Paul Von Chamier

Addressing Inequality and Exclusion in the Pandemic’s Aftermath: Insights From Cross-Country Opinion Research

During the first quarter of 2022, signs continued to emerge that suggest the most acute stage of the pandemic is slowly drawing towards its end. COVID-19, a black-swan event that disrupted the world, brought into sharp focus systemic issues surrounding inequality and exclusion that well predated 2020.

Linkages between Inequality, Exclusion, and the Occurrence of Elections with Protest Activity Against Governments

An analysis of protest activity across 24 countries reveals that worsening metrics of inequality and exclusion are linked with higher rates of anti-government protests.There is ample research on the correlation between inequality and exclusion on one side and conflict on the other.

A “Hidden Front” in the Battle Against COVID-19: How Behavioral Data is Helping Contain the Pandemic and Improve Policy

COVID-19 has provided a sharp reminder of the key role citizens’ perceptions and attitudes play in shaping the outcomes of public policy. This experience is changing the way governments use data to combat the pandemic and set priorities for the recovery.

From Regressive Subsidies to Progressive Redistribution: The Role of Redistribution and Recognition in Energy Subsidy Reform

Energy subsidies are one of the few domains where there is a near full-throated consensus among progressives, governments, and economists over the need for reform. In this paper, we argue that the Pathfinders' "Recognition and Redistribution" framework provides some important clues about better ways to manage energy subsidy reform while avoiding or minimizing the risk of anti-government protests.

From Rhetoric to Action: Delivering Equality & Inclusion

The flagship report of the Pathfinders Grand Challenge on Inequality and Exclusion is about the solutions that will deliver equality and inclusion. It is the culmination of several years of research and mobilization undertaken by a unique partnership of ten countries, the United Nations, the World Bank, the OECD, Oxfam, and CIVICUS, along with numerous partners and international experts. The report constructs a bridge between the rhetoric of “build back better” and action: a bridge between promise and progress.

Restoring Civic Trust in the Post-Pandemic Era

We are still engaged in a race against time of increasing urgency, not only in terms of flattening the pandemic curve in situations such as those India and many Latin American countries face, but also in restoring trust that government and international institutions can act, and act successfully, in face of 21st century crises. This analysis from the CIC team looks at what empirical research says about why trust matters for many different forms of political, social, and economic development—and why we should take declining trust seriously.

UK struggled to contain Covid pandemic due to rife inequalities, report suggests

Paul Von Chamier

Inequality, Lockdown, and COVID-19: Unequal Societies Struggle to Contain the Virus

This new research from CIC sought to understand if pre-existing systemic inequities could be linked to higher COVID-19 infection rates, examining infection rates in 70 countries from mid-March 2020 through early August 2020, or what is widely seen as the first 21 weeks of the pandemic.

UN Senior Appointments: Looking Back at 2020

Paul Von Chamier

Are We Facing a Wave of Conflict in High-income Countries?

The recent wave of violent protests and unrest across the developed world – the storming of the US Capitol during the electoral college process and the riots in the Netherlands, among others – questions the assumption that high-income countries have become immune to large-scale internal political violence. Are we facing a new wave of high-income conflict? This analysis examines whether these recent events augur a wider shift in conflict risk to high-income countries, akin to the shift seen from low to middle-income countries 20 years ago.