How OPF Fellows supported host governments’ responses and readiness for recovery

At its core, the Oxford Policy Fellowship (OPF) is a listening institution. It responds
to requests from low- and middle-income country (LMIC) governments for legal and
policy technical advisors (TAs) to help achieve the country’s development priorities.
In early 2020, OPF had 15 Fellows posted in eight sub-Saharan African countries,
working on a large range of priorities from health to education, environment to
trade. When the Covid-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, the immediate burdens
of OPF’s government partners changed almost overnight and in many radical ways.
Almost all of OPF’s African partners began asking Fellows for help with urgent
responses to the pandemic.