Community engagement and community-led approaches have been considered a fundamental
component of past pandemics, such as Ebola, and the same has been observed in the response
to the Covid-19 pandemic, especially for reaching the most vulnerable. There is a large and growing literature base on community-led innovations in general, to which
literature reflecting on Covid-19 responses is increasingly contributing to. This rapid literature
review draws on a range of academic and NGO sources. First, Section 2 briefly explores what is
meant by “community-led innovations”, as community-led is a loosely defined term that can take
on a variety of meanings. Section 3 provides some examples of community-led innovations and
actions from across a variety of contexts, including high-, middle- and low-income countries.
Given the scale and scope of the subject, these only provide a small snapshot of community-led
initiatives that have taken place in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Section 4 summarises the key
common features and trends across examples. Section 5 summarises some general lessons and
success factors identified in the examples and literature, building on the findings from Section 4.
Funding
Department for International Development, UK Government
History
Publisher
Institute of Development Studies
Citation
Price, R.A. (2022) Community-Led Innovations and Actions in Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic, Covid Collective Phase 2 Helpdesk Report No. 1, Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, DOI: 10.19088/CC.2022.005