Community Violence Reduction Adaptations During COVID-19

In contexts such as CAR and Mali, this has included sensitization and risk communication with conflict-affected communities, as well as the production of personal protective equipment (PPE). The repurposing of CVR has also allowed for the implementation of quick impact projects towards the health response, leveraging the capacities of ex-combatants and community members in building critical health and sanitation infrastructure such as water wells and isolation centers. In addition to using COVID-19 as an opportunity to strengthen social cohesion and reduce violence in the short term, another guiding principle of DDR-CVR interventions was to ensure sustainability in the long term. Missions such as MINUSCA designed convertible projects from the outset. For example, the COVID-19 screening and isolation centers built during the crisis could be converted to maternity halls to enhance the capacity of local health facilities; maintaining the wells in a post-COVID community could contribute to the reduction of intercommunal conflicts that often emerge due to competition over scares resource; and the health check-points established at the Cameroon border will eventually be turned into border control facilities further strengthening national security capacities. Lastly, through their support to national authorities in COVID-19 response, new entry points for DDR components and how they engage with armed groups and communities have emerged. In particular, components were able to leverage the apolitical nature of the health emergency as an opportunity for confidence-building and cooperation between parties to the conflict. Similarly, some components stepped up their good offices function during the pandemic to negotiate (at the local level) for temporary cessation of hostilities.