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地的国家和社区以来，全球的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（FG）基本上复制了这些措施，并在全国范围内无限期禁止街头贩卖。但是，考虑到这些措施对数百万尼日利亚街头小贩的破坏性影响，它们的可持续性如何？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？他们是否准备从事犯罪，如果是，是什么类型的犯罪活动？在COVID-19期间和之后，政府可以立即采取哪些行动来支持街头小贩？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，旨在为这些关键问题提供紧急解决方案。街头小贩是尼日利亚非正规经济的最主要表现形式，占该国城市就业的70%以上。供应商在公共场所提供各种各样的商品和服务供销售，并通过日常货币交易或通过易货交换服务来谋生。许多人与恶劣的卫生条件、疾病、经济困难、吸毒、卖淫、身体和性虐待作斗争--所有这些自COVID-19爆发以来都有所恶化。尽管最近FG采取了放松封锁和社交距离限制的举措，但街头贩卖的持续禁令实际上威胁到了这些非正规工人的生活和生计。响应UKRI GCRF/Newton Fund的呼吁，我们的项目将为尼日利亚最贫困和最弱势人群面临的最紧迫的社会经济困难提供新的见解。我们将专注于COVID-19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，收入损失和饥饿），他们的应对策略，以及他们对犯罪的敏感性（例如，盗窃、卖淫和非法毒品交易）。我们还将探讨街头小贩对政府和政策制定者可以做些什么来紧急帮助他们的看法。 我们的项目为期18个月，采用定性研究方法，通过深入采访街头小贩对COVID-19封锁的经历和反应，以及三个研讨会活动，旨在与政府代表、政策制定者和街头小贩一起创造新的共同证据，对政府政策产生持久影响。我们项目的调查结果将提供可操作的知识，以帮助改善FG对COVID-19爆发的理解和应对，以及对创造就业机会、预防犯罪和为社会中的穷人和最弱势群体提供社会保障的更广泛关注。

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.