Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes

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Psychological Distress One Year into the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from the Fifth Round of the Household High-Frequency Monitoring Survey (HFS) in Sudan
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-06) Farfán, Gabriela; Gayoso de Ervin, Lyliana; Osman, Eiman; Aziz, Azza Ahmed Abdel
The outbreak of COVID-19 coincided with a period of significant economic, social, and political challenges in Sudan. The most significant of these were related to the recent establishment of a transitional government in August 2019 after the fall of the ruling regime due to the revolution that started in December 2018 and succeeded in toppling the government in April 2019. But the optimism around the political developments were accompanied by marked fluctuations in the economy that were further exacerbated by the pandemic. Between March 2020 (the first wave of the pandemic) and June 2021 (the time of this survey) inflation went from 81.64 percent to 412.75 percent, and the Sudanese pound severely depreciated. While the government introduced a package of reforms aiming at restoring macro-economic stability, soaring commodity prices and shortages of power and fuel, are some of the economic challenges that fueled social and political unrest during this period. The first COVID-19 case in Sudan was confirmed on March 13 of 2020, and soon after, cases started to increase. As in many developing countries, evidence suggests that COVID-19 exposure was significantly more prevalent than that indicated by officially reported cases. The speed of propagation of the coronavirus and the uncertainty around how to prevent it led to the implementation of different preventive and control measures in the first quarter of 2020, including restrictions on activities and the promotion of preventative health measures. 3,4 The government implemented two lockdowns aiming to restrict mobility. The first lockdown implemented from March to June 2020 was strict. Initially it only allowed activity until 10am, and it gradually extended to 1pm and eventually to 6pm. The second lockdown (September - December) was more lax. Furthermore, adherence to the timeframes set by the government was highly correlated with socio-economic status. Middle-class segments of Sudanese society were able to comply more readily than their less economically privileged counterparts. As a result, only the major thoroughfares were empty. In contrast, gatherings, public prayers, social life, and market congregations were largely maintained in neighborhoods of lower socioeconomic status.
Somalia: COVID-19 High Phone Survey Wave 2 Brief
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11) Kotikula, Andy; Pournik, Milad; Yoshimura, Kazusa
In January 2021, the second wave of the Somalia high frequency phone survey has been administered, calling 2,811 households to see the impact of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on people’s behavior and livelihood. The first wave has been conducted in June 2020, and compared to that, the adoption of preventive measures such as washing hands and wearing mask was less widespread in the second wave, while over 90 percent of people expressed interest in getting tested and vaccinated. The overall employment rate seems to have improved from the first wave, but still the majority of households (79 percent) reported the further income reduction. Food insecurity has clearly worsened compared to the first wave while government and non-government assistance appears to have reduced greatly since 2020, which strongly suggests the need of further support to the Somalis, especially the most vulnerable groups including internally displaced populations (IDPs) and nomadic households.
Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 on Households in Somalia: Results from Round 1 of the Somali High-Frequency Phone Survey
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10-01) Karamba, Wendy; Salcher, Isabelle
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its effects on households create an urgent need for timely data and evidence to help monitor and mitigate the social and economic impacts of the crisis on the Somali people, especially the poor and most vulnerable. To monitor the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and inform policy responses and interventions, the World Bank designed and conducted a nationally representative Somali High-Frequency Phone Survey (SHFPS) of households. The survey covers important and relevant topics, including knowledge of COVID-19 and adoption of preventative behavior, economic activity and income sources, access to basic goods and services, exposure to shocks and coping mechanisms, and access to social assistance. This brief summarizes the findings of the first round of the SHFPS, implemented between June and July 2020. The information presented here is based on a sample of 2,811 households across all regions of Somalia, drawn using a random digit dialing protocol. Sampling weights are computed to ensure representativeness at the national and state level, and by population type. The same households will be tracked over 12 months, with selected respondents—typically the household head—completing interviews every 8-12 weeks. Monitoring the well-being of households over time will improve understanding of the effects of, and household responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in near-real time.
One Year in the Pandemic: Results from the High-Frequency Phone Surveys for Refugees in Uganda
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06-28) Atamanov, Aziz; Reese, Benjamin Christopher; Rios Rivera, Laura Abril; Waita, Peter
The URHFPS tracks the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on refugees. The World Bank (WB) in collaboration with the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched and conducted the URHFPS. The URHFPS tracked the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic between October 2020 and March 2021. This brief discusses key selected results while providing policy options. Where possible and appropriate, findings are compared to Ugandans by using the national High-Frequency Phone Survey (UHFPS) conducted by UBOS with the support from the World Bank since June 2020.
Monitoring the Impact of COVID-19 on Firms in Zambia: Results from Two Rounds of World Bank Enterprise Survey Follow-ups on COVID-19
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05) Finn, Arden; Ayana, Gemechu A.; Kanagavel, Rajee
The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its negative economic effects create a need for timely data and evidence to help monitor and mitigate the social and economic impacts of the crisis. To monitor the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures on formal firms in Zambia and to inform the policy response, the World Bank is implementing several rounds of phone-based surveys of firms. The surveys in Zambia are follow-ons from the baseline enterprise survey that was conducted in Zambia immediately prior to the pandemic. These phone surveys allow for a better understanding of the effects of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic on firm operations, hiring and firing, and expectations of future operations and labor demand in order to better tailor and implement interventions and policy responses and monitor their effects. This note summarizes the results of round 2 (R2) of the survey, conducted between December 19, 2020 and February 18, 2021. The information presented in this report is based on the sample of 570 firms that responded to both round 1 (R1) and round 2 (R2) surveys.
Impact of COVID-19 on Learning: Evidence from Six Sub-Saharan African Countries
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05) Dang, Hai-Anh; Zezza, Alberto; Abanokova, Kseniya
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc upon global learning, with many countries facing severe school disruptions and closures. An emerging literature based on household survey data points to the pandemic as having exacerbated inequalities in education and learning in countries from Italy to Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This brief offers new analysis on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning outcomes for six sub-Saharan African countries. The authors analyze detailed household level data from several rounds of panel phone surveys collected by the World Bank in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda. These surveys were first implemented between late April and early June 2020, after school closures due to the pandemic. In each survey round, the surveyed households were asked a set of core questions on topics such as knowledge of COVID and mitigation measures, access to educational activities during school closures, dynamics of employment, household income and livelihood, income loss and coping strategies, and received assistance.O
COVID-19 Impact Monitoring at the Household Level: Burkina Faso, Brief No. 7
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03) Tsimpo Nkengne, Clarence; Tiberti, Marco; Backiny-Yetna, Prospere R.; Costantini, Marco; Koncobo, Zakaria; Tiendrebeogo, Adama
This note presents the results of the seventh round of a nationally representative telephone survey (HFPS). The BFA Covid-19 (coronavirus) HFPS - Round 7 was administered between February 12 and March 2, 2021. The following modules were administered during the 7th visit: Access to basic services; Employment and income; Food Safety; Mental health, and Social protection. In addition to the 1985 households successfully interviewed in the sixth round, in an effort to maintain sample size, additional 47 households that had not been successfully interviewed in previous rounds but did not refuse to participate in the survey were called in this seventh round. 18 households were excluded from the sample as they refused to participate in Round 6, and 21 were excluded as they weren’t contacted in the past three consecutive rounds. 1994 households (98.13 percent of the 2,032 attempted) were contacted and 1,979 (97.39 percent) were successfully interviewed. 13 households refused outright to be interviewed. For the sake of simplicity, this note focuses on modules related to mental health, employment dynamics, and social protection.
Barriers to Accessing Medical Care in Sub-Saharan Africa in Early Stages of COVID-19 Pandemic
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03) Swindle, Rachel; Newhouse, David
Eighty-two percent of respondents in a sample of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries were able to access medical care despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the remaining 18 percent, about one-third reported that the COVID-19 pandemic impaired their access, either due to lockdown restrictions, facility closures, or fear of contracting the virus. 'Lack of money' was by far the most frequently reported barrier to accessing care across countries, especially for food-insecure households, two-thirds of which cited 'lack of money' as the main healthcare access constraint. Continued monitoring can help shed light on who is most at risk of not being able to access healthcare during crises. This note makes use of newly harmonized data to summarize reasons why respondents in 11 SSA countries were unable to access medical care during early COVID-19 stages.
COVID-19 Impact Monitoring at the Household Level: Burkina Faso, Brief No. 5
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-01) Tsimpo Nkengne, Clarence; Tiberti, Marco; Backiny-Yetna, Prospere R.; Costantini, Marco; Koncobo, Zakaria; Tiendrebeogo, Adama
This note presents the results of the fifth round of a nationally re presentative telephone survey ( HFPS). Data collection took place between December 9 and December 30,2020. In addition to the 2,011 households successfully interviewed in the fourth round, in an effort to maintain sample size, additional 84 households that had not been successfully interviewed in previous rounds but did not ref use to participate in the survey were called in this fifth round. 9 households were excluded from the sample of Round 5 as they ref used to participate in Round 4. 1,968 households (93.9 4 percent of the 2,095 attempted) w ere contacted and 1,944 (92.79 percent) were successfully interviewed in Round 5. Of those contacted, 24 households ref used outright to be interviewed. The questionnaire includes key modules that had already been administered in previous rounds, namely, access to food and health services, employment and income, and shocks. Major additions were made to the questionnaire: (i) a module on Covid-19 (coronavirus) testing and vaccination; (ii) expansion of the education module to cover the resumption of classes and get an idea of the impact of Covid-19 on school attendance. For the sake of simplicity, this note focuses on these two new themes.
Monitoring COVID-19 Impacts on Firms in Ethiopia, Report No. 9: Firm Closure Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic - A Brief Look at the Evidence from HFPS-F
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-15) Abebe, Girum; Bundervoet, Tom; Wieser, Christina
For the current study, six rounds of the HFPS-F survey are used, mainly focusing on the business closure module from round six. The six rounds are roughly three weeks apart and were implemented between April 15 and September 8, 2020 in Addis Ababa. The sampling strategy is explained in detail in a companion technical note. Six survey briefs highlighting the impact of the pandemic on firms’ operations and labor dynamics are already produced along with two special topic briefs focusing on the gendered difference of the pandemic and how firms were affected by the State of Emergency. The current brief examines firm closure in relation to firms direct or indirect exposure to the social and economic impacts of the pandemic. The good news is that most of the firms that are closed have stopped production or services temporarily with less than 2 percent of firm closures reported to be permanent in R6 (roughly August). The following analysis thus focuses on temporary closures and mostly rely on data from 436 firms, of which 108 were temporarily closed and 328 were open at the time of the R6 survey.