Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and BRAC Institute for Governance and Development (BIGD)
May, 2020

BIGD: Dr Narayan C Das, Dr. Imran Matin Shakil Ahmed, Atiya Rahman, Tahsina Naz Khan, Montajina Tasnim, Nusrat Jahan

PPRC: Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, Mohammad Abdul Wazed, Umama Zillur, Sabrina Miti Gain, Fatema Mohammad, Masudul Haque, Md. Billal Hossain, M. Billah Faruqi, Nurul Momen, Nurul Anwar, Shajadul Islam Shajjad, Ataur Rahman Maruph, Joana Halder

Covid-19, declared a pandemic by WHO on 11 March, 2020,began as a health crisis but has in short order triggered a parallel and unfolding economic crisis with particular consequences for the poor and the vulnerable. Bangladesh has been no exception. The economic crisis triggers have been many –export slowdown, supply chain disruptions, demand contraction, livelihood standstillin formal and informal activities and transactions due to ‘lockdown’ conditions and so on.

With no immediate end in sight, the pandemic and the economic crisis have been engaging social and policy attention in equal measure,though far from in any systematic or assured manner. Early on, social groups and economic lobbies with ‘voice muscle’ have been vociferous in articulating their respective ‘demands’ to overcome the impact of Covid-19. However, an important concern is the poverty impact of Covid-19 and associated restrictions impinging on economic activities and livelihood realities of millions of poor and vulnerable. Such groups unfortunately are also ‘voice poor’ and face obstacles in articulating their needs to policy audiences. In this context, the importance of generating real-time evidence to gauge the extent and dimensions of poverty impact cannot be over-emphasized.

Two established research organizations with strong track records in social engagement and rapid response poverty and governance research—Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and BRAC Institute for Governance and Development (BIGD)—teamed up to launch a rapid response telephonic survey utilizing respondent telephone databases from earlier surveys on urban slums and rural poor.The survey was conceived in the last week of March following an op-ed by Hossain Zillur Rahman of PPRC and his subsequent conversation with Imran Matin of BIGD. Instrument development and implementation strategy was finalized in the first days of April and the survey executed between 4 and 12 April.

Source: https://bigd.bracu.ac.bd/publications/livelihoods-coping-and-support-during-covid-19-crisis-report/