Whose crisis?: The global COVID-19 crisis from the perspective of communities in Africa

新冠肺炎大流行可能会被证明是历史上记录最多的全球大流行。然而，这场大流行的声音主要是由占压倒性多数的富有和有权势的作家在朝鲜发出的，反映了这场危机，尽管影响着整个世界，但经历的方式却截然不同。此外，朝鲜在治理和前线行动方面的回应一直是由朝鲜领导的。该项目解决了代表比例失衡的问题，并将我们的南方合作伙伴集中定位为新冠肺炎危机动荡环境中的变革推动者。在非洲资源匮乏的情况下，“新冠肺炎”很快被称为“富人病”；北方对“新冠肺炎”采取的行动受到限制，贸易受到限制，学校停课，强调检测和治疗“新冠肺炎”，这给本已不堪重负的社会、经济和卫生系统带来了额外的严重压力。这个项目解决了这两个现实的交集和联系：表现和回应。“谁的危机？”该项目将为社会、卫生、经济、政府和公众利益攸关方创建一个平台(国家安全管理局新冠肺炎全球之声中心)和一条了解和交流的途径，为应对行动提供信息。我们的研究问：(1)撒哈拉以南非洲脆弱社区中对新冠肺炎的亲身经历、观点和回应？(2)如何以参与性和协作性的方式分享观点，以动员北方和南方的专业知识、资源和参与？以及(3)在大流行背景下，当非洲未得到充分代表和未得到充分服务的社区在全球卫生方面的声音被放大时，可以实现什么？新冠肺炎可能不会像非洲每年面临的许多其他健康风险那样给非洲人的生命带来同样的风险，但它让人们对所谓的“全球健康”产生了新的关注和关注。新冠肺炎正在强调现有的不平等，并非常明确疾病的生物-社会性质(Gibbon等人，2020年)，其中生物脆弱性是通过社会经济不平等造成的。迫切需要弥合这一复杂性，反映全球人类经历的多样性，并更平衡地理解这一流行病。尽管前线卫生保健是优先事项，但应对流行病健康挑战的努力存在于一个脆弱的生态系统中，特别是在全球南部。缺乏对背景、信仰、传统和文化的理解、当地社区的参与或对国家优先事项的认识，可能会对新冠肺炎产生的卫生干预措施和成果产生负面影响，从而扭曲相关领域的卫生政策、治理和研究(例如，目前普遍实行的“封锁”政策)。研究设计包括准备阶段(1)，以便在基础设施和社区福祉特别脆弱的情况下充分支持这项研究。接下来是以社区为基础和参与性的实地考察阶段(2)以及声音、故事和生活经验的共同管理和传播(3)。真正的参与、创新的方法和复杂的沟通将结合在一起，从道德上关注当前的情况，并为下一步做好准备。因此，该项目建立在现有的非洲可持续未来(SFA)网络所提供的长期伙伴关系、灵活性和快速知识转移的基础上。这项研究需要现在就进行，因为随着全球形势的变化，决策、视角和机会每周都在做出和错失。忽视文化视角和错失向所有人学习的机会的影响，将导致进一步的不公平、错误的政策、错误的资源分配、某些观点的更多主导和对我们经验多样性的更多无知。

The COVID-19 pandemic may prove to be the most documented global pandemic in history. However, the voices of this pandemic are dominated by those generated in the North by an overwhelming minority of wealthy and powerful authors, reflecting on a crisis that, while impacting the whole world, is experienced in vastly different ways. Coupled with this, the responses in governance and frontline action have been led by the North. This project addresses this imbalance of representation and positions our Southern partners centrally as agents of change within the volatile environment of the COVID-19 crisis. Quickly referred to as the "rich man's disease" in resource poor contexts of Africa; the adoption of Northern responses to COVID-19 in terms of restricted mobilities and trade, the closure of schools, and an emphasis on testing and treating COVID-19 is putting additional and critical pressure on already overburdened social, economic and health systems. This project addresses the intersection and connection of these two realities: representation and response. The "Whose Crisis?" project will create a platform (the SFA COVID-19 Global Voices Hub) and a pathway for understanding and exchange for societal, health, economic, government and public stakeholders, to inform responsive action.Our research asks: (1) What are the lived experiences of, perspectives on, and responses to, COVID-19 in vulnerable communities in sub-Saharan Africa?; (2) How can perspectives be shared in participatory and collaborative ways to mobilise Northern and Southern expertise, resources, and engagement?; and (3) What can be achieved when the voices of under-represented and under-served communities in Africa are amplified, in terms of Global Health in a pandemic context? COVID-19 may not present the same risk to life in Africa as many other health risks faced there every year, but it is one that has opened a new shaft of light and level of attention onto what is understood as 'global health'. COVID-19 is highlighting existing inequalities and making very clear the bio-social nature of disease (Gibbon et al 2020) wherein biological vulnerabilities are created through socio-economic inequalities. There is an urgent need to bridge this complexity and reflect the global diversity of human experience and more a balanced understanding of this pandemic.Although frontline health care is a priority, attempts to meet the health challenges of pandemics exist within a fragile ecosystem, particularly in the Global South. A lack of contextual, faith, traditional, and cultural understanding, involvement of local communities or recognition of national priorities can negatively affect health interventions and outcomes that will arise from COVID-19, and thus distort health policy, governance and research in related fields (e.g. the current widespread imposition of "lockdown" policies). The research design consists of a preparation phase (1) to adequately support this research in a time of especially fragile infrastructures and community wellbeing. This is followed by phases of community based and participatory fieldwork (2) and co-curation and dissemination (3) of voices, stories, and lived experiences. Genuine engagement, innovative methods, and sophisticated communications will combine to ethically attend to the current situation as well as prepare for what's next. Thus, this project is built on long standing partnerships, agility, and rapid knowledge transfer afforded by the existing Sustainable Futures in Africa (SFA) network. This research needs to happen now, as decisions, perspectives, and opportunities are being made and missed every week as the global condition shifts. The implications of ignoring cultural perspectives and missing the opportunities to learn from all, will lead to further inequity, misdirected policies, misallocated resources, increased dominance of certain viewpoints and increased ignorance of the plurality of our experiences.