What is the Evidence Telling Us so far of COVID's Impact on Governance and Conflict?

The IDD Guest Seminar Series was delighted to host IDD's own Professor Heather Marquette and Sian Herbert to discuss what the evidence is telling us so far about COVID’s impact on governance and conflict.

Siân Herbert and Professor Heather Marquette shared findings from their forthcoming paper reviewing the emerging evidence on the impacts of COVID-19 on governance and conflict. The paper focused on COVID-19’s impacts in four cross-cutting thematic areas: power and legitimacy; capacity and corruption; violence and conflict; and vulnerability, risk and resilience. As well as sharing findings on what evidence is currently telling us, Sian and Heather also highlighted evidence gaps and needs and some of the challenges with the COVID-19 body of evidence itself.

Heather Marquette is Professor of Development Politics and is currently seconded part-time to FCDO’s Research and Evidence Division as Senior Research Fellow (Governance and Conflict). Heather’s research, which has been funded by the British Academy/Global Challenges Research Fund, DFID, DFAT and the EU, focuses on corruption and anti-corruption interventions, development politics, aid policy and serious organised crime.

Siân Herbert is a Research Fellow at the GSDRC and Knowledge for Development (K4D) in the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham. Her work focuses on conflict and resilience analysis; gender; the politics of aid, security, state-building and peacebuilding policies; and, more recently, on the implications of COVID-19 for conflict and governance.

The IDD Guest Seminar Series brings scholars and practitioners working on international development to the University of Birmingham to share their latest research and ideas. All seminars are open to staff, students, and the general public.