New grants available for research on the impacts of Covid-19 in Bangladesh

Earlier this year, CLEAR commissioned a series of scoping studies and consultations to inform the design of the research agenda for the programme. These focus on what is known about the secondary impacts of Covid-19 in Bangladesh so far, the knowledge gaps that exist and the potential for new research to inform future policy and practice. The scoping studies propose a number of possible research questions that fall broadly under the following themes:

Poverty and vulnerability: Exploring how Covid-19 has impacted livelihoods, health, nutrition, education of the poor and increased vulnerability.

Service delivery, accountability and governance: The effectiveness of state responses in education, health, nutrition, social protection, justice and other sectors to address the social impact of Covid-19 at the national and local levels. How well are the various accountability mechanisms functioning to ensure service delivery, what has been the role of civil society in engaging with the state on accountability gaps, and how have the interactions between citizens and the local government shifted?

Protection of rights: How Covid-19 has impacted vulnerable populations and their rights (workers in export processing zones, informal workers, women, disabled, minorities, migrants) and the measures taken by the state and civil society organisations and social movements to ensure their rights

Innovations: The use of various digital platforms to share information on health, education, justice and other services, and alternative channels/programmes designed for service delivery.

These are provided as guidance to inform possible grant applications, and we recommend you read the papers most relevant to your areas of interest but we also recognise that this is not a definitive list. We welcome suggestions for other research questions that address a different sector, knowledge gap or opportunity.