In dire need of protection of life: The dynamics between health and security during the Covid19 pandemic in conflict-affected territories in Colombia

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Solveig Richter
• Subject Area: Political Science ; Empirical Social Research ; Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology ; Ecology of Land Use
• Term: from 2021 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 468426775

The Covid19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of populations in the fragile, conflict-ridden countries in the Global South, specifically in rural areas that are often characterized by an absence of basic health infrastructure and widespread state neglect in service and security provision. However, we hardly have any knowledge about the strategies of non-state actors in these areas to cope with (or even profit from) the effects of the Covid19 pandemic, be it local communities, indigenous and ethnic groups or armed actors. Colombia is a case in point: The peace agreement with the biggest rebel group FARC-EP in 2016 enshrined comprehensive prescriptions to address root causes of the conflict, most importantly rural development in order to achieve territorial peace. Yet, the Covid19 pandemic hit a highly vulnerable country, for two reasons: Firstly, the demobilization of the FARC-EP left a power vacuum which the Colombian state was not able to fill resulting in further erosion of public order and a dispersion of non-state armed groups. Secondly, the Colombian state has also not yet delivered its promises in the peace agreement with regard to rural development e.g., in health infrastructure and health systems (such as access to water, health access points). Thus, due to long-term state neglect many conflict-affected communities during the Covid19 pandemic faced a double challenge for protecting their life from health and security risks. The research project will thus ask: How can we explain differing local dynamics of health and security protection in rural areas and which strategies have proven effective and conductive for the ongoing peace process? The projects will analyse the effects of the Covid19 pandemic on the reconfiguration of territorial order after the peace agreement and the strategies of non-state actors to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus. From a first initial observation we can find a broad variety of strategies, ranging from strict confinement measures by armed dissident groups to traditional community protection by indigenous groups and self-organized health networks in remote areas. We will acquire original data by applying a mixed-methods approach and compare the effects of the Covid19 pandemic with regard to other countries in the Global South and in a long-term perspective in Colombia by modelling our results. Our research project will thus considerably contribute to the academic and political discussion on strategies of health and security protection in rural areas during the Covid19 pandemic, a widespread phenomenon in countries of the Global South. The one-year research project will be embedded in ongoing interdisciplinary research projects at the University of Leipzig (Heisenberg programme), the Javeriana and Rosario and will profit from existing research collaboration with the CAPAZ research network (the German-Colombian Peace Institute).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Colombia
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Stefan Peters
• International Co-Applicants: Laura Camila Barrios Sabogal; Dr. Pablo Andres Ramos