States and societies are in crisis around the world, as questions arise around the nature and quality of existing social contracts. COVID-19 has laid bare profound vulnerabilities within and across societies. The global pandemic is revealing deep failures in policy visions, institutional fragility, and incapacities of states to harness societal compliance where trust and a sense of national belonging is weak. At the same time, our interdependencies have never been so clear, as all countries, developed and underdeveloped alike, confront similar challenges. Crisis, however, offers opportunity to do things better, to build forward better – strengthening social contracts at all levels. How then, can social contracts, and compacting in times of crisis, offer pathways to address inequality and exclusion?
Urban Development and Informal Settlements
About 200 million people in Africa live in informal settlements. As the continent’s cities face rapid growth, governments are facing the challenge of how to ensure adequate housing. Astrid R.N. Haas, who recently published a paper for the Pathfinders Grand Challenge on Inequality and Exclusion on how to make informal housing better talked with Voice of America about how to make informal housing better.