The schools where children can’t wash their hands or use a toilet
Hand-washing remains the first line of defense against COVID-19, yet new research reveals that 2 in 5 schools worldwide lacked basic hand-washing facilities prior to the outbreak. As children, young people, and teachers in many parts of the world prepare to go back to school, advocates are calling for action. Read more…
How WhatsApp became the tool of choice for WHO’s COVID-19 messaging
The World Health Organization launched its WHO Health Alert service on messaging platform WhatsApp as a way to reach people where they are with up-to-date information on COVID-19. Many organizations try to share content by drawing people into their channels, said Andy Pattison, manager of digital solutions at WHO. Pattison’s strategy, meanwhile, is to get WHO content onto platforms people are already using. Read more…
Dramatic rise in Kenya early pregnancies amid school closures, IRC data suggests
The number of teenage pregnancies has increased dramatically in regions of northern Kenya as a result of recent school closures and lockdowns, according to new data from the International Rescue Committee. In Turkana County, 558 adolescent pregnancies were reported between March and June — almost a threefold increase from the same period last year, the organization said. Read more…
Stalled negotiations cast doubt on US funding for global COVID-19 response
U.S. congressional efforts to negotiate another COVID-19 funding bill have stalled, delaying new funding for the global pandemic response. Discussions fell apart at the end of last week, when the House and Senate were unable to find middle ground on their proposals. The House bill included no funding for the global response, while the Senate bill included about $4 billion — far less than the $20 billion that advocates say is needed. Read more…
Conflict and coronavirus spark a hunger crisis in Burkina Faso
The number of people in need of emergency food aid in Burkina Faso has tripled to more than 3.2 million – some 11,000 of whom are suffering from “catastrophe” levels of hunger – as the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic hits a country already engulfed by violence. Read more…
Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia resist camp closure amid COVID-19 fears
A plan by the Ethiopian government to relocate around 27,000 Eritrean refugees to two already overcrowded camps is yet to be shelved, despite concerns by aid organisations over both the risk of spreading COVID-19 and the confusion the stated policy has caused. Read more…
Burkina Faso’s new conflict front: Jihadists against jihadists
When 60 jihadists were killed and 40 captured in Burkina Faso’s northern Sahel region one day in April, the country’s beleaguered armed forces didn’t claim victory: A rival jihadist group did. The attack was among three reports of infighting in as many days between the al-Qaeda linked Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), a regional offshoot of the so-called Islamic State. Read more…
A Kenyan COVID-19 notebook: The ‘mama mbogas’ and the path to recovery
Saidi Mburi’s shop sales are a good barometer of the economic health of Kibera, Nairobi’s largest informal settlement, and they have been terrible. After months of COVID-19 curfews, transport restrictions, and social distancing measures, “people just don’t have money,” he told The New Humanitarian. Read more…