Reports

The 87-page report, “‘Between Hunger and the Virus,’ The Economic Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on People Living in Poverty in Lagos, Nigeria,” documents how a five-week lockdown, rising food prices, and a prolonged economic downturn have had a devastating impact on informal workers, slum dwellers, and other urban poor families in Lagos. The absence of a functioning social security system meant that government assistance, including cash transfers and food handouts, reached only a fraction of people going hungry.

The 66-page report, “‘We Are All Vulnerable Here’: Kenya’s Pandemic Cash Transfer Program Riddled with Irregularities” found that only a small fraction of vulnerable families in Nairobi benefited from the program, which was characterized by lack of transparency, cronyism, nepotism and outright favoritism. Government officials failed to follow the stated selection criteria or to share information that should have enabled more vulnerable families to enroll.

In the 47-page report, “‘We Lost Everything’: Debt Imprisonment in Jordan,” Human Rights Watch documents the harsh treatment of people unable to repay their debts. In the absence of an adequate social security net, tens of thousands of Jordanians feel compelled to take out loans to cover utilities, groceries, school fees, and medical bills. They often use unregulated informal lenders. Jordanian authorities should urgently replace laws that allow for debt imprisonment with effective personal bankruptcy legislation and enact social security protections to support indigent people.

The 99-page report, “‘Kettling’ Protesters in the Bronx: Systemic Police Brutality and Its Costs in the United States,” provides a detailed account of the police response to the June 4 peaceful protest in Mott Haven, a low-income, majority Black and brown community that has long experienced high levels of police brutality and systemic racism. It describes the city’s ineffectual accountability systems that protect abusive police officers, shows the shortcomings of incremental reforms, and makes the case for structural change.

The 68-page report, “Automated Hardship: How the Tech-Driven Overhaul of the UK’s Benefits System Worsens Poverty,” details how a poorly designed algorithm is causing people to go hungry, fall into debt and experience psychological distress. Human Rights Watch has also found that the government is failing to address the socio-economic inequalities which prevent people from being able to apply for and manage their benefit online.