04 DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION TESTED AND RESPONSIVE

COVID-19 is an unprecedented test of the development co-operation community and system's ability to react quickly, change gears when priorities shift, move and mobilise resources, and build and sustain a coordinated global response. While a post-mortem may not be possible until the pandemic ends, this chapter examines how bilateral and multilateral actors have adapted so far. It showcases early evidence of innovative, flexible and effective policy and delivery responses and identifies bottlenecks to preparedness, as well as systemic strengths and weaknesses, notably systems for information sharing, planning and co-ordination.