Advocacy Landscape in Africa
Impact of Covid-19 on Advocacy in Africa (Quantitative research)
Abstract
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Africa on February 14, 2020. At the time of writing this report, Africa had recorded 1,373,986 cases (Africa CDC). In response, African governments have introduced different policies to help curb the spread of the pandemic: travel restrictions and social distancing have disrupted most socio-economic activity on the continent. These restrictive measures have also impacted negatively on civil society, including the advocacy ecosystem. This report focuses on the impact of Covid-19 on advocacy stakeholders in Africa. It is based on a survey the Advocacy Accelerator conducted amongst advocates, Technical Assistance (TA) providers, and donors active within Africa's advocacy ecosystem.
Knowledge Products
Advocates have managed to pivot even with minimal resources – for instance, most shifted to digital platforms whilst groping in the dark without any training – this in itself speaks to the reality that conducting health and development advocacy is a never-ending task and advocates remain active and agile.
Many TA providers have been able to adapt and adjust to alternative engagement pathways in order to provide services to advocates, and many TAs employed new ways of strengthening advocates' coping mechanisms to ensure they could continue their work.