COVID-19 in Chocó, Colombia: Learning from grassroot responses

This policy brief shares insights on the Diocese of Quibdó’s grassroots response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Chocó, Colombia. COVID-19 poses significant challenges to marginalised communities living in fragile contexts, such as Chocó. The pandemic has exposed and deepened preexisting dimensions of fragility for these communities. The brief draws lessons that may be used to inform best practice and future planning in Chocó and other fragile contexts.

The Diocese’s response was developed in partnership with the University of Glasgow and Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) and supported by the Scottish Funding Council – Global Challenges Research Fund. This international partnership combines the deep expertise and local understanding of the Diocese with the skills, knowledge and experience of the University of Glasgow and SCIAF. The partnership developed a programme of interventions in the early phases of the pandemic. The brief draws on the evaluation of this programme to share the following lessons.