A roundup of the latest news, stats, and analysis of COVID-19’s impact in Africa. Read on for what’s on the menu at the UN Security Council, how young Nigerians are tracking COVID spending, and the pandemic’s impact on child marriage. But first, what did Joe Biden ever do for Africa? Top news 100,000 African health workers: have been infected with COVID as of this week, citing a lack of PPE and over-work. A year into the pandemic, cases on the continent...
Something amazing has happened. The World Trade Organization just appointed its first-ever woman director general and its first-ever African as director general, all in the person of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The new DG brings both energy and amazing experience to the table — former VP of the World Bank, former finance minister of Nigeria, past chair of the board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and former board member of the ONE Campaign. CV highlights aside, Dr. Ngozi brings...
A roundup of the latest news, stats, and analysis of COVID-19’s impact in Africa. View our data tracker and sign up for our weekly newsletter here, and read on for more on COVID’s impact on food security in Africa. But first, what to look for at this week’s G7 meeting. Top news War-time footing: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, new Italian Prime Minister and G20 Chair Mario Draghi, and US President Joe Biden have all said we are at war with...
The world’s richest countries are on track to accumulate over 1 billion more doses of COVID-19 vaccines than they need to fully vaccinate all their citizens, according to new analysis from ONE’s Policy team. Meanwhile, the rest of the world has only been able to secure 2.5 billion doses of the most promising vaccines — leaving billions of people with little hope of receiving a vaccine this year. These excess doses purchased by rich countries alone would be sufficient...
COVID-19 is threatening to wipe out decades of economic progress and development gains. Sub-Saharan Africa fell into recession for the first time in 25 years in 2020, with economic growth contracting by 3%, the worst on record. For many countries, a return to 2019 economic growth levels will not occur until 2022–24. Alarmingly, the pandemic will push up between 88 and 115 million people into extreme poverty — those living under US$1.90 a day — around the globe, reversing the...
Throughout this pandemic, we have been awed by the incredible acts of humanity taking place to protect those most in need and to help flatten the curve. People around the world are banding together in solidarity to do their parts. In 2020, we put an open call out to our ONE Supporters and asked them to share their stories of solidarity with us. We were blown away by the responses, and we decided to bring some of those stories to...
Ending the COVID-19 pandemic and minimising its impact largely depends on finding effective ways to treat and immunise against the disease. Here’s the good news: so far, billions in funding has been mobilised in record time to fast-track research and development on COVID-19. Plus, there are over 500 treatment and vaccine candidates in development, with some COVID-19 vaccine campaigns already underway. But the bad news: this is only half the battle. A historic effort Delivering medication and vaccines at the speed and scale...
In 2020, global health has gone from a fringe issue to the forefront of people’s mind, all thanks to COVID-19. The last time the entire world came close to being as focused on a pandemic threat was over two decades ago, when HIV/AIDS was killing almost 4,000 people every day and new infections doubled year after year. Since then, the global response to AIDS has become a success story, and AIDS-related deaths have been cut by more than half. Today,...
In order to end this pandemic, everyone must play their part, and that includes the private sector. Their leadership, innovation, skills, knowledge, and financial muscle are desperately needed. This crisis has undoubtedly taken a heavy toll on businesses, but the quickest way to get back on track is to end the pandemic. Companies can play a critical role in getting vaccines and other treatments to the people globally who need them. Whether through investing in the ACT-Accelerator initiative, committing to...
Global coverage of protests against police brutality in Nigeria continues, as Tanzanians head to the polls in a crucial election. And as government representatives gathered virtually for the World Health Summit, a new study finds a global mental health crisis and African nations announce plans to increase the use of rapid diagnostic COVID-19 tests. Here are six crucial stories you may have missed this month. Nigerian protests against police brutality in the global spotlight Earlier this month, Nigerian security forces opened fire...