ABVPI in time of COVID-19

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• ABVPI in time of COVID-19 – (Advocacy)

Description

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent extended lockdown has been more than the health and wellbeing of those in living South Africa; with many in positions of increased vulnerability such as through the loss of income and livelihoods. The dual impact of deepening  risk factors which contribute to violence and crime and the reduction or removal of protective factors means that more people in South Africa might be experiencing and/or perpetuating violence and crime. Despite this, the pandemic has also reinvigorated a sense of solidarity and empathy, which is evident in the stronger emphasis on communities, clearer focus on key issues like gender-based violence (GBV) and the efforts to capacitate those leading engagements and change. The effects of COVID-19 and the lockdown are unknown and likely long lasting. In the unprecedented context of COVID-19 and as we look forward,  area-based violence prevention interventions offer a unique resource for violence prevention and building safer cities. 

This Practice Brief draws on the presentations and discussion at the webinar 'Area-Based Violence Prevention in a time of COVID-19', held on 24 March 2021. The webinar, which brought together representatives from national, provincial and local government and  civil society organisations, was convened by Isandla Institute as an implementation partner of the Safer Places: Resilient Institutions and Neighbourhoods Together (SPRINT) project.