To “redouble our collective efforts to end the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future health threats.” That’s the idea for the second Global COVID-19 Summit, announced Monday. But the political reality is more complicated.
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The virtual Global COVID-19 Summit will take place May 12, co-hosted by the United States, Belize, Germany, Indonesia, and Senegal. The aim? For governments, NGOs, and companies “to make new commitments and bring solutions to vaccinate the world, save lives now, and build better health security.”
The focus areas? Getting shots into arms, deploying tests and treatments, protecting health workers and systems, better research and development, “scaling and diversifying local and regional manufacturing,” and “sustainable financing for pandemic preparedness.”
The context? Ongoing disappointment and concern at a $10 billion COVID-19 funding deal in Congress that cut support for other countries and concerns from global health experts and advocates that the U.S. hasn’t been following through on pledges from the first summit beg the question of whether this summit will be more lip service or if there will be action/money to follow.
Senator Chris Coons, chair of the U.S. Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Subcommittee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, put it this way on CBS Face the Nation on Easter Sunday: “Just because we're done with the pandemic doesn't mean it's done with us. And the best way to protect the American people from the next variant that might kill more Americans and more people around the world is to ensure that the rest of the world has access to America's vaccines.”
+ Sign up to Devex Checkup, our free Thursday newsletter for all things global health. A recent edition asks if COVAX is still relevant as a COVID-19 vaccine sharing initiative.
Spring of discontent
Russia launched its anticipated offensive in eastern Ukraine Monday, as the war cast a shadow over the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.
The bank has lowered its global growth forecast for this year to 3.2%, down from a previous prediction of 4.1% expansion, my colleague Shabtai Gold reports.
COVID-19, including shutdowns in China, high inflation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the resulting price increases, prompted the bank to target a new emergency financing window of $170 billion for the world’s lowest-income nations, President David Malpass told reporters Monday.
Spring Meetings: World Bank lowers growth outlook, eyes $170B emergency funding
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund wants to get a new Resilience and Sustainability Trust up and running by October. The aim is to have $45 billion, mostly from rechanneled Special Drawing Rights, to support long-term financing goals in low- and middle-income countries through low-interest loans.
But not even the D.C. weather is behaving, Shabtai tells me, with persistent rain adding to the pessimistic mood. Though girls’ rights advocate Malala Yousafzai tried to bring some levity Monday, recounting her love for Beyoncé and the TV series “Ted Lasso” during the pandemic. Her real focus, as ever, remains on ensuring that COVID-19 doesn’t end up leading to even more girls out of school.
Read: IMF aims to operationalize new RST fund by October
ICYMI: Shabtai also has you covered on what to watch for at this year’s meetings.
Think local, act local
It’s hard to miss the renewed buzz around the familiar concept of localization of late. Today we have two stories with more on what it might mean in practice.
Patrick Meier, executive director at the nonprofit WeRobotics that seeks to “democratize” access to drone technology through its Flying Labs Network, said it is working with INGOs to develop practical metrics to measure their “power footprints.” Organizations tend to ignore these, considering projects successful even when they exacerbate their power, Meier said last week at an event on the sidelines of the Skoll World Forum.
Localization: A robotics group offers ideas to ‘shift power’
A helping hand
“I had dreams and goals, but all were shattered when I got pregnant [at 17]. I felt like a failure and had no use.”
— Fidelis Wanjiku, a young mother from KenyaMeanwhile, in Kenya where there are fewer than 500 specialist mental health workers for a population of over 50 million people, community-based initiatives are being promoted to fill the gap for pregnant and parenting adolescents. One such example is Tabasamu Café, an initiative funded by nonprofits, designed to build mental health awareness and support adolescent mothers in Nairobi.
“I used to see them at least twice a week when I went to the clinic in [a part of Nairobi known as] Kariobangi. There were many other girls there, and their stories made me feel I was better off. I healed, and now I speak to parenting adolescents too at Tabasamu,” Wanjiku says.
Read: Kenyan NGOs fill mental health service gap for pregnant adolescents
For Devex Pro subscribers: My colleague Michael Igoe hosted a call recently, looking at how USAID under Samantha Power is trying to get 25% of funding to go to local partners within four years, up from 6% at the end of last year. Not gone Pro yet? Start your 15-day free trial.
In other news
Global Citizen seeks up to $1 billion for six sustainable ‘impact’ funds to support low-income countries struggling to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. [Today Online]
Ukraine officials on Monday appealed for a $50 billion aid package from G-7 nations. [Politico]
Humanitarian ceasefires between Russian and Ukrainian forces may be possible, but not anytime soon, according to U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths. [Al Jazeera]
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About the author
Vince Chadwickvchadw
Vince Chadwick is a contributing reporter at Devex. A law graduate from Melbourne, Australia, he was social affairs reporter for The Age newspaper, before covering breaking news, the arts, and public policy across Europe, including as a reporter and editor at POLITICO Europe. He was long-listed for International Journalist of the Year at the 2023 One World Media Awards.
