Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Altai Consulting has been requested by several of its clients to conduct research on the impact of the pandemic on populations and how to mitigate its effects and support a sustainable economic recovery. In Uganda, Altai has analysed the potential impact of lock-downs on the population. Leveraging existing datasets on livelihoods and financial resources of Ugandans, Altai has developed a model to estimate the financial impact of a lock-down on different population segments, looking at how many days certain people could survive such a measure. Then the usage of financial services was examined to make recommendations on which channels the Ugandan government could use to support the population with money transfers.

 

In Moldova, Altai has conducted for UNICEF a series of assessments on the impact of the pandemic on households with children. The research looked at the financial impact on households, but also the impact on children’s nutrition, access to health services, education and overall well-being. Given the importance of international remittances for many Moldovan households, the research looked at the differentiated impact of the pandemic for households receiving and not receiving remittances. The first assessment was followed by a second one a year later to measure the lasting impact of the pandemic and measure the recovery trends for different population segments (households receiving and not receiving remittances, households with children with disabilities, Roma households, etc.). The first assessment is available here.