COVID-19 and the Global South

Large parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East have been very seriously affected by COVID-19, with the states of the Global South showing a wide variety of reactions to its onset and the long-term effects of the pandemic continuing to play out today. Learn more about how the GIGA is contributing to scholarship and practice on addressing the worldwide repercussions of COVID-19.

COVID-19 and the Global South

  • Asian Survey: A Bimonthly Review of Contemporary Asian Affairs | 08/2023

    COVID-19, Anti-Chinese Sentiment, and Foreign Policy Attitudes in South Korea

    COVID-19 generated significant anti-Chinese sentiment in South Korea. Domestic elite-level narratives regarding China at the pandemic’s onset were highly polarized: conservative parties advocated border shutdowns, emphasizing China as originating the virus, while progressive parties warned that this would incite xenophobia. Did these narratives shape anti-Chinese sentiment, and what are their foreign policy effects?

    Review of Development Economics | 06/2023

    Material and Nonmaterial Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from a Low-Income Country

    How have COVID-19-related restrictions affected consumption levels and life satisfaction in low-income countries? The authors of this article conducted phone surveys with 577 households in Liberia to compare consumption patterns across three points in time.


    Research Project | 01/10/2021 - 01/10/2022

    COVID-19 in Latin America: The Role of Social Protections for Households with Children

    This project analyzes the socio-economic fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the intervening role of social protections, on families with children in eight Latin American countries. The region, with high levels of inequality, labor informality, and urbanization, has been particularly hard hit by both pandemic deaths and economic effects. The social protection responses, however, have varied dramatically, from a massive emergency assistance plan in Brazil to virtually no additional cash transfer aid in Mexico.
    DFG, 2021-2022

    Dr. Juliana Martínez Franzoni

    University of Costa Rica

    Research Project | 01/10/2021 - 15/04/2022

    Investigating Supply & Demand Side Factors of a Massive Covid-19 Vaccination Drive: Experimental Evidence from Indonesia

    Indonesia is fighting one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia. On January 13, 2021, the country started one of the world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccination drives. The plan is to inoculate 181.5 million people – two third of the population – in 15 months using primarily the CoronaVac from China’s Sinovac Biotech. The vaccination campaign is ambitious and its success hinges on a number of supply and demand side factors which are subject to investigation in this project.
    DFG, 2021-2022

    Research Project | 01/03/2021 - 30/09/2022

    Corona Conflicts? Analysing Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Violent Conflict in Africa

    At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, decision-makers warned that the pandemic might lead to more violent conflict in fragile states, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This project engages in a mixed-methods approach to study related relationships.
    Volkswagen Foundation, 2021-2022


    Infographic | 02/2024

    European Governments and Covid-19: Unmasking the Nexus of Narratives and Policy Responses

    Why have governments with similar political institutions, cultures, and development levels reacted so differently to the COVID-19 pandemic? Summary and visualization by Eduardo Valencia of 'Pandemic narratives and policy responses: west European governments and Covid-19' by Amrita Narlikar and Cecilia Emma Sottilotta.

    GIGA Focus Global | 3/2023

    Military Involvement in COVID-19 Responses: Comparing Asia and Latin America

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries in Asia and Latin America mobilised their armed forces for a broad range of related support activities. However, this military participation occurring in the two regions, even where extensive, did not necessarily threaten democracy and human rights.

    Video | 07/2023

    COVID-19 and Violent Actors in the Global South: An Inter- and Cross-Regional Comparison

    This trend analysis examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on state and non-state violent actors in the Global South. We provide an ACLED-based interregional mapping of trends in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.

    President (ad interim)

    Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach is President (ad interim) of the GIGA.

    Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

    Regional Institutes

    Africa|Asia|Latin America|Middle East

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