Voices from the Frontline of Covid-19

This report synthesises 50 'Voices from the Frontline' stories from June 2020 to October 2021, documenting how local communities in Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean coped with the compounding effects of Covid-19, climate change, and socioeconomic vulnerability. It examines these experiences through the lens of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting grassroots resilience and the need for external actors to support locally-led solutions.

• The Covid-19 pandemic caused the first increase in global poverty in decades, with World Bank estimates suggesting it could add 88-115 million people to the ranks of the extreme poor by 2021.
• Community-led food security initiatives emerged as a response to job losses and lockdown-induced shortages, including the creation of 'kitchen gardens' in Colombia and Kenya, and 'Community Grain Banks' in Uttar Pradesh, India, which support over 6,000 farming families.
• Marginalised communities faced severe healthcare gaps during the pandemic, including a lack of official health education in slums like Rafiq Nagar in Mumbai and obsolete infrastructure in Maasai areas of Kenya.
• The pandemic exacerbated gender-based violence and discrimination, leading to a 'Shadow Pandemic' characterized by increased domestic violence and a rise in early marriages in places like Maddu, Uganda, where daughters were married off for dowry payments during economic hardship.
• Grassroots sanitation and hygiene efforts included the construction of improved toilets in Kabulasoke, Uganda, and the production of soaps and hand gels by youth and women's groups in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Uganda.
• Economic resilience was fostered through livelihood diversification and digital innovation, such as fishers in the Philippines shifting to seaweed farming and entrepreneurs in Indonesia and Bangladesh using WhatsApp and internet-based ordering to maintain sales.
• Climate extremes continued to intensify during the pandemic, creating compounded risks; for example, Super-Cyclone Amphan in Satkhira, Bangladesh, and heavy monsoon floods in Guwahati, India, occurred while residents were under Covid-19 lockdowns.
• Community-based financial mechanisms, such as Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) groups, profit-sharing microfinance, and crowd-funding via Kiva, provided critical survival funds and capital for micro-enterprises.
• Successful partnerships for service delivery were established between community activists and government officials in India to track patients and distribute food, though some regions in Bangladesh and Fiji experienced government non-cooperation.
• The report recommends that external actors devolve decision-making to the local level, support women's and youth organisations, and provide concessional finance to help the poorest rebuild housing and sanitation facilities to withstand future climate events.

APA

Dupar, M., & Mannan, S. (2021). Voices from the Frontline of Covid-19. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://test.cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2021-12/Voices-from-the-Frontline-of-Covid-full-synthesis-report-WEB.pdf

Chicago

Dupar, Mairi, and Shahrin Mannan. Voices from the Frontline of Covid-19. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2021. https://test.cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2021-12/Voices-from-the-Frontline-of-Covid-full-synthesis-report-WEB.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dupar |first1=Mairi |last2=Mannan |first2=Shahrin |title=Voices from the Frontline of Covid-19 |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=2021 |url=https://test.cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2021-12/Voices-from-the-Frontline-of-Covid-full-synthesis-report-WEB.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dupar2021voices, author = {Dupar, Mairi and Mannan, Shahrin}, title = {{Voices from the Frontline of Covid-19}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2021}, url = {https://test.cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2021-12/Voices-from-the-Frontline-of-Covid-full-synthesis-report-WEB.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }