Context Matters – Country-Specific Politico-Economic Analyses, Conflict and Crisis Potentials, as well as Global and Regional Trends

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted civic space worldwide? Contrary to mainstream assumptions of “shrinking space,” analysis of five world regions in the Global South and non-OECD Europe and the Caucasus shows that civil society actors have, in fact, often still been able to sustain civic space.

Neighbours, regional organisations and networks of different actors play an important role for conflict dynamics. They can either promote peacebuilding or the prolongation and escalation of violent conflicts. The infographic illustrates this.

A cross-regional comparative analysis of the effects of COVID-19 on violence shows high levels of variation between contexts and in terms of specific armed actors. While Latin America along with the Middle East and North Africa have experienced an overall reduction, violence in sub-Saharan Africa has increased.

How COVID-related measures have changed the civil society space is illustrated in this infographic. The trend analysis was produced as part of the project "Context Matters - Country-Specific Politico-Economic Analyses, Conflict and Crisis Potentials, as well as Global and Regional Trends", funded by BMZ.