Human & Political Rights

Addressing the Impacts of COVID-19 on Refugee Health

PLOS Medicine This article discusses the disparity in the experience of the pandemic between refugees and citizens and focuses on Syrian refugees. It acknowledges that refugees are often blamed by governments and members of the public for infectious disease epidemics and states that they may experience elevated risks of infectious diseases like COVID-19 through no…

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COVID-19 and Gender-Based Violence: Pandemic Response and Impact on Civil Society in Tunisia

Project on Middle East Political Science This working paper argues that CSOs made progress in combatting violence during the first year of the pandemic due to political openness, a culture of coalitions, and bipartisan support for eliminating violence against women. However, the President’s power grab and subsequent political instability led to a breakdown in coalition…

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Vaccine Apartheid and Settler Colonial Sovereign Violence: From Palestine to the Colonial Global Economy

Distinktion Journal of Social Theory This article adopts a decolonial lens to assess the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in Palestine and globally. It challenges the underlying premise being that the advanced, wealthy, and capable nation-states have endogenously earned the position of power and prosperity and that the world’s poor nation-states are posited as the…

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COVID-19 Responses in the Middle East and North Africa in Global Perspective

Project on Middle East Political Science This article studies the nature of the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), exploring both within-region diversity and between-region variation. It concludes that while the MENA region as a whole is broadly similar to other parts of the world in its…

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Syndromic Surveillance of Respiratory Infections during Protracted Conflict: Experiences from Northern Syria 2016-2021

International Journal of Infectious Diseases This article investigates the trends of Early Warning and Response Network (EWARN) reported ILI (influenza-like illness) and SARI (severe acute respiratory illness) in northern Syria between 2016 and 2021 and the potential impact of SARS-CoV-2. Journal Article

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COVID-19 in the MENA: An Exploration of Gender Sensitive State Responses

Project on Middle East Political Science This article describes how women in the formal sector of MENA economies have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Authors focus on 3 MENA countries and explore the gendered impacts of the pandemic. Working Paper

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COVID Data Differences in Israel/East Jerusalem Reflect ‘Medical Apartheid’

Mondoweiss The article provides COVID-19 data in Palestine and Israel in a tabular form. It studies the pandemic through aspects of military occupation, structural impoverishment, limited mobility and a blockade for the 15th year in Gaza. Article

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Tunisia: COVID-19 Vaccines and Access to Health in Rural Tunisia

Amnesty International Amnesty International reports on many barriers preventing residents from getting their vaccines in a mountainous area by the Tunisian-Algerian border where the organization has conducted field research. They say that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weakness of right to health protections in Tunisia and particularly when it came to vaccine rollout programs and…

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Iraq Pulse: Unrest amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Arab Barometer This article describes the results of surveying Iraqi attitudes vis-à-vis living conditions and other metrics amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this survey display public discontent over political life, dissatisfaction with education and health systems and economic performances, and concerns about civil liberties. Article

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Dyadic Analysis of Fragile Middle Eastern States and Humanitarian Implications of Restrictive COVID-19 Policies

Middle East Law and Governance Journal This article compares the policies implemented by various Middle Eastern countries to contain the spread of COVID-19. Journal Article

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