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New article published: “Social Protection in COVID-19 Responses”

28 May 2020

School of Law alumnus publishes new article examining the right to social protection in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa in the context of COVID-19.

Kiconco Katabaazi Patrick, an alumnus of the School of Law’s LLM programme in International Human Rights Law and Public Policy and former Irish Aid Fellow has published a timely and relevant article in LawAfrica, the principal legal information provider in Africa.

The impacts of the on-going COVID-19 crisis continue to be felt around the world. The World Bank’s recent Africa Pulse report found that COVID-19 is likely to drive sub-Saharan Africa into its first recession in 25 years.  This will in turn likely push millions of households into extreme poverty and vulnerability. This paper argues that the strategic response to the COVID-19 pandemic should include the mobilisation of effective social protection systems, but notes that such systems are often inadequate in size and coverage in sub-Saharan African countries. 

The paper examines the current state interventions that have been taken to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 using the social protection system in Uganda in comparison to Kenya and South Africa, and considers the impact of using a legal framework to support the right to social protection in light of COVID-19.

Commenting on his article, Kiconco Katabaazi Patrick said:

“I undertook this research to highlight the right to social protection and why this right needs to be upheld by States in planning and implementation of COVID-19 pandemic responses.

This is important because social protection is recognised world over as an effective intervention capable of safeguarding people against socioeconomic risks, vulnerability and poverty. Social protection interventions are critical right now to address challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic such as loss of jobs, livelihoods and the eminent threat of hunger/starvation particularly in developing countries.

This research is intended to reemphasize the need to create or strengthen legal and policy frameworks to ensure predicability and sustainability of social protection interventions in Africa using the case studies from Uganda, Kenya and South Africa”.

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