<p>The project aims to answer pressing questions regarding the impact of COVID-19 on people’s lives and firms' behavior in the Middle East and North Africa, and shed light on coping mechanisms and policy responses.The Economic Research Forum (ERF) is conducting a series of short panel phone surveys (the COVID-19 MENA Monitor) to monitor the effect of the crisis on households, workers, and micro and small enterprises.The short phone survey includes an economic impact questionnaire, with a household module as well as worker, enterprise, and farmer impact modules.</p>

<p>From April-May 2020, researchers surveyed 7,338 beneficiaries of two government safety-net transfer programs in Bangladesh – the Old Age Allowance and the Widow Allowance – supported under the Department of Social Services.The survey took place during the government-mandated lockdown period to control the spread of the coronavirus.&nbsp;Their&nbsp;analysis suggests that beneficiaries of these programs suffered significantly during the COVID-19 induced mobility restrictions, with 51% of&nbsp;respondents forced to reduce medication consumption and 22% forced to reduce food consumption (based on a one-week recall period of the rapid phone survey).</p>

<p>Governments and educational organizations worldwide are trying to quickly adapt to the unprecedented circumstances created by the pandemic, by developing or scaling up distance education modalities to continue delivering educational content to students and maintain students’ connection to formal education.However, the effectiveness of these tools is largely unknown. In partnership with the Bangladeshi&nbsp;government, researchers&nbsp;will evaluate two remote learning initiatives targeted at post-primary education: (a) daily televised lessons for grades 6-10, and (b) an online learning platform, that acts as repository for the televised lessons and where students can also complete quizzes.</p>