The Challenges of COVID in Areas of Conflict with Jocelyn Kelly

Jocelyn Kelly is the founding director for Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s (HHI) Women in War program, and currently is a fellow at HHI where she designs and implements projects to examine issues relating to gender, peace, and security in fragile states. Kelly has been conducting health-related research using qualitative and quantitative research methods for over eight years both in national and international settings. She has given briefings related to gender and security to the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. State Department, USAID, the World Bank, OFDA, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Prior to joining HHI, Jocelyn worked as an Emergency Management Specialist in Hurricane Katrina-affected areas and acted as a liaison to the FEMA Public Assistance Chief in Louisiana. Kelly's international work has focused on understanding the health needs of vulnerable populations in Eastern and Central Africa and has included working with the Uganda Human Rights commission to launch the first office in Africa promoting the Right to Health.

Stephen and Jocelyn explored the challenges of COVID in conflict zones including increased violence, lack of access to care and disruption of community. Jocelyn discussed her research on the effect of COVID on interpersonal violence as well as escalating overall violence in conflict zones. Stephen and Jocelyn reflected on the encouraging resilience that people have demonstrated including the creation of microeconomies that included mask making. They finish their discussion on the global responsibilities to provide care and resources to these underserved and marginalised areas.

Jocelyn discussed specific links to her work that include more details on her research as well as more information about the Harvard Humanitarian initiative and related projects.

https://hhi.harvard.edu

https://www.resource-fulempowerment.com

https://www.jocelynkellyresearch.com