Governments are spending trillions of dollars on COVID-19 response. By necessity, that spending is happening rapidly — yet often there is little or no oversight, increasing the risk that money is stolen or mismanaged and that additional lives are lost or ruined.
Strong oversight and monitoring of emergency funds can help save lives. It can root out corruption and fraud, helping to ensure that money reaches its intended purpose. It enables markets to function effectively, potentially driving down prices, and...
COVID-19
So far, most countries in Africa are reporting comparatively low numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases, with a few countries accounting for most of the confirmed cases.
But the impacts of food insecurity could end up being worse than the direct impacts of the health pandemic. The number of people experiencing acute food insecurity is expected to double to more than one-quarter of a billion people by end of 2020. And the World Bank estimates that between 26-39 million people in...
Vera Songwe is executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa. We interviewed her as part of our #PassTheMic campaign. Here’s some of what she had to say.
One of the biggest economic challenges we are currently seeing is that 50 million people are losing their jobs. So a coordinated global response to coronavirus would ensure that we get back to recovery faster.
My personal priority right now is Africa and getting its growth back. It’s getting the private sector...
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Agnes Kalibata is the UN’s special envoy for the Food System’s Summit and president of AGRA (Growing Africa’s Agriculture). We interviewed her as as part of our #PassTheMic series.
Here’s some of what she had to say in the interview.
This is probably the first time that mankind has had one common enemy in the last 100 years. It’s not a one person, one country, or one continent problem. It’s a global problem that we have to deal with together.
Coronavirus has...
Dr. Joannie Bewa is a public health researcher and women and girls activist. We interviewed her as part of our #PassTheMic series. Here’s some of what she had to say.
When it comes to women and girls during COVID-19 there are a lot of challenges, related to both health and non-health issues.
I’m seeing many things through a gender perspective, which is lacking on several levels. The first thing lacking is the acknowledgement that women are a large part of the...
Aya Chebbi is an activist and AU Youth Envoy. We interviewed her as part of our #PassTheMic campaign. Here’s some of what she had to say.
The COVID-19 pandemic is taking over the world, causing a worldwide impact on education. School and university closures are disrupting the education of over 1.53 billion learners, 743 million of whom are girls. School and university students around the world have had to adapt to e-learning.
Lockdowns, quarantines, curfews, isolation, and social distancing that you...
Even before COVID-19, 90% of children in low-income countries could not read and understand a simple sentence. The global learning crisis is the biggest educational threat of our time, not just because it means that individual potential is being squandered. The world’s future hangs in the balance. After all, the children of today are the doctors and public health professionals of tomorrow.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, this sobering picture has only gotten worse. At its peak, COVID-19 pushed 1.6 billion...
Melene Rossouw is the founder of Women Lead Movement. We interviewed her as part of our #PassTheMic series. Here’s some of what she had to say.
Within a few short months, COVID-19 has left a trail of devastation. It has severely affected our health and social welfare systems. In poorer countries, it has exacerbated another humanitarian crisis, where the fight between virus, hunger, and adequate hygiene has become a daily and ever growing battle and concern.
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed our...
Before COVID-19, 135 million were experiencing hunger so severe that it threatened their lives and livelihoods. Now with COVID-19, that number could double by the end of 2020.
Pandemics and hunger crises go hand in hand. COVID-19 is no different. The economic impact of the pandemic translates into poverty as millions of people’s sources of income fall due to job losses. Remittances to low-and middle-income countries are expected to fall by 20% in 2020, more than double international aid to...