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

自从新型冠状病毒袭击世界各地的国家和社区以来，全球的反应包括严格的封锁和社会距离措施。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。但是，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，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？他们准备从事犯罪吗？如果是，他们准备从事什么类型的犯罪活动？在新冠肺炎期间和之后，政府可以立即采取什么行动来支持街头小贩？我们的项目汇集了一支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。街头小贩是尼日利亚非正规经济的最重要表现，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服务交换谋生。许多人与恶劣的卫生条件、疾病、经济困难、药物滥用、卖淫、身体虐待和性虐待作斗争--自新冠肺炎开始以来，所有这些都变得更加严重。尽管FG最近采取行动放松封锁和社会距离限制，但继续禁止街头贩卖实际上威胁到了这些非正规工人的生活和生计。响应UKRI GCRF/牛顿基金的呼吁，我们的项目将为尼日利亚最贫穷和最脆弱的人面临的最紧迫的社会经济困难提供新的见解。我们将重点关注新冠肺炎封锁和社会疏远措施如何加剧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性(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对政府和政策制定者可以采取哪些措施紧急援助他们的看法。使用定性研究方法，我们为期18个月的项目将通过深入采访街头小贩对新冠肺炎被封锁的经历和反应，以及三个旨在与政府代表、政策制定者和街头小贩本身共同制作新证据的研讨会活动，对政府政策产生持久影响。我们项目的发现将提供可操作的知识，以帮助FG更好地了解和应对新冠肺炎疫情以及围绕创造就业、预防犯罪和为社会中贫困和最弱势群体提供社会保护的更广泛关切。

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.