GCRF_NF119 Poverty, vulnerability and crime: What does COVID-19 mean for Nigerian street vendors?

自新型冠状病毒袭击世界各国和社区以来，全球应对措施包括严格的封锁和社交距离措施。尼日利亚联邦政府在很大程度上复制了这些措施，并在全国范围内无限期禁止街头贩卖。但考虑到这些措施对数百万尼日利亚街头小贩造成的毁灭性影响，这些措施的可持续性如何？全面禁止街头贩卖是正确的做法吗？街头小贩是如何应对的？他们是否准备参与犯罪，如果是，是什么类型的犯罪活动？在2019冠状病毒病期间和之后，政府可以立即采取哪些行动来支持街头摊贩？我们的项目汇集了一个雄心勃勃的英国和尼日利亚研究人员团队，与尼日利亚联邦司法部合作，寻求为这些关键问题提供紧急解决方案。街头贩卖是尼日利亚非正规经济的主要表现形式，占该国城市就业的70%以上。商贩在公共场所出售各种各样的商品和服务，并通过日常货币交易或以物易物的方式交换服务来谋生。许多人都在与卫生条件差、疾病、经济困难、吸毒、卖淫、身体和性虐待作斗争——自2019冠状病毒病爆发以来，所有这些问题都加剧了。尽管FG最近采取措施放松封锁和社交距离限制，但继续禁止街头贩卖实际上威胁到这些非正规工人的生命和生计。响应UKRI GCRF/牛顿基金的呼吁，我们的项目将为尼日利亚最贫困和最脆弱人群面临的最紧迫的社会经济困难提供新的见解。我们将重点关注2019冠状病毒病封锁和社交距离措施如何恶化尼日利亚街头小贩的社会经济困境（例如，失去收入和饥饿）、他们的应对策略以及他们对犯罪的易感程度（例如，入室盗窃、卖淫和非法毒品交易）。我们还将探讨街头小贩的观点，即政府和政策制定者可以做些什么来紧急援助他们。我们为期18个月的项目将采用定性研究方法，通过深入采访街头摊贩对COVID-19封锁的经历和反应，以及与政府代表、政策制定者和街头摊贩一起举办的旨在创造新的共同制作证据的三个研讨会活动，对政府政策产生持久影响。我们项目的研究成果将提供可操作的知识，帮助联邦政府更好地了解和应对2019冠状病毒病疫情，以及在创造就业、预防犯罪和为社会中最贫困和最弱势群体提供社会保护方面的更广泛关切。

Since the novel coronavirus hit countries and communities around the world, the global response has included strict lockdown and social distancing measures. The Nigerian Federal Government (FG) has largely copied these measures and imposed an indefinite ban on street vending across the country. But how sustainable are these measures given their devastating effects on millions of Nigerian street vendors? Is a total ban on street vending the right approach? How are street vendors coping? Are they prepared to engage in crime, and if so, what types of criminal activity? What immediate actions can government take to support street vendors during and beyond COVID-19? Bringing together an ambitious team of UK- and Nigeria-based researchers, working in partnership with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Justice, our project seeks to provide urgent solutions to these critical questions.Street vending is the foremost manifestation of Nigeria's informal economy, accounting for over 70% of the country's urban employment. The vendors offer a wide range of goods and services for sale in public spaces and earn a living either through daily monetary transactions or the exchange of services through bartering. Many battle poor hygiene, diseases, economic hardship, drug abuse, prostitution, physical and sexual abuse - all of which have worsened since the onset of COVID-19. Despite recent FG's move to ease lockdown and social distancing restrictions, the continued ban on street vending in fact threatens the lives and livelihoods of these informal workers.Responding to the UKRI GCRF/Newton Fund call, our project will provide new insights on the most pressing socioeconomic difficulties facing the poorest and most vulnerable people in Nigeria. We will focus on how COVID-19 lockdown and social distancing measures have worsened the socioeconomic plights of Nigerian street vendors (e.g., loss of income and hunger), their coping strategies, as well as their susceptibility to crime (e.g., burglary, prostitution and illegal drugs trade). We will also explore street vendors' perspective on what government and policymakers can do to assist them urgently. Using a qualitative research approach, our 18-month project will achieve lasting impact on government policy through in-depth interviews on street vendors' experiences and reactions to COVID-19 lockdown, and also three workshop events aimed at creating new co-produced evidence alongside government representatives, policymakers and street vendors themselves. Findings from our project will provide actionable knowledge to help improve the FG's understanding of, and response to, the COVID-19 outbreak and wider concerns around job creation, crime prevention and social protection for the poor and most vulnerable in society.