COVID-19 in Kenya: Global Health, Human Rights and the State in a time of a Pandemic

Project Period

August 2020 - February 2021

Photo credit: Hope Raisers Initiative 

A collaborative research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting impact on the lives of Kenyans. The pandemic has tested the resilience of the human spirit, our health systems and legal instruments. As part of our response to the pandemic, it is important to review, analyze and document the impact of the pandemic on the mwananchi (ordinary citizen) through a human rights lens.

The project focuses on three key factors for development: human rights resilience, public health and social change, and global governance and state formation. Through this work, we will document the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from both academic and journalistic perspectives, offering an opportunity for the voices of residents of informal settlements, who are arguably most affected by the pandemic, to be heard. We will employ a mixed methods, interdisciplinary approach, combining legal-doctrinal analysis with public health and social science disciplines. The project outputs will include webinars, briefs, academic papers, documentary film and a comic.

This research project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It is led by Prof. John Harrington, Professor of Global Health, Cardiff Law School and Cardiff Law and Global Justice in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, Senior Research Scientist and Head of the Maternal and Child Wellbeing Unit at APHRC, Christine Nkonge, Executive Director at Katiba Institute.  Other key contributors include James Smart, Journalist and Producer, Prof. Jill Cotrell Ghai, David Osogo, Hilda Owii, Florence Sipalla and David Ngira.

APHRC is partnering with Cardiff Law and Global Justice at Cardiff University, Katiba Institute and Tazama World Media who will produce a documentary about the project.