COVID-19

The current COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a global crisis with short- and long-term implications for health, the economy, and social relations. The negative impacts of the crisis are expected to be more pronounced in developing countries. Therefore, there is an urgent need for policymakers in these countries to monitor the extent of the spread as well as ongoing and future implications. Against this background, G²LM|LIC launched a special call of interest for research on COVID-19 in low-income countries. Relevant Two types of research are needed:

• First, research aiming at collecting data utilizing innovative approaches (e.g., mobile technology, internet, etc.) to give insights on the current status of the pandemic as well as the economic and social impacts of different measures taken by governments to curb the spread of the pandemic.
• Second, innovative research projects with designs that allow for longer-term impact evaluations of the pandemic and measures taken by governments, using wide-range of research methodologies and data sources (e.g., administrative data, publicly available data, private sector data including remote sensing data, online or phone surveys, etc.). These can be new or in addition to existing longitudinal surveys as long as they address the implications of COVID-19.

The research projects aim to focus on vulnerable groups, other than women, e.g. informal workers, migrants, factory workers, etc. The research will provide evidence-based policy recommendations to help in achieving quick policy responses to COVID-19 challenges.