German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

Coronavirus and the Global South

Large parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East are being very seriously affected by the disease, and the states of the Global South are showing a wide variation in their reactions. Learn more how the GIGA contributes to addressing the worldwide repercussions of the pandemic.

Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft | 02/2023

Navigating the Dual Dilemma between Lives, Rights and Livelihoods: COVID-19 Responses in China, Singapore, and South Korea

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a dual dilemma for governments worldwide: between the protection of lives and of individual rights, and more long-term between safeguarding lives and preserving livelihoods.

Prof. Dr. Heike Holbig

Senior Research Fellow / Editor GIGA Focus Asia

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?

Dr. Esther Song

Research Fellow

Workshop | 05/07/2023 - 06/07/2023

GLACIER Workshop: From Immunology to Bioactive Compounds

From Immunology to Bioactive Compounds, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB), Halle Valeria Morales (Panelist)

On July 5-6, GLACIER fellows, scientists and interested parties met for the GLACIER workshop “From Immunology to Bioactive Compounds in Halle. Took place at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB).

Valeria Morales

Doctoral Researcher

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.

Yannick Deepen

Dr. André Bank

Dr. Julia Grauvogel

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

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.

Rebecca Lohmann

Former Doctoral Researcher

Dr. Lisa Hoffmann

Research Fellow

Journal of Global Security Studies | 05/2023

The Impact of COVID-19 on Insurgency and Rebel Governance: Lessons from India's Northeast

Emerging research has suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic has generally favored rebel organizations—rather than states—in situations of intrastate conflict. This article challenges this perspective by analyzing the pandemic's impact on three dimensions of rebel activity—armed activity, popular support and recruitment, and rebel governance.

Prof. Dr. Edward Newman

University of Leeds

Dr. Alex Waterman

Associate

In Brief | 23/05/2023

Latin America Researchers Sharing Research Findings at LASA 2023

GIGA researchers visited this year’s LASA International Congress in Vancouver, Canada, to shed light on pressing issues such as COVID-19 vaccination policies, government initiatives against gender-based violence, migrants’ political practices, and the role of judicial power in Latin America.

GIGA Forum | 31/05/2023

Germs, Guns, and Rage: COVID-19 and Violent Conflict in the Global South

In this GIGA Forum, experts on conflict-ridden countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East will discuss how and to what extent the pandemic has exacerbated conflict in the Global South.

Video now online!

Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar

President

T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-501 amrita.narlikar@giga-hamburg.de

Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner

Director of the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies / Vice President

T. +49 (0)40 - 42 88 74-17 patrick.koellner@giga-hamburg.de

Prof. Dr. Matthias Basedau

Director of the GIGA Institute for African Affairs / Editor GIGA Focus Africa

T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-517 matthias.basedau@giga-hamburg.de

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-504 eckart.woertz@giga-hamburg.de

Prof. Dr. Bert Hoffmann

Lead Research Fellow / Co-Leader of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies (ad interim) Head GIGA Berlin Office

bert.hoffmann@giga-hamburg.de

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

Lead Research Fellow / Co-Leader of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies (ad interim) Editor GIGA Focus Latin America

T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-570 sabine.kurtenbach@giga-hamburg.de

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Lead Research Fellow / Co-Leader of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies (ad interim)

T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-766 mariana.llanos@giga-hamburg.de

Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-590 christian.vonsoest@giga-hamburg.de

Dr. André Bank

Senior Research Fellow

T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-584 andre.bank@giga-hamburg.de

Dr. Christiane Fröhlich

Senior Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-582 christiane.froehlich@giga-hamburg.de

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

Prof. Dr. Merike Blofield

Former GIGA Team member

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

Prof. Dr. Renate Hartwig

Research Fellow

Dr. Jan Priebe

Associate

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

Prof. Dr. Matthias Basedau

Director of the GIGA Institute for African Affairs / Editor GIGA Focus Africa

Mora Deitch

Associate

Video | 07/2023

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

Yannick Deepen

Dr. André Bank

Dr. Julia Grauvogel

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

GIGA Focus Asia | 3/2023

Federalism in Times of Crisis: Insights from India’s COVID-19 Response

Why do some subnational units respond better to crises than others, despite having the same constitutional authority to act? This GIGA Focus investigates the cases of four Indian states to identify factors contributing to successful COVID-19 crisis management.

Prof. Dr. Chanchal Kumar Sharma

Associate

Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft | 02/2023

Navigating the Dual Dilemma between Lives, Rights and Livelihoods: COVID-19 Responses in China, Singapore, and South Korea

Prof. Dr. Heike Holbig

Senior Research Fellow / Editor GIGA Focus Asia

GIGA Focus Latin America | 6/2022

Facing the Stress Test: Courts and Executives during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Courts are highly relevant in controlling executive abuses of power in exceptional situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. Latin America’s courts were ready and able to set such limits. Illiberal presidents may heavily undermine judicial independence if they have the legislative support to do so.

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Lead Research Fellow / Co-Leader of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies (ad interim)

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Associate

GIGA Focus Global | 3/2022

COVID-19 and Violent Actors in the Global South: A Complex Relationship

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.

Yannick Deepen

Dr. André Bank

Dr. Julia Grauvogel

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

Panel discussion | 22/09/2020

From Crisis to Resilience ‒ How Can We Link Recovery, Sustainability, and Trade?

In support of “SDG 17 Partnerships: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”, this panel will tackle some of the difficult questions around trade and sustainability that have been brought into stark focus by the coronavirus pandemic. Video of the event availiable.

GIGA Seminar in Socio-Economics | 13/07/2023

Personalized Information Provision and the Take-Up of Government Benefits: Experimental Evidence from India

Lecture by Dr. Bansi Malde (University of Kent) on joint work with Amrit Amirappu, Irma Clots-Figueras, Anirban Mitra, Debayan Pakrashi, and Zaki Wahhaj.

GIGA Forum | 31/05/2023

Germs, Guns, and Rage: COVID-19 and Violent Conflict in the Global South

In this GIGA Forum, experts on conflict-ridden countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East will discuss how and to what extent the pandemic has exacerbated conflict in the Global South.

Video now online!

Workshop | 07/04/2022 - 08/04/2022

Policy Challenges in Latin America: Looking to the Future

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Latin American countries particularly hard and exposed structural vulnerabilities in the region. At a joint workshop of the EU-LAC Foundation and the GIGA, scholars will assess key policy challenges in the areas of social protection, labour informality, education, health, state capacity, migration, and more.

GIGA Forum | 20/10/2021

The Shadow Pandemic: Policy Efforts Addressing Gender-Based Violence During COVID-19

In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the risk of gender-based violence, especially within the home, has increased and Governments around the world are addressing this problem differently. In this GIGA Forum/GIGA Talk, experts discussed the effect of related government responses and offer policy recommendations. Video of event now online.

Cooperation Event | 15/12/2020

Preserving Social Cohesion in the COVID-19 Crisis: An Agenda for the EU-LAC Partnership

At this side event to the EU-LAC Foreign Ministers Meeting, academics and policymakers will discuss how newly created or expanded social protection measures can be made sustainable, what additional measures are needed, and what an agenda of cooperation for social cohesion between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean might look like.

GIGA Talk | 15/10/2020

Eradicating Poverty: Is COVID-19 Undoing the Progress Made?

Uganda had one of the strictest lockdowns in East Africa, including closing all but essential businesses, dusk-to-dawn curfews, and bans on both private and public transport vehicles. GIGA researchers take a look at how these measures affected people and businesses in the informal economy. Video of the event availiable.

Cooperation Event | 13/10/2020

Half a Year Later: COVID-19 in Latin America, and Its Social and Political Effects

COVID-19 and associated measures have ravaged lives and livelihoods in Latin America, with a particularly stark impact on informal and poor households. This roundtable addresses the varied social protection responses of governments in the region, ranging from the broad social protection floor established in Brazil, to virtually no pandemic-induced social assistance in Mexico. Video of the event availiable.

Panel discussion | 22/09/2020

From Crisis to Resilience ‒ How Can We Link Recovery, Sustainability, and Trade?

Workshop | 07/04/2022 - 08/04/2022

Policy Challenges in Latin America: Looking to the Future

GIGA Forum | 20/10/2021

The Shadow Pandemic: Policy Efforts Addressing Gender-Based Violence During COVID-19

Cooperation Event | 15/12/2020

Preserving Social Cohesion in the COVID-19 Crisis: An Agenda for the EU-LAC Partnership

GIGA Talk | 15/10/2020

Eradicating Poverty: Is COVID-19 Undoing the Progress Made?

Cooperation Event | 13/10/2020

Half a Year Later: COVID-19 in Latin America, and Its Social and Political Effects

Panel discussion | 22/09/2020

From Crisis to Resilience ‒ How Can We Link Recovery, Sustainability, and Trade?

Tagesspiegel | Interview | 20/07/2023

„Der Planet gehört nicht den Menschen“

In diesem Interview von Hans Monath, plädiert Professor Amrita Narlikar für Tierreche und artenübergreifende Rechte - nicht nur zum Schutz vor Pandemien, auch als Kriterium der Außenpolitik zum Beispiel. Wir müssen uns um Biodiversität und Nachhaltigkeit kümmern, aber die Diskussion ist viel zu anthropozentrisch.

Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar

President

Deutsche Welle | Quote | 13/02/2023

Syrien: Wird das Erdbeben zur Chance für Assad?

Der Artikel befasst sich mit den Versuchen des syrischen Regimes unter Präsident Bashar al-Assad, aus dem massiven Erdbeben im Land politisches Kapital zu schlagen. Ziel ist es, die Sanktionen aufzuheben und das Regime regional in der MENA-Region und international wieder salonfähig zu machen.

Dr. André Bank

Senior Research Fellow

taz - die tageszeitung | Interview | 11/02/2023

„Europa muss sehr vorsichtig sein“

Im Interview mit der taz spricht Dr. André Bank über die politische Lage in Syrien nach dem schweren Erdbeben vom 6. Februar. Er plädiert für die Öffnung weiterer Grenzübergänge an der syrisch-türkischen Grenze und warnt die EU davor, Hilfe über das brutale Regime von Präsident Bashar al-Assad zu senden.

Dr. André Bank

Senior Research Fellow

Volkswagen Foundation | 05/12/2022

Covid-19 and the Dynamics of Violence in Colombia and Syria

Organiser: Volkswagen Foundation Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach (Speaker)

How does the Covid-19 pandemic influence the dynamics of violence in Colombia and Syria.

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

Lead Research Fellow / Co-Leader of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies (ad interim) Editor GIGA Focus Latin America

Conference | 18/02/2022 - 20/02/2022

MSC Roundtable “Tomorrow Never Dies: Increasing Pandemic Preparedness”

Munich Security Conference 2022
, Munich Organisers: Munich Security Conference Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar (Consultant)

GIGA Präsidentin Prof. Amrita Narlikar war eingeladen, mit anderen Expert:innen und Entscheidungsträger:innen zu diskutieren, was es braucht, um besser auf die nächste Pandemie vorbereitet zu sein.

Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar

President

Conference | 09/02/2022 - 10/02/2022

T20 Inception Conference

T20 Indonesia Inception Conference, Online Event Hager Ali (Consultant)

On the heels of the Handover Ceremony of the T20 presidency from Italy to Indonesia, the T20 Indonesia will host the Inception Conference as an opening meeting for the group of think tanks and research institutes. The Inception Conference will help to guide policy innovations during Indonesia’s G20 presidency that address priority areas ranging from climate change to digital transition, from social cohesion to growth and financial stability.

Hager Ali

Doctoral Researcher

President

Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar is President of the GIGA. Her research focuses on international negotiations, economic statecraft, and multilateralism. She has a special interest in India, Asia, and the BRICS.

Office of the President