Secondary Impacts of COVID-19: Closing Civic Space in Fragile Contexts

The direct impacts (loss of life) of COVID-19 have been global and well documented. Extreme poverty has risen for the first time in two decades and the impacts on livelihoods and vulnerable or marginalized populations have been distressing and often disproportionate. Most concerningly, countries with poor infrastructure, poor health and education services, and weak democratic institutions have been, arguably, the most vulnerable to both primary and secondary impacts of COVID-19. Within this framework, this brief explores the impact of COVID-19 on civic space in fragile contexts. Information from the UNDP Crisis Bureau’s Crisis Risk Dashboard (CRD) has been used to conduct the data analysis and visualizations presented below.