Project Internship: Resilience During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Malawi
About the Resiliency Project
The Survive, Thrive, or Deprive? Drivers and Outcomes of Resilience During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Malawi (also called Resiliency) project examines why some individuals and communities respond better than others to crises, and the longer-term effects of crises on governance and welfare. Examining community governance in Malawi during the Covid pandemic, it aims to answer three questions:
1. What explains when and how communities implement and enforce policies to mitigate the pandemic's negative effects? When/why does this impact poverty and inequality?
2. How do community factors and individuals' characteristics affect how individuals manage crises?
3. How has the pandemic altered community social ties and authority?
Research Implementation
To answer these questions, we are drawing on previous findings relating to resilience, public health, and governance, and leverage unique panel data and case studies from Malawi. The panel data includes face-to-face (F2F) surveys with households and elites conducted in 2019 before the pandemic, three telephone surveys conducted during the pandemic, and a post-pandemic F2F survey. As one of the poorest populations in the world, with clearly defined and gendered local authority structures, Malawi is particularly well-suited to provide crisis response insights at individual and community levels. Moreover, the data allows for pathbreaking research, as this is – to our knowledge – the most rigorous, sustained examination of crisis response. The findings will yield theoretical understandings of resilience, health crisis response, and authority while supporting policymakers and development specialists to alleviate poverty and other negative consequences of crises.
About the Internship
Having an internship with GLD means you get to be part of a dynamic and international organization. If you are interested in topics such as governance and development, you have come to the right place! In this particular project, you will work with Dr Dave Namusanya and Dr Prisca Jöst together with the wider Resiliency team. Possible tasks include, but are not limited to: performing literature reviews, writing case specific background reports, finding relevant data sources and creating basic data reports, or assisting with qualitative data management and analysis. Note that the specific tasks to be completed will be determined based on the needs of the project and the skills and goals of the chosen applicant.
You will also have many chances to expand your professional network through weekly project meetings, GLD team and research meetings, and GLD’s Work-in-Progress seminar series. Apply for this position if you are enrolled in a degree program that provides course credit for the internship.
Your Skills
- Great organizational skills
- Good knowledge of English (both written and verbal)
- Ability to multitask
- Demonstrable interest on the global South (interest in Malawi will be an added advantage)
The following skills, while not mandatory, are beneficial:
- Experience with mixed methods research (a qualitative bias)
- Language skills in any of Malawi’s local languages
- Previous experience doing research in Southern Africa
You Want To
- Improve your research skills for future studies and work-life
- Get greater insight into international research cooperation
- Gain experience working on comparative research projects
- Gain hands on experience with the development and implementation of fieldwork
Eligibility to Apply
You must be enrolled in a degree program for which you will receive course credit for completing the internship. This means that by completing the internship, you will receive credit hours towards your degree, and the internship will show as course on your transcript. Sometimes this type of course is called an internship course, an independent study, or a consulting course.