNHCR’s goal has been to dedicate 46 healthcare staff per 10,000 refugees in a camp, but this is not always possible. To make matters worse, resources are limited, and, in some camps such as in Lebanon supplies have run low, leading to refugees washing their hands with alcohol wipes and chlorine. UNHCR has tried to respond effectively: “aid groups are stepping up distribution of soap, water, and information about the virus. In Iraq, where 1.5 million people remain displaced, camps are being sprayed with disinfectant…The International Committee of the Red Cross has distributed extra food and hygiene kits to some of the camps this week.”

Some camps in the Kurdish region of Iraq and Lebanon have sealed themselves off, refusing any outside visitors. This has made ensuring the distribution of all essential aid really tricky. “Aid organizations have faced tough decisions. Most have canceled all nonessential programming, only continuing work related to health, hygiene, and food, with the goal of limiting the number of people entering the camps.” This has been complicated by the fact that tests are practically unavailable. Even if most camps haven’t had someone test positive for the virus, there’s no guarantee that someone hasn’t already been infected. Some co-workers have reported changing food distribution processes in their camps based on the new WFP guidelines, which attempt to decrease the risk of transmission.

https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2020/3/5e8202a64/unhcr-staying-delivering-refugees-amid-Covid-19-crisis.html

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April 16th – Lisa Bauman, UNHCR UNHCR has focused efforts on the East, Horn, and Great Lakes regions of Africa as it “hosts some of the largest refugee populations in the world.” Refugees in formal camp settings and in urban settings live in overcrowded conditions with limited access to sanitization facilities, increasing the probability that Covid-19 spreads throughout these populations. Adding the limited access to food and water, refugees are at an increased risk for Covid-19 fatal outcomes, once the virus has been contracted.

Many countries in the region have included vulnerable populations in their response measures for Covid-19 by allowing refugees to access public healthcare.

UNHCR has worked closely with local governments to promote and support such actions, Nonetheless, many vulnerable populations live in remote areas without ability to access public facilities. Some live in heavily populated urban settings in overcrowded lodgings and are unable to fully follow social distancing recommendations. UNHCR has been working with national authorities to offer solutions for the difficulty many face in obtaining public goods.

UNHCR has been delivering as many hygiene products and improving as many shelters for vulnerable populations around Africa as possible. In Djibouti, new shelters were provided for over 4,500 persons of concern to lessen overcrowding and allow the possibility of following social distancing measures. In Kenya, UNHCR provided current health workers with protective equipment as staff searches for additional locations to build field clinics in the event some are needed. In Tanzania, the amount of soap and clean water delivered has doubled, and UNHCR has built additional handwashing stations to provide persons of concern the ability to follow WHO recommendations and wash their hands during the pandemic. In Sudan, more than 320,000 persons of concern were also given hygiene related items such as soap. A water-tank was built in a registration center in Beliel to reduce transmission from those who are seeking entry into the camp.

UNHCR has faced disruptions in supply chain operations due to border restrictions. Even with increased provisions, camp residents are still experiencing a decrease in rations as a result of these supply chain disruptions and underfunding.

UNHCR has been working with national governments to monitor the need of support for hospitals and intensive care units should they become overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients. UNHCR is not opposed to creating new measures or changing current procedures to respond swiftly to this pandemic.

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Abstract – Azheen Mustafa Refugees and IDPs in Kurdistan Even though development continues apace in many parts of the world, there are many challenges. War is one such challenge – the ultimate one, due to the destruction of cities, towns, homes and infrastructure, along with the loss of human life. Civilians are displaced and emergency humanitarian assistance is needed. This emergency assistance is usually provided by governments and international organizations, with one or the other taking a lead role, depending upon the context. This paper analyzes the role of the International Organization for Migration in the context of assistance to refugees and IDPs in the Kurdistan region during the Iraqi and Syrian wars. The author’s professional experience with the IOM provided an opportunity to better understand the internal workings, and challenges, faced by the IOM in responding to protracted conflict.

April 19th – Madeleine Cella, ICRC The ICRC posted a story regarding the conflict in Ukraine and how the tensions have affected Covid-19 patients in the region around Donbas. Due to the conflict, many hospitals had to close, and those that remained operational faced regular power cuts.

These power cuts may be a “matter of life or death” for Covid-19 patients. To address this, The ICRC has been providing generators to hospitals to help prevent these power cuts. This is a particular response that demonstrates the sustainable approach the ICRC offers in conflict zones. The ICRC looks to provide services and supplies to the communities in which they work, rather than providing more immediate, reactionary aid.

This does not mean that aid is not important, but relegating that aid to other NGOs and humanitarian actors allows for the ICRC to focus on sustainable solutions that can help communities rebuild on a longer-term basis.

It should be noted that this response arises during the pandemic, despite a previous need for generators in these hospitals. This suggests power cuts have long been a problem for the region around Donbas, and that the generators could have been useful before the outbreak of Covid-19 in the across the world. Is the ICRC able to provide these generators now because of an influx of monetary support? Is there a hierarchy of need that depends upon the severity of the situation and the range of funds and resources?

Perhaps the Covid-19 pandemic could be an impetus for greater funding to help support solutions to problems that have existed long before the virus began to spread.

In that same vein, the ICRC also discussed the impact of Covid-19 on detention centers and prisons in the Philippines. The ICRC has already been present in these locations in the Philippines, working to fight a tuberculosis epidemic that has been ongoing since 2014. Many of the same problems and roadblocks that exacerbate Covid-

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19 already existed in these prison centers, such as overcrowding and lack of hygiene.

Thus, the ICRC’s work there actually makes them more prepared to handle the Covid-19 crisis, even if there are difficulties in further stressing the humanitarian aid. Thus, in comparing the efforts in Ukraine with the efforts in the Philippines, it becomes obvious that the ICRC’s response is tailored to the specific needs of the region in which it is working. That tailored response can be a benefit or a hindrance in times of crisis.

Compounding Conflict During Covid-19 April 4th – Lisa Bauman, UNHCR Increased displacement during the peak of Covid-19 in Burkina Faso has raised alarm for UNHCR. Babar Baloch, spokesperson for UNHCR, explains that there have been attacks by armed groups targeting about 25,000 Malian refugees. These refugees have been living in isolated camps along the border of Burkina Faso and Mali. Many of these refugees have now decided to return home, as they no longer feel safe after the attacks. Given the spread of Covid-19, Baloch is concerned that the physical movement of such a large group could be devastating, as they do not have sufficient access to sanitary equipment along their routes.

In late 2019, many camp residents were forced to move to the town of Dori in order to escape violent attacks. This town lacks shelter, water, and health services, which has become a pressing concern for UNHCR. Fear has taken over following numerous reports of mass killings and many injuries. Camp staff were also relocated in an attempt to keep everyone safe from further attacks. Due to lack of direct access, UNHCR now has more difficulty helping thousands of refugees in the region. As living conditions for refugees worsen during the pandemic, UNHCR must find a safe way for staff members to help protect and provide supplies to these populations.

Another concern is the necessity for all refugees and internally displaced people to follow all regulations the country sets forth pertaining to Covid-19. In Mali, there are curfews, but many persons of concern are unable to respect these regulations as they are travelling between locations in search of a safer place. Others have decided to stay in unsafe conditions in an effort to follow these Covid-19 regulations and plan on starting their journey back to Mali once restrictions have lightened. UNHCR is communicating regularly with Malian authorities to register as many refugees as possible into the Malian system to ensure that they get included in the country’s Covid-19 response measures.

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https://www.unv.org/Success-stories/UN-Volunteer-supports-UNHCR-COVID-19-response-Chad

April 18th – Sarah Gorenflo, UNHCR Fighting a global pandemic is exhausting. During this time of restricted movement, technology has been an incredible resource beyond the ability of conferencing with colleagues around the world. UNHCR has a call center in Lebanon, which “hosts more refugees per capita than any other country,” including, “some 910,000 registered Syrian refugees, plus more than 200,000 Palestinians.” As mobile phones have become increasingly prevalent, and often the only lifeline as people are displaced, this call center has been a key way of connecting with people, fielding “almost a million enquiries per year from refugees about protection services and assistance.” Calls started coming in about the coronavirus outbreak in early March and have quickly escalated since then.

Since lockdown measures have been put in place, the UNHCR has had to restrict much of its work in Lebanon. Consequently, the center has proven to be more crucial than usual.

The operators, who follow health protocols set forth by the center, provide a variety of assistance. Jamal Zhaim, one of the Lebanese operators, gives “callers details of the types of assistance available, directs them to more expert information and advice, and shares official guidance on how to protect themselves from infection. He also refers cases that require specialized assistance such as protection and mental health support for follow-up by UNHCR and its partners.”

It’s reassuring to know that when mobility has been restricted, albeit for good reason, the UNHCR can still help people. Our programs all around the world have been using SMS messaging, social media, radio, and other forms of virtual communication to

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raise awareness about the virus and how to prevent it. This range of communication options via technology also breaks down language and literacy barriers to ensure accurate transmission of information that is understandable to everyone. In addition, the delivery of accurate information reduces panic stemming from rumors and misinformation.

As UNHCR has limited physical interactions, particularly in countries with strict lockdown measures, “[a]lternative mechanisms have been introduced to maintain humanitarian operations, including strengthening remote assistance mechanisms such as the call centre.” It’s only part of the equation, since giving people advice that they cannot follow does little good; the delivery of sanitation and hygiene products, and a bolstered healthcare system is also essential. Both are important. Not only can the UNHCR inform refugees and continue providing at least some essential services, the agency can also reach out to donors for help and share stories of the plight facing refugees right now. There are good stories out there, too; that’s something we need to remember when everything gets too overwhelming.

Abstract – Kendall Jimenez The role of the ICRC during the Covid-19 Pandemic This paper will examine the responsibilities and conduct of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) during their recent Covid-19 operations. The author discusses the impact of pandemics on the normal operations of the ICRC, probing how the often multi-tiered response necessary to assist displaced or incarcerated populations has evolved during the Covid-19 pandemic. The author explores the capacity of staff and field workers during outbreaks, particularly the development of increasing complexity as the pandemic has developed and spread. Challenges include the movement of supplies and aid workers, proper implementation of prevention information and campaigns, and updated quarantine measures for prisons, refugee camps and detainee centers. The author concludes with a reflection on the similarities between regular humanitarian crises and this particular health crisis.

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Chapter 5: Freedoms and Technology Chapter 5 will address human rights issues relating to technology and the law, covering privacy, data protection, cybersecurity, and the right to internet access during a pandemic. As Covid-19 continues to spread throughout the world, the intersection of health and technology is an essential part of life which must be reconciled with the legal rights and freedoms of people everywhere.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) regular reports on the impacts of Covid-19 by urging governments to prioritize the right to health for all. This means prioritizing science over politics, caring for those most at risk, avoiding censorship, and limiting lockdowns.

Through these uncertain times, one thing is clear: technology use is no longer optional.

Whether technology allows people to connect socially or permits doctors and governments across the world to coordinate a response to the pandemic, technology empowers people and serves as an invaluable tool, especially within the context of the human rights framework.

Data Rights and Privacy April 15th – Tomislava Tomova, HRW (Sofia, Bulgaria) - Bulgaria's first case of Covid-19 was confirmed on March 8, 2020. By mid-April, there were 676 confirmed cases, with 31 recorded deaths and 71 recoveries.

International human rights law guarantees everyone the right to the highest attainable standard of health and obliges all governments to take steps to prevent threats to public health and provide medical care to those who need it. Human rights law also recognizes that, in the context of serious public health threats and public emergencies threatening the life of the nation, Bulgaria can legally limit certain civic rights, provided there is ample legal standing to do so. The severity of Covid-19 may justify restrictions on certain rights, such as limiting freedom of movement, but it cannot justify draconian breaches of data privacy.

Surveillance, wiretapping, and privacy breaches increased as Bulgaria imposed emergency measures to combat the virus. The Bulgarian government imposed restrictions that in many cases flouted normal standards of human rights. The government violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GPDR) with requests for access to the geolocation information of millions of users, combined with the imposition of fines. Bulgarian police forces are now able to request and obtain from the telephone and Internet operators information concerning citizens' private communications. Such data will enable the police not only to locate individuals, but to

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monitor who they talked to and which websites they visited. For comparison, China and Iran were the first countries to use mass surveillance during the crisis by tapping into cell phone data to retrace the movements of people who had contracted the coronavirus and to identify others who should be quarantined because their paths had crossed.

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Bulgarian government should ensure that quarantines and lockdown comply with rights norms, including digital rights.

International human rights law, notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) requires that restrictions on rights for reasons of public health or national emergency be lawful, necessary, and proportionate. Restrictions such as mandatory quarantine or isolation of symptomatic people must be carried out in accordance with the law. They must be strictly necessary in order to achieve a legitimate objective, based on scientific evidence, of limited duration, and respectful of human dignity. Currently, restrictions in Bulgaria are not carried out in accordance with the law as telecommunications and Internet companies are providing user’s data to the government.

As long as digital rights are not viewed as equal to human rights, citizens are not protected and the government is steadily building the architecture of oppression.

Freedom of expression April 15th – Tomislava Tomova (Sofia, Bulgaria) - The Bulgarian government has imposed a rule that punishes with three years in prison and a 10,000 lev fine (5,000 Euros) "those who spread false information on the spread of the epidemic", which the government intends to keep in force even after the end of the crisis. In particularly serious cases, penalties could be increased to 5 years of imprisonment and fines of up to 50,000 lev (25,000 Euros). Experts, journalists, and citizens will be forced to censor themselves with respect to any news that the government might find disturbing.

An article in OBC Transeuropa cites Simona Veleva, constitutionalist and expert in law in the media sector: "The 'truth' about what we know about coronavirus changes quickly, and there is no way to determine a priori what is true and what is false. Certainly, however, the heavy and disproportionate sanctions envisaged would create the conditions for self-censorship, and can be used arbitrarily to suppress non-aligned voices".

Another issue is that most of the big media channels are already owned by the power-holders, which compromises their credibility. Under international human rights law, governments have an obligation to protect the right to freedom of expression,

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including the right to seek, receive, and impart information of all kinds, regardless of business ownership.

Another case that puts freedom of expression at risk is that Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union President, Asena Stoimenova, warned in interviews with the Bulgarian National Radio and the Bulgarian National Television that there may be a shortage of medical supplies in Bulgaria. Because of those statements, the prosecutor’s office charged her with instilling fear and panic. The Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union said that Stoimenova’s statements are not a false alarm. “The European Commission, the European Medicines Agency, the European pharmaceutical companies, the hospitals, our group and many others working in the health sector have all pointed out the risk of a shortage of drugs due to the pandemic,” the Bulgarian National Radio said.

Human Rights Watch recommends that the prosecutor’s office urgently drop the charges because under international human rights law, governments have an obligation to protect the right to freedom of expression, including the right to impart information of public interest during a pandemic. In Bulgaria, the government has failed to uphold the right to freedom of expression, taking actions against pharmaceutical professionals and healthcare workers. This ultimately limits effective communication about the onset of the disease and undermines trust in government actions. The Bulgarian government should fully respect the rights to freedom of expression and access to information, and only restrict them as international standards permit. It should ensure that the information they provide to the public regarding Covid-19 is accurate, timely, and consistent with human rights principles. This is important for addressing false and misleading information.

Abstract– Ricky J. Marc, J.D., M.S. American Police Brutality & Overreach There has been no greater and more tragic demonstration of a violation and deprivation of rights to freedom and privacy than what has been visited upon Black Americans and other communities of color at the hands of law enforcement. This paper will discuss the racist origins of police overreach and brutality against Blacks and other American communities of color in the United States; the state of police brutality and overreach as it is currently experienced in the United States, including the effects of antagonistic law enforcement activity against those respective communities and a culture that affects those perceptions (especially on the international stage); and the exploration of a proposed cultural and systemic solution to an obviously deadly epidemic of avoidable deaths of American minorities at the hands of law enforcement throughout the United States.

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April 16th – Sandra Lefaure, HRW President Macron announced the extension of the confinement for another month, moving the deconfinement date to May 11th. President Macron stated that to support the deconfinement phase, the government is working with European partners on projects such as a digital application called StopCovid. The purpose of this application, which is based on voluntary use and anonymity, is to reduce and even stop the spread of the virus by collecting data on what areas and at what time people go to these areas. However, Human Rights Watch has raised a red flag regarding the StopCovid application, due to potential privacy issues. Even though the Digital Secretary of State, Cedric O, assures that the application is free, open-sourced, voluntary, and respects privacy and full anonymity, how can the government be certain that all private data will be protected? How will anonymity be assured if there is a security breach? And finally, how effective is this application if not enough people participate, since it is based on voluntary usage? These questions need to be answered during the Parliamentary vetting procedures, in order to assure human rights-compliant use of the StopCovid application.

Abstract– Marissa Stanley Tracking and Privacy in the Time of Covid-19 As Covid-19 continues to spread around the world, taking with it thousands of lives and disrupting the global economy, governments across the globe are seeking to take actions that may have been criticized heavily before. Solutions such as geolocation data and facial recognition are emerging in order to help authorities monitor and contain the spread of the virus. This technology has already proven in some countries to be an important part of the health ecosystem in their effectiveness to prevent and track the movement of the virus, such as in East Asia. The use of biometrics in a post-Covid-19 world is already being questioned.

Individuals may already be experiencing infringements on a wide range of fundamental rights, such as, “the right of access to their personal data, the right to erasure and the right to be informed as to the purposes of processing and who that data is shared with,” as laid out by Article 12 of the Universal Humans Rights Declaration. Although these technologies have already proven to have some beneficial effects on containing the spread of Covid-19, contact tracing apps must be implemented with full transparency and privacy protection policies.

David Brown – ICRC Delegate “Restoring Family Links (RFL) is one of our core activities. While a lot of our core activities haven’t changed much, this one has. Much of the work of RFL is concerned with reuniting human beings. 99% of the face to face meetings have been temporarily

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stopped. Instead, there is an increased emphasis on telephone conversations. People use disposable plastic phones and disinfect them with spray after they are done using them. In migrant camps, people can make phone calls, disinfect the phone and pass it on. The National Societies are very good at ensuring the work of RFL is maintained.”

Abstract– Caleb Lemke IHL’s Protections for Enhanced Soldiers As technology and science advance on numerous fronts across the world, the fields of genetics, pharmacology, robotics/prosthetics and cybernetics are all researching how to enhance and augment human capabilities in what verges on the comic-book-esque. Such advancements have garnered the interest of governments and their militaries as enhanced human abilities for soldiers promise advantages on the battlefield and could determine the difference between life and death. While military ethics debates the morality of the use of enhanced soldiers, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) must also understand how this would fit into the laws of conflict. Categorization of the type, nature, and reversible nature of the enhancement are necessary in order to understand enhancement. The most important categorization, though, is whether the enhancement constitutes a means or method of warfare.

The looming question in IHL is how exactly the enhancements may affect the protections afforded to enhanced soldiers and those around them. This paper will argue that an established definition and a framework for categorizing the length, purpose, and type of enhancement to a soldier is necessary to try and ensure an equal application of just protections under the law.

Abstract– Collin Frey Art and Conflict: Representations of Truth and Reality In times of conflict and trauma, society will often turn to art as a form of escapism or as a means of processing the situation. In her BBC Reith lectures, historian Margaret MacMillan discusses the impact of war on artistic production and asks how the horror of war can be represented through art. In my essay, I will explore how conflict impacts a society’s artistic production and consumption, with specific focus on the World Wars and two epidemics, the 1918 Influenza and the ongoing Coronavirus. By looking at film history in particular, I hope to demonstrate a relationship between conflict and changing attitudes towards the arts. While conflict often leads to the production of propagandistic codes, it can also lead to new mainstream expectations of style and content.

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Epilogue As we look back over the Spring 2020 semester, my students and I have engaged in lively debate about the positive aspects of our Covid experiences, despite the often bleak news that is covered in this digital volume.

First and foremost, we have learned a great deal. The sudden switch to online teaching was surprisingly successful for us, even though students were bitterly disappointed that Exercice Coalition 2020 at the French War College was cancelled.

Overall, AUP offered enormous support for students and faculty during this unprecedented transition, far more than other universities located in France. As the semester progressed, we started to meet online outside of class time, in small and large groups, to continue conversations on the myriad political and legal issues raised by the Covid-19 crisis, and to work on this book.

The postings provided in this volume allowed students to analyze the role of governments and NGOs in real time, and to better understand the critical importance of the role of the State in democratic societies. We were particularly struck by the many ways that international NGOs stepped up to the plate, working hand in hand with national and local administrations to deliver much needed assistance, all the while keeping their critical distance to censure States that did not meet international norms. The abstracts, in particular, reveal a sense of intellectual risk, as students moved beyond standard-fare research topics to explore a world turned upside down. Several of these abstracts have proved remarkably prescient, months ahead of subjects that seized world attention over the course of the summer.

Fortunately, we have already marked the dates for next year’s Exercice Coalition in our calendars. All of this year’s participants will be invited back as auditors to join the new cohort of AUP graduate and undergraduate students who will participate in this exceptional opportunity to test their knowledge of humanitarian intervention in an emergency.

The Professor and students would like to extend a special thanks to AUP’s Communications team for ‘publishing’ this volume online and highlighting our efforts in the AUP News.

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References are provided below for each chapter.

CHAPTER 1 Anyadike, O. (2020) ‘Briefing: What’s Behind South Sudan’s COVID-19 Inspired UN-Backlash’. The New Humanitarian.

Beasley, D. (2020) ‘Letter to Supporters by WFP Executive Director’. World Food Programme Insight.

Beltrami, S. (2020) ‘How to Minimize the Impact of Coronavirus on Food Security’. World Food Programme Insight.

Beltrami, S. (2020) ‘Coronavirus: WFP Ready to Rise to the Challenge’. World Food Programme Insight.

Chan, S. (2020) ‘The Chain that Covid-19 Cannot Break’. The New Humanitarian.

France 24, “Pandémie de Covid-19 : MSF, entre crise sanitaire et crise humanitaire.” France 24, April 17, 2020.

Franceinfo, “Coronavirus : Médecins sans frontières arrête ses opérations de sauvetage en mer avec SOS Méditerranée.” Franceinfo, April 17, 2020.

Izvorski, I., Sandeep Mahajan, Lalita Moorty, and Gallina A. Vincelette, “A Policy Framework for mitigating the Economic Impact of COVID-19,” Brookings Institute, April 20th, 2020).

Johnson, D. (2020) ‘News in Brief March 20, 2020’. UN News.

Johnson, D. (2020) ‘In the face of COVID-19, refugees “must be involved in prevention”’. UN News.

Johnson, D. & Byers, E. (2020) ‘Chinese hospitals in worst-hit region receive medical ventilators for critical patients’. UN News.

Khorsandi, P. (2020) ‘Lessons for Dealing with COD-19 from WFP’s Response to Ebola’. World Food Programme Insight.

Khorsandi, P. (2020) ‘COVID-19: ‘Children in the Front Line’. World Food Programme Insight.

Kleinfeld, P. and Flummerfelt, R. (2020) ‘As Coronavirus Spreads in Congo, Ebola Resurfaces’. The New Humanitarian.

Lindsay, J.M. and Michelle D. Gavin, “The Coronavirus’s Impact Throughout Africa, with Michelle D. Gavin,” Council on Foreign Relations (podcast, April 14, 2020).

MSF, “EU states use COVID-19 to shirk search and rescue obligations as MSF ends Ocean Viking partnership.” Médecins Sans Frontières, April 17, 2020.

OCHA, “Global Humanitarian Response Plan,” United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Spring 2020): 4.

OCHA, “Ten Crises to Remember as the World Battles COVID-19,” Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, April 13, 2020.

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FROM PRACTICUM TO PUBLICATION OCHA, “UN Agencies Issue Urgent Call to Fund Global Emergency Supply System to Fight COVID19,” Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, April 20th, 2020.

Parker, B. (2020) ‘UN Seeks $2 billion Coronavirus Emergency Fund’. The New Humanitarian.

Southley, F. (2020) ‘WFP Supply Chain Chief on Covid-19 Challenges: ‘Every country we’re operating in is affected by the virus’’, Food Navigator.

The New Humanitarian (2020) ‘Aidworkerphobia, Yemen worries, and local aid funding: The Cheat Sheet’.

The New Humanitarian (2020) ‘Coronavirus and Aid: What We’re Watching’.

The New Humanitarian (2020) ‘In the News: Coronavirus Derails Measles Vaccination Across the Globe’.

“UN-CMCoord Field Handbook,” Version 2.0 (2018) United Nations Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination.

Wadland, E. (2020) ‘How Humanitarian Telecoms Hubs are Racing to Beat COVID-19’. World Food Programme Insight.

World Food Programme (2020) WFP Covid-19 Situation Report #3, p.1.

World Food Programme (2020) WFP Covid-19 Situation Report #1, p.1-2.

World Food Programme (2020) ‘In Photos: A Look Into WFP’s Global Coronavirus Response’.

Zhu, A. (2020) ‘Coronavirus Exposes Africa’s Oxygen Problem’. The New Humanitarian.

CHAPTER 2 ABC News, “Competition among state, local governments creates bidding war for medical equipment,” April 3, 2020.

Deutsche Welle, “Coronavirus: German, US companies sign deal to develop vaccine,” DW, March 17, 2020.

France 24, “ ‘Aux masques citoyens’ : les dons se multiplient pour pallier la pénurie,” March, 21, 2020.

France 24, “Pandémie de Covid-19 : MSF, entre crise sanitaire et crise humanitaire,” April 17, 2020.

Franceinfo, “Coronavirus: droits de visite dans les Ehpad, port du masque, écoles... Ce qu'il faut retenir de la conférence de presse d'Edouard Philippe et Olivier Véran,” April 19, 2020.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center (2020) “COVID-19 Map.” Katz, J., & Sanger-Katz, M., “Coronavirus Deaths by U.S. State and Country Over Time: Daily Tracker,” The New York Times, March 21, 2020.

Kituyi, M, “Coronavirus: Let's keep ships moving, ports open and cross-border trade flowing,” UNCTAD, March 25, 2020.

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Losson, C. “Interview: L’obligation de rapidité dans la décision es le propre de toute épidémie,” Libération, March 17, 2020.

Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé, “COVID-19 : dépistage,” March 26, 2020.

Medecins Sans Frontières press releases : • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

MSF, “Mission,” Epicentre.

MSF, “Previous Operational Updates on COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak,” Médecins Sans Frontières Hong Kong, January 31-February 14, 2020.

MSF, “Coronavirus Covid-19: MSF appelle à plus de solidarité européenne pour protéger le personnel médical,” Médecins Sans Frontière, March 16, 2020.

MSF, “Coronavirus: la plus grande intervention MSF jamais réalisée en Belgique,” Médecins Sans Frontières, April 3, 2020.

MSF, “Coronavirus: à Reims, MSF aide au renforcement des capacités d'hospitalisation du CHU,” Médecins Sans Frontières, April 4, 2020.

MSF, “Epidemics and Pandemics: Millions of people still die each year from infectious diseases that are preventable or that are easy to treat,” Médecins Sans Frontières.

MSF, “Coronavirus Disease COVID-19: Providing Materials, Engaging Communities, in the COVID19 Coronavirus Outbreak,” Médecins Sans Frontières.

Hutin, J.E., “Coronavirus. Les humanitaires face à la crise,” Ouest-France, April 17, 2020.

TV5Monde,“Coronavirus: MSF alerte sur le manque de matériel de protection pour ses soignants,” April 17, 2020.

MSF, “MSF renforce ses actions en réponse au Covid-19 en France,” Médecins Sans Frontières, April 20, 2020.

Mercier, M., “Coronavirus: un hôpital mobile installé par Médecins sans frontières près du CHU de Reims,” France 3, April 3, 2020.

MSF, “Safeguarding access to healthcare during COVID-19,” Médecins Sans Frontières, April 17, 2020.

MSF, “Coronavirus Disease COVID-19: MSF calls for no patents or profiteering on COVID-19 drugs and vaccines,” Médecins Sans Frontières, March 27, 2020.

Van Der Made, J., “Europe in coronavirus vaccine battle with US,” RFI, March 18 2020.

MSF, “No profiteering on COVID-19 drugs and vaccines, says MSF,” Médecins Sans Frontières, April 10, 2020.

MSF, “Northwest Syria: ‘COVID-19 Adds Another Layer of Complexity to an Already Catastrophic Situation.’” Médecins Sans Frontières, April 2, 2020.

MSF, “Diseases Will Persist during COVID-19 in Borno Nigeria: MSF.” Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International, 17 Apr. 2020, www.msf.org/borno-state-diseases-will-persist-during-Covid-19pandemic.

MSF, “MSF Supports Coronavirus COVID-19 Response in Cameroon.” Médecins Sans Frontières, May 12, 2020.

MSF, “Preparation Is Key for Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic in Côte D'Ivoire: MSF.” Médecins Sans Frontières, April 17, 2020.

CHAPTER 3 Aryal, S. “Use of Child Soldiers in Nepal: A Causal Analysis.” Dissertation submitted to Mahidol University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Human Rights) (Thailand: Mahidol University), 2008.

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FROM PRACTICUM TO PUBLICATION Binadi, Dilli. “Returning Home Towards a New Future: A Study of Nepal’s Reintegration Programme for Former Child Soldiers, 2005-2009. Journal of Conflict Transformation and Security. July 2011.

CAAFAG Working Group. "Situation of CAAFAG: Nepal: A community assessment and understanding."

(2006).

Child Soldiers International, Child Soldiers Global Report 2004 - Nepal, 2004.

CWIN, “Fact Sheet: Children in Armed Conflict”, 2007.

Fore, Henrietta and Filippo Grandi, “As COVID-19 Pandemic Continues, Forcibly Displaced Children Need More Support Than Ever,” UNHCR, April 20, 2020.

Godin, Mélissa. “France to House Domestic Abuse Victims in Hotels Amid Lockdown.” Time. March 31, 2020.

Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. “An Emergency Inside an Emergency - How Quarantine Has Changed Life for Women in Italy.” March 31, 2020.

Joo, Jeong Tae, Daily NK, and Daily NK. “Sources: Almost 200 Soldiers Have Died from COVID-19.”

Daily NK, April 16, 2020.

Le Dauphiné Libéré, “Santé. Coronavirus : Les Violences Conjugales Explosent Avec Le Confinement.”

France - Monde | Coronavirus : les violences conjugales explosent avec le confinement. Le Dauphiné Libéré, March 27, 2020.

Merdrignac, Marie. “Coronavirus. Les Devoirs à La Maison, Pas Simple sans Ordinateur, Témoigne Une Alréenne.” Ouest France, March 13, 2020.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Press release on the donation of Russian coronavirus diagnostic test kits to North Korea (26 February 2020) – “Due to the persisting risk of the new COVID-19 infection, Russia has donated 1,500 coronavirus diagnostic test kits to Pyongyang at the request of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Save the Children (2007) “Return and Reintegration (RRR) of Former CAAFAG (Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups)” in Nepal: A Field Guide. Kathmandu.

Save the Children (2007) “Reintegration of Former CAAFAG in Nepal”, Report submitted to AusAID (Kathmandu: Save the Children). Kathmandu pp. 15–19.

STC, “Alarm Grows in Africa as Continent Records Its 10,000th Case of COVID-19.” Save the Children International, April 8, 2020.

STC, “Save the Children: 'Outbreak Could Cause Millions of Children to Suffer for Years to Come'.” Save the Children International, April 17, 2020.

Sindhuli, “Rehabilitation Challenge for Child Soldiers.” The New Humanitarian, February 19, 2016.

Tarlé, Sophie de, “Coronavirus: Écoles, Collèges, Lycées Et Universités Fermés Pendant ‘Au Minimum 15 Jours.’” Le Figaro Etudiant.

TRT, “En France, 101 Femmes Mortes Sous Les Coups De Leur Conjoint En 2019.” TRT Français. June 7, 2020.

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FROM PRACTICUM TO PUBLICATION UNHCR, “Displaced and Stateless Women and Girls at Heightened Risk of Gender-Based Violence in the Coronavirus Pandemic,” UNHCR, April 20, 2020, UNHCR, “Persons of Concern to UNHCR,” UNHCR Philippines.

UNICEF, “Greater Support Needed for Working Families as COVID-19 Takes Hold – UNICEF and ILO.” UNICEF. UNICEF, “COVID-19: More than 95 per Cent of Children Are out of School in Latin America and the Caribbean”.

UNICEF, “Urgent Need to Secure Learning for Children across South Asia.” UNICEF. “UNICEF Is Providing Supplies and Technical Support to Fight COVID-19 in Lebanon.” UNICEF. UNOCHA, “GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN COVID-19.”

UNODC, “COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan.” United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime.

Upreti, Bishnu Raj. “Peace and Post Conflict Reconstruction in Nepal.” Peace and Post-conflict Reconstruction in Nepal, January 1, 1970.

Wolfe, Jonathan, and Lara Takenaga. “Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today.” The New York Times, June 2, 2020.

World Bank, “Physicians (per 1,000 People).” Data.

World Health Organization, “Statement on the Second Meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee Regarding the Outbreak of Novel Coronavirus (2019-NCoV).” World Health Organization.

CHAPTER 4 Abrams, A. “You Probably Read About an Uninsured Teen Who Died of COVID-19. The Truth Is More Complicated,” Time, April 2, 2020.

Alberti, M. and Vasco Cotovio, “Portugal gives migrants and asylum-seekers full citizenship rights during coronavirus outbreak,” CNN, March 31, 2020.

Alkousaa, R. and Paul Carrel, “Refugees to the Rescue? Germany Taps Migrant Medics to Battle Virus,” Reuters, March 25, 2020.

Baloch, B. “Ongoing Insecurity in Eastern DRC Could Derail Coronavirus Containment,” UNHCR, April 17, 2020.

Cherri, R. “Refugee Call Centre Fills Gap amid Lebanon's Coronavirus Shutdown,” UNHCR, April 16, 2020..

Collard, R. “You Can't Practice Social Distancing If You're a Refugee,” Foreign Policy, March 20, 2020.

Droege, C. (April, 2020) "COVID-19 response in conflict zones hinges on respect for international humanitarian law", in blogs.icrc.org.

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FROM PRACTICUM TO PUBLICATION ICRC, “Founding and Early Years of the ICRC (1863-1914).” in International Committee of the Red Cross, December 12, 2017.

ICRC (2020) "Conflict in Ukraine: periodical power cuts in Donbas puts COVID-19 patients at risk", in icrcnewsroom.org.

ICRC (2020) "COVID-19: Lessons from Philippines jails show how to fight infectious coronavirus disease", in International Committee of the Red Cross.

Khalif, A. “Drawing on Ebola Lessons to Protect Tanzania Camps from Coronavirus,” UNHCR, April 15, 2020.

Mounk, Y. “The Extraordinary Decisions Facing Italian Doctors,” The Atlantic, March 18, 2020.

MSF, “DRC Ebola Outbreak Crisis Update: MSF,” Médecins Sans Frontières, April 23, 2020.

Taylor, D. “Covid-19: call for fast-track registration of refugee doctors in UK,” The Guardian, March 25, 2020.

UNHCR, “About Us.” UNHCR. UNHCR, “History of UNHCR.” UNHCR. UNHCR, “Refugees in the COVID-19 Crisis,” Live Blog, UNHCR Staff, April 9, 2020.

UNHCR, “UNHCR Stepping Up to Coronavirus Prevention Measures for Displaced Across East, Horn, and Great Lakes Region of Africa,” UNHCR, April 7, 2020.

UNHCR, “UNHCR Expresses Alarm Over Insecurity in Burkina Faso,” UNHCR, April 3, 2020.

UNHCR, “Insecurity in Burkina Faso Forces Thousands of Malian Refugees to Leave Camp,” UNHCR, April 3, 2020.

Van Genderen Stort, A. and Yuko Shimada, “Sony Provides the First Major Corporate Contribution to UNHCR's COVID-19 Appeal,” UNHCR, April 3, 2020.

CHAPTER 5 Garreau, M., “ [Application de suivi Stop Covid] ‘Le numérique n’est qu’un outil au service d’une politique sanitaire’, assure la spécialiste Annie Blandin”, L’Usine nouvelle, April 14, 2020.

Health and Tech Intelligence, “Covid-19 : les mesures post confinement se dessinent, l’application StopCovid à l'étude”, April 14, 2020.

Radio Bulgaria, “EU Pharmaceutical Group backs president of Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union Asena Stoimenova”, April 16, 2020.

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