Fight ‘shadow pandemic’ by overhauling funding strategy, women leaders say
COVID-19 is weakening social, educational, and health services access for women and girls. But the crisis also provides an opportunity to dismantle traditional development funding structures, and create a more equitable system that reaches more women, especially women of color, according to female development leaders. Read more…
In Burkina Faso, violence and COVID-19 push children out of school and into harm’s way
“The epidemic of COVID-19 is worsening an already critical situation regarding the education of children who are trapped in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” said Anne Vincent, representative for the UN’s children agency in Burkina Faso, UNICEF. Read more…
What’s behind the mass protests in Mali?
Protesters took to the streets of Mali’s capital on Friday afternoon for the latest in a series of mass demonstrations calling for the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who has struggled to stem rising jihadist and inter-communal violence in northern and central parts of the country after seven years in power. Read more…
Covid-19 could worsen humanitarian crisis across the globe: WHO
“Although COVID-19 has rightly captured the world’s attention, we must also remember it is not the only crisis the world is facing. Many countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East, are still reeling from years of conflict and other humanitarian crises. COVID-19 threatens to exacerbate many of these crises,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said at a press briefing on Friday. Read more…
New report identifies 27 countries heading for COVID-19-driven food crises
New analysis by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) identifies 27 countries that are on the frontline of impending COVID-19-driven food crises, as the pandemic’s knock-on effects aggravate pre-existing drivers of hunger. No world region is immune. Read more…
Humanitarian Aid: €64.7 million for most vulnerable in Southern Africa
Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management, said: “The EU is helping to provide life-saving assistance to impoverished households suffering from crop and livestock losses due to drought. The aid package will also strengthen the preparation and response to the coronavirus pandemic for countries in the region. Read more…
West and Central Africa: More than 15 million expected cases of acute malnutrition in 2020
15.4 million cases of acute malnutrition in children under five years old are expected in 2020 in West and Central Africa – one third of them from its most severe form – if adequate measures are not put in place now, warned the United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Read more…
Sexual abuse in aid sector still ‘widespread’
Almost two years on from a landmark summit on safeguarding in the aid sector, sexual abuse and exploitation are still “widespread” and continuing unreported, according to experts.[…] “The conditions of COVID-19 are putting communities more at risk in many ways. A lot of funding is moving to the COVID-19 pandemic response, away from things like gender-based-violence services,” Read more…
Politics gets in the way of Nigeria’s COVID-19 response
The severity of a country’s outbreak of COVID-19 is largely measured by its official national statistics. But not only are there wide variations in the reliability of these figures, they can also mask the severity of localized outbreaks in cities and states. In a federal country like Nigeria, the success or failure of COVID-19 control measures often hinges on state governments taking the lead. Read more…
Future HIV/AIDS response: ‘Some things we will need to do differently’
Those targets are now unlikely to be met, Byanyima said, and the novel coronavirus pandemic is further threatening to throw the global AIDS response off-course. UNAIDS and the World Health Organization have warned governments of additional 500,000 deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2021, and a rise in HIV infections in children if disruptions to HIV services due to COVID-19 continue. Read more…
Study shows risk of mother-to-child transmission of COVID-19 virus
A new study shows the potential risk of in-utero mother-to-child transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus, although one of the study’s authors said further studies are needed to draw a definitive conclusion. […] The results showed one case of the virus found in the vaginal mucosa, one case of the virus found in breast milk, and two cases where the babies tested positive for the virus via nasopharyngeal swabs. Read more…
Women and children lose 20% of health, social services to COVID-19
Globally, women and children are losing access to 20% of their health and social services as a result of COVID-19, according to new findings by senior global health experts commissioned by the United Nations. Approximately 13.5 million children have missed life-saving vaccinations over the past four months, and some kids in low-income countries may never receive these routine shots. Read more…