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what is the BCG vaccine and what might its place be in the fight against coronavirus?

By External Source
May 14 2020 (IPS)

This week, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced it will donate A$10 million to help fund an Australian trial testing whether a very old vaccine, BCG, can be used against a new threat, COVID-19. So what is the BCG vaccine and what might its place be in the fight against coronavirus?

The ABCs of BCG

The BCG vaccine has been used for nearly a century to protect against tuberculosis, a bacterial disease that affects the lungs. Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

BCG is short for Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, as it was created by Léon Charles Albert Calmette and Jean-Marie Camille Guérin in the early 1900s.

To make the vaccine, they used Mycobacterium bovis, a bacterium found in cows and closely related to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. They grew it on a nutrient-rich jelly in the lab for nearly 13 years. The bacterium adapted to this comfortable lifestyle by losing elements in its DNA it no longer needed, including elements that cause disease.

This process is called attenuation and it results in a live but weakened microbe that can be given to humans as a vaccine.

BCG is offered to infants in some parts of the world where there are still high rates of tuberculosis. It protects 86% of the time against some rarer forms of tuberculosis more common in children.

But it only protects about 50% of the time in adults.

Scientists and clinicians generally feel we need a better vaccine for tuberculosis. However, epidemiologists have noticed children who received BCG had significantly better overall health, with fewer respiratory infections and fewer deaths.

Immunologists suspect this is caused by a type of immune response called “trained immunity”.

Trained immunity is distinct from how we traditionally think of immunity, or “immune memory”, because it engages different types of immune cells.

Immune memory vs trained immunity

There are two main types of cells within our immune system: innate cells, which respond rapidly to microbes that cause disease, and adaptive cells, which initially respond quite slowly.

Adaptive cells include B cells, which make antibodies to block infection, and T cells, which can kill infected cells. Importantly, adaptive cells can remember particular microbes for years, or even decades, after we first encounter them.

This phenomenon is called “immune memory”.

When adaptive immune cells encounter the same microbe a second or subsequent time, they respond much more quickly, and the immune system can effectively clear an infection before it causes disease. Immune memory is why often we don’t get infected with a specific microbe, like chickenpox, more than once.

Most of our current vaccines exploit immune memory to protect us from infection.

For decades, scientists believed innate cells lacked the ability to remember previous encounters with microbes. However, we’ve recently learnt some innate cells, such as monocytes, can be “trained” during an encounter with a microbe. Training can program innate cells to activate more quickly when they next encounter a microbe – any microbe.

Some live attenuated vaccines, such as BCG, can trigger trained immunity, which can enhance early control of other infections. This raises the tantalising possibility that BCG could train innate cells to improve early control of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, to reduce COVID-19 disease or even prevent infection.

And as a bonus, BCG could potentially protect us against other pathogens too.

The BCG vaccine targets trained immunity, whereas most other vaccines target immune memory. Kylie Quinn, Author provided .

Could BCG protect against COVID-19?

We don’t know yet whether BCG will reduce the severity of COVID-19, but the vaccine has some interesting features.

First, BCG is a potent stimulator of the immune system. Currently, it’s used alongside other therapies to treat bladder cancer and melanoma, because it can stimulate immune cells to attack the tumour.

BCG also seems to benefit lung immunity. As we mentioned, children who have had the vaccine appear to get fewer respiratory infections.

There’s a study underway in Melbourne looking at whether BCG can reduce symptoms of asthma in children.

And finally, BCG has been shown to limit viral infection. In one study, human volunteers were given BCG or a placebo one month before being infected with a virus. Volunteers who received BCG had a modest reduction in the amount of virus produced during infection compared to those who received the placebo.

However, BCG can cause side-effects to be mindful of. It usually causes a small raised blister on the skin at the vaccine site and it can cause painful swelling in the surrounding lymph nodes.

Importantly, because it’s a live bacterium, it can spread from the vaccine site and cause disease, called disseminated BCG, in people who are immunodeficient, like people with HIV. This means BCG can’t be given to everyone.

Current clinical trials

The ultimate test of BCG as a preventative measure for COVID-19 is to run randomised clinical trials, which are now underway.

Researchers across Australia and the Netherlands are preparing to give BCG to the people who have arguably the highest risk of COVID-19: frontline health-care workers.

These phase III trials will collect data on whether workers vaccinated with BCG have fewer or less severe COVID-19 infections.

If BCG is shown to be effective, we’ll face other challenges. For example, supply of the vaccine is currently limited. Further, there are many different strains of BCG and they might not all provide the same protection against COVID-19.

Protection would likely start to wane relatively quickly. When trained immunity was tracked in humans after BCG, it started waning from three to 12 months after vaccination.

Protection would also not be as strong as what we see with many traditional vaccines, such as the MMR vaccine which protects against measles 94.1% of the time.

So BCG would be most helpful for people at high risk of exposure, but it wouldn’t replace a traditional vaccine based on immune memory.

These studies are important to give us options. We need a complete toolkit for control of COVID-19, consisting of anti-viral and anti-inflammatory drugs and vaccines. But an effective COVID-19 vaccine is likely still many months, even years, away.

By repurposing an old, well-characterised vaccine, we could bridge this gap and provide some protection to our health-care workers as they confront COVID-19.

Kylie Quinn, Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University; Joanna Kirman, Associate Professor, University of Otago; Katie Louise Flanagan, Infectious Diseases Specialist and Clinical Professor, University of Tasmania, and Magdalena Plebanski, Professor of Immunology, RMIT University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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By Lawrence Surendra
BANGKOK, Thailand, May 14 2020 (IPS)

US President Donald Trump’s battle with the World Health Organization (WHO) hides two important issues. One, the long running love-hate relationship between the US and the UN, and two, a better understanding of how global public health is governed and in the overall context of global governance.

We must first recognize, that notwithstanding Trump’s disdain for multilateralism and international institutions especially the UN, his behaviour is basically consistent with history of the US threatening UN institutions periodically by withholding financial contributions.

One should not therefore let the impression gain, especially among younger generations not familiar with global and international politics, that the US as a power is innocent and Trump is but a bull in the China shop of international governance and global public policy.

As for the love-hate relationship of the US with the UN, just rewind back to the days of President Reagan in the 1980s and which saw the peak of such hostility to the UN. Advised by the conservative Heritage Foundation, the US pulled out of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The latter decision though, was only a shadow play; behind the scenes the US severely undermined the work of important UN agencies like the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The UN Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC) seen as opposed to US multinationals was dismantled. The resignation letter of Peter Hansen, the Danish Director of UNCTC then made him a cause celebre.

UN agencies such as UNCTC, working on a Code of Conduct for TNCs and WHO with its Drugs for All policy were viewed with suspicion by US corporate interests especially US pharmaceutical and agribusiness companies. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was not spared either.

The US made sure that the FAO was under the influence of US multinational companies especially US agribusiness and in critical areas such as the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources of the FAO and in the Codex Alimentarius to weaken and undermine regulation of US TNCs.

One cannot forget, the ignominious manner in which Dr. Gamani Corea the eminent Sri Lankan economist was asked to quit as Secretary General of UNCTAD by the US. Countries like India were singled out and the role they played at the UN monitored.

India’s independent international public policy then while seen as valuable for the international community was viewed as a threat to US domination of international institutions and attacked. India’s role at the UN was relevant to not only India’s national interests and the developing world but also to Europe and Scandinavian Countries.

India made significant contributions, for example, in the creation of the South Centre, an institution, that was relevant in contributing to the international public policy of developing countries; its relevance continues even more so in the context of issues such as global taxation regimes and how India, as well as developing countries are being deprived of taxes from TNCs.

The Reagan and Thatcher domination of the international arena in the 1980s saw the North-South dialogue being scuttled. Mrs. Gandhi, a trusted leader of developing countries and the global South, played a major role on their behalf, in trying to bring the North-South Dialogue back on track. She did this, even while India was facing the brunt of US pressure including in strategic and national security terms.

A meeting of world leaders in Cancun, Mexico, in 1981, was possibly the last of the North-South Dialogue meeting, where Mrs Gandhi met with Reagan to work out a compromise. However, what resulted was the South being thrust with the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations instead of the North-South Dialogue.

The Uruguay Round, after a decade or more of tortuous negotiations led by the US, and for US dominance in world trade though projected as promoting free trade, produced an elephant in the form of the WTO. The latter seems to have now metamorphosed to a mouse.

As for Trump and WHO, let us not make the mistake that withdrawal of US funding means any less influence of the US or its corporate interests in the WHO. More so in influencing global public health policies.

A must read and very relevant in this regard is the book by Chelsea Clinton (yes President Clinton’s only daughter) and Devi Sridhar, Professor at the University of Edinburgh’s Medical School, who holds the Chair in Global Public Health.

The book was published in 2017, as if anticipating the unique global public health crisis of today. Appropriately titled, ‘Governing Global Health’ with an even more piercing sub title, “Who Runs the World and Why?’, the book tells us as a lot about what is happening regarding how Public Health is governed globally.

In the Preface, they present a clear case as to why such a book now, and point out, that we live in the best of times as well as the worst of times and give reasons for saying so. The book deserves an in-depth review, but for now in the present conjecture of COVID 19 it is important to first bring the book to public notice.

The Covid Pandemic, has also kept social media abuzz with conspiracy theories especially around Bill Gates his Foundation and the profits to be made in the vaccines to be developed. This given the Gates Foundation’s large financial contributions to the GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) and the Global Fund.

While there may be grains of truth as in all conspiracy theories, unfortunately their wild allegations also damage serious important initiatives such as the UN SDGs (especially SDG 3) and the 2030 Road Map by making them part of these conspiracies.

Another reason to read this book, and be informed not only who the actors in global public health governance are, but more importantly how global public health governance has shifted from UN institutions governed by Member States to Global Public Health International NGOs and private companies.

This is especially so with the rise of this nebulous and ubiquitous practice (recognised by the authors) of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and its increasing dominance in international cooperation and governance including ironically the UN.

It might be nice to repeat the oft repeated statements of present and past UN bureaucrats about UN institutions being governed by Member States but they all miss a major reality of today’s world. A reality succinctly captured by Kofi Annan in 1999 and quoted in the book.

He has noted that, “our post War institutions were built for an international world, but we now live in a global world”. Negotiating this “global world” is not easy for nation states and more so for international and UN institutions. In this world crisis we need the UN more than ever before.

At this moment of deep crisis for global public health and global governance, we are fortunate that the late Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-Moon of the past, we now have a Secretary General, in the person of Antonio Guterres who commands both respect and legitimacy. Even before the pandemic, he was faced with the unenviable task of steering the UN through massive financial constraints that it was already in.

The challenge for the UN and its agencies including the WHO is far greater now including establishing their legitimacy. The implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals which is in its fifth year of its launch will be seriously affected.

The role of the UN as a global public goods organization can be reclaimed by using the SDGs and thus also gain greater legitimacy for the work of the UN. This is the route to be taken for the UN’s own survival, not the narrow public-private partnerships that excludes wider partnership with other actors and will make a big difference.

UN staff, in an age of ‘ultra-nationalism’ should keeping with their allegiance to the UN and its Charter, vaccinate themselves from such toxic nationalism, and remind themselves that they are International Civil Servants serving the needs of global public goods.

They should reassure themselves that the shrinking budget of the UN for a global institution needed in a crisis, is no more than that of a small European City Municipality and the budget of the WHO is perhaps as much as a medium sized New York hospital and rededicate themselves with a new sense of ethics and purpose and work on synergy, coherence and partnership as the core thrust of their work.

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Excerpt:

Lawrence Surendra, an environmental economist, is former staff member of UN-ESCAP and has worked with UNU and UNESCO. He advises on the UN SDGs and currently a Council Member of TSP Asia (www.tspasia.org) and lives in South India.

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Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, prepping for a virtual press briefing with him, April 30, 2020, UN headquarters. The secretary-general had asked the current UN medical director, Dr. Jillann Farmer, to extend her term a few months during the coronavirus crisis. But now she is returning to her home country, Australia. Credit: ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO

By Stéphanie Fillion, PassBlue*
UNITED NATIONS, May 13 2020 (IPS)

“Are you a senior medical executive with expertise in healthcare management with oversight of clinical services and occupational health at a facility, state, national or international level? The United Nations Secretariat is seeking a Medical Director at the D-2 level in the Department of Operational Support,” an ad posting on the UN’s job portal reads.

Dr. Jillann Farmer, the current UN medical director, is leaving, so the main person in charge of advising whether the UN headquarters compound, in New York City, is going to remain open or closed in the pandemic will be replaced.

“This was the first time we had simultaneously to move into our own business continuity model, while supporting the rest of the world,” Dr. Farmer told PassBlue in an email during her last week at the UN, before returning to Australia on May 15. She is taking up a new job in Brisbane, her hometown.

The UN has not confirmed whether a successor for Dr. Farmer has been found yet.

Over the last few months, Dr. Farmer was the person advising UN Secretary-General António Guterres as to whether the UN should remain physically open in the New York City lockdown, and recommended that it do so as of mid-March, with the provision that UN personnel in the Secretariat should telecommute, affecting nearly 13,000 people. She has also consulted with the New York City authorities in her decision-making.

Despite recent infighting among some countries about whether the headquarters should remain physically closed or reopen for meetings of member states on June 1st, her departure does not seem to be political. In fact, Dr. Farmer did the UN a favor by staying during the pandemic, as her departure was first planned before the outbreak hit New York City on March 1st.

Dr. Farmer said she gave notice that she was leaving the UN in February and was supposed to leave in April for Brisbane to become deputy director-general for the Department of Health in Queensland, the second-largest state in Australia. She stayed because of a recent personal request from Guterres himself. She extended her stay overall at the UN for much longer than she has done before in her career.

“For most of my career, I have changed roles every 5 years or so,” she told PassBlue. “The SG’s [secretary-general] reforms and the changes it brought meant that extending for a couple more years was sensible, because my job changed a bit, but after 7 years, it’s time to move and look for new challenges. This was also an opportunity for me to return home and be close to my family.”

As medical director since 2012, Dr. Farmer has been in charge of the UN’s internal health care system, including oversight for UN personnel worldwide and more than 400 health care services, from primary care clinics to military forward medical services and hospitals, according to the organization.

Before she worked for the UN, Dr. Farmer had been a clinical doctor, a medical executive and a patient-safety improvement expert. During her term at the UN, she handled the UN’s response to the Ebola crisis, the Zika virus and now Covid-19.

The current crisis has been different because it hit the home base. “The biggest challenge was the headquarters of this vast global organization was also at the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States,” she said. “We started preparation for a pandemic in January, when the first signals of risk were given by WHO. Our guidance materials and advice were pushed out regularly to staff and diplomats from the end of January onwards. As the pandemic spread, there was an increasing demand for advice and support, and then New York City experienced its own severe outbreak.”

As of May 7, the UN reported 413 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among UN personnel globally and 6 deaths.

Jillann Farmer

The decision to extend telecommuting for UN personnel working at the headquarters in New York City, which is the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States, would never be easy. A note from Dr. Farmer to the office of the president of the General Assembly was leaked at the end of April, recommending that “maintaining the current arrangements until 30 June will allow stability during a period of great uncertainty, as we evaluate the impact on transmission of the loosening of the current containment measures.”

A spokesperson for the UN denied several times that the UN headquarters was going to remain partly closed through June, but then confirmed it this week. Dr. Farmer said her letter had been misinterpreted.

“My note of 29 April was to the Office of the President of the General Assembly and had nothing to do with closure of the building or telecommuting,” she said. “His office had asked for guidance regarding in-person meetings of member states and my recommendation was that in-person meetings should continue to be avoided whenever possible, regardless of the number of participants. Events should be virtual.

“Where there is no other choice, in person meetings should have the absolute minimum number of participants, and all should maintain standards of physical distancing, hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. Persons who are experiencing any symptoms of ill health should not attend.”

The UN’s current decision is to extend the telecommuting plan of the headquarters from May 31 until the end of June, as recommended by Dr. Farmer.

Unicef, which is not part of the UN Secretariat but is based in New York City, is planning a three-phase reopening, a source told PassBlue. Most staff will be staying home through the rest of the year and staffing on-site will not exceed 40 percent through that period. A small percentage of staff may start in June, but nothing is definite, as it depends on what New York City and New York State authorities say.

As for those who return physically to the office, the source added, temperatures will be taken on entry, and the UN will provide protective gear, which must be used on premise — gloves and mask — when contact with others is unavoidable, like meetings or shared spaces. Apparently, planning has included a possible second wave of infection as well.

From the outset of the coronavirus crisis, there have been pushbacks within the UN, mostly from certain members of the Security Council, from working remotely. Russia still thinks that part of the work can be done in person starting in June. Dr. Farmer said she didn’t feel there was political pushback to her work during the pandemic.

“The politics of the United Nations in New York City are not always easy, but I am very pleased at the level of coordination between the UN, the diplomatic community and the City of New York,” she said.

After seven years spent at the UN, she is returning to Brisbane to a home, she said, “on 7 acres of beautiful bushland, with our very own kangaroos, koalas and kookaburras” and “is quite a contrast to my 580sq ft apartment in NY.”

*PassBlue is an independent, women-led journalism site that is considered the most influential media source covering the US-UN relationship, women’s issues, human rights, peacekeeping and other urgent global matters playing out in the UN. As a nonprofit news site, PassBlue is a project of the New School’s Graduate Program in International Affairs, supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and 100+ individuals and a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News.

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SG Patricia Scotland and President Kagame of Rwanda last year during the annual commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsis. Credit: The Commonwealth Secretariat

By William Ellis
TORONTO, May 13 2020 (IPS)

The Coronovirus pandemic has been an unforgiving test of advanced economies. Health systems in the United States, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK have been put under immense pressure, with shortages of doctors, ventilators, personal protective equipment and the capacity to test for the virus. Their economies have been battered and the consequences are spoken of in terms of the Great Depression.

Hope may have emerged as infection rates decline and governments consider easing lockdown measures, but for many developing countries the crisis has barely begun, and the human toll will be much greater than in any advanced economy. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “For vast swathes of the globe, the pandemic will leave deep, deep scars.”

Advanced economies are trying to mitigate COVID-19’s impact through policy adjustments, and some have made remarkable progress. In the Commonwealth (a voluntary association of 54 independent countries), New Zealand and Canada have shown exceptional resilience through this pandemic.

Developing countries, however, are faced with much more difficult circumstances. In these countries, economies are fragile and medical resources are scarce. Most are commodity dependent and have seen prices fall by 21 percent so far this year. The cost of foreign debt repayments and imports have soared as the value of currencies in developing countries have declined by around 25 percent.

Some African countries have no ventilators at all – essential to those suffering from acute symptoms of the virus. Many countries are simply ill equipped to face a pandemic of global proportions. Malawi, for example, has only 25 intensive care unit beds for its 17 million citizens. And, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), African countries average $12 per citizen per year in health budgets. That is a stark contrast to the UK’s $4000 per citizen per year.

The Brookings Institute recently warned that the impact of COVID-19 on developing nations will be devastating: “2020 will be the first time this century that the number of poor people will rise.” This is in the wake of progress made between 2008 and 2013, during which time almost 100 million people per year were lifted out of poverty.

To stave off disaster in the world’s most vulnerable regions, the international community must do a lot more. Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, said that “Without support from the international community, we risk a massive reversal of gains made over the last two decades, and an entire generation lost, if not in lives then in rights, opportunities and dignity.”

The 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was to be held, aptly, in Rwanda – one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa, with a reputation for innovation in many sectors, including health care. The event was recently postponed, however, due to the global pandemic.

Kigali skyline. Credit: The Commonwealth Secretariat

In a statement announcing the postponement, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda stated: “In the coming months, every Commonwealth nation will be fully focused on combatting Covid-19 and its socio-economic impact on our people… We look forward to welcoming the Commonwealth family to Kigali for CHOGM once the pandemic has been defeated.”

According to some, this kind of decision shows how international support has been lacking precisely when it is most needed. Ian Golding, a professor of globalization and development at Oxford University, recently wrote in the Guardian that “The US has turned its back on the world. The UK, like Europe, appears preoccupied with its own medical and economic emergencies; the ability of Commonwealth countries to cope with the pandemic appears to have fallen off its domestic agenda.”

But the Commonwealth is taking steps to ensure its members are supported during this global pandemic. It is hosting a virtual seminar series beginning on May 13, 2020, to help address the challenges they are facing and to exchange ideas for solutions with each other. It has also launched a web-based ‘Coronavirus Response Centre’ and tracker, designed to provide data-driven insights to help policymakers plan and respond to the pandemic.

Noteworthy is a specific online meeting to be held on May 14, 2020, for Commonwealth Health Ministers – its theme is “delivering a coordinated Commonwealth COVID-19 response.”

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland told IPS: “With 54 member countries across five regions and 2.4 billion people in total, the Commonwealth is a powerful platform to propel coordinated multilateral action to tackle this pandemic.

“Commonwealth Health Ministers will convene virtually on 14 May, a few days ahead of the World Health Assembly. The aim is to review the coronavirus response at pan-Commonwealth, regional and national levels; share good practice strategies, solutions and models; and identify priorities for coordinated action.

“Ministers will also discuss continuing and co-ordinated action on other health challenges, including non-communicable diseases, malnutrition, immunisations, and malaria which are priority areas of concern among Commonwealth member governments.”

Rwanda school. Credit: The Commonwealth Secretariat

The virtual seminar series will be led by high-level participants from Commonwealth governments, the Commonwealth Secretariat and other policy experts. Here, participants will gain from the knowledge of other members, including those of Rwanda, the landlocked East African country that has managed to stem the spread of COVID-19 with expertise and skills it developed in tackling the 2018 Ebola crisis.

“In Rwanda, the response was swift, effective, and well organized with a clear objective and clear purpose,” Vedaste Ndahindwa, an epidemiologist working in the World Health Organization (WHO) in Rwanda said.

The Rwandan government was quick to recognize the threat posed by the virus and took to techniques employed in preventing Ebola from spilling into the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

But, despite having the region’s best response to the outbreak, the number of confirmed cases in the country continues to rise. The country also faces the challenges of globalised interdependence. As trade and supply chains come to a halt across the globe, obtaining supplies during a global shortage is massively problematic. As Ian Goldin says, “globalization means that systemic risks anywhere are a risk to us all.”

Now, more than ever, we must look beyond our national borders and come together as a global community. If we are to avoid a massive humanitarian tragedy and protect the world from the backdraft of ongoing viral epicenters, it is imperative that governments everywhere come together with a cohesive and cooperative response to COVID-19.

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Yasmine Sherif is Director, Education Cannot Wait

By Yasmine Sherif
NEW YORK, May 13 2020 (IPS)

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we estimated that 75 million children and youth – of whom 39 million are girls – were not able to access a quality education in countries impacted by armed conflicts, forced displacement, natural disasters and climate change-induced emergencies. The impact of COVID-19 has both globally and exponentially deepened the already existing critical education crisis.

Yasmine Sherif

In many of these countries, weak infrastructure does not allow for remote learning through technology. In most parts of Afghanistan, in the Central African Republic or in Chad, to mention just a few, remote technological learning is simply not an option today – further contributing to the education divide. At the same time, we know that quality, inclusive education is a foundational Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) necessary to advance all other SDGs.

In the words of the President of the UN General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande: “Given the importance of education in achieving the 2030 Agenda, we must ensure that we urgently tackle the disruptions that the pandemic has already caused … While it has been easier for developed countries to transit to remote learning, many governments around the world found it difficult or impossible.”

The President of the UN General Assembly concluded, “We cannot allow this pandemic to widen the educational gap that already exists. I call on you all [193 Member States] to make cooperation in education a key element in your response to this pandemic.”

Indeed, in countries affected by armed conflicts and forced displacement, we can expect to see a significant increase in long-term loss of access to inclusive quality education due to COVID-19. We will see an increase in school drop-out rates and a reduction in psychosocial support and other protection mechanisms for students and teachers alike. This, in turn, will impact socio-economic development and the ability to build back better.

A crisis, however complicated it is, must be a trigger for immediate action, rather than a cause for delay. An early response stands greater chances of mitigating the impact and reduce the risk of a growing education divide. As the President of the UN General Assembly highlighted, education needs to be a priority within the COVID-19 response.

Thanks to the support of Education Cannot Wait’s strategic donor constituency, a coordinated, comprehensive emergency investment was rapidly released in April to UN agencies and Civil Society organizations to enable them to quickly deliver education support for vulnerable girls and boys in 26 crisis-affected countries.

This emergency investment empowers: Ministries of Education in developing catch-up programmes and condensed curricula to prevent loss in the school year; production of distance learning material for pre-primary, primary and secondary levels; home-based learning and special measures for children with disabilities; expansion of radio and television education; COVID-19 awareness raising for children, parents and teachers; disinfection of schools; access to improved water and hygiene facilities and supplies; psychosocial counselling; and, the continued payment of teachers’ salaries during the crisis.

However, the needs remain enormous and urgent. Education Cannot Wait will therefore release a second round of investments in June. To this end, we have launched an appeal to both public and private sector donors for $50 million. We are deeply grateful to the United Kingdom and the LEGO Foundation for their swift contributions to cover 42% of the appeal, while Denmark has matched and frontloaded committed funding. However, at the time of writing, $29 million, is still urgently needed.

Unless we invest in education now – in the midst of the global COVID-19 crisis – much of the progress made through joint efforts among many different actors and organizations will be lost; perhaps irreversibly for millions of girls and boys, whose vulnerabilities will rapidly increase. Whatever befalls us in the coming ten years, whatever crises we face, there is one thing we cannot do. We cannot slide back on our progress and let the gap widen during the Decade of Action.

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Excerpt:

Yasmine Sherif is Director, Education Cannot Wait

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Mohammed Hussein Bahr Aluloom, Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations, addresses the open video conference with Security Council members in connection with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). Courtesy: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

By Samira Sadeque
UNITED NATIONS, May 13 2020 (IPS)

Iraq’s newly-announced leader has brought hope to a country embroiled in a 17-year-long conflict, but authorities must ensure that issues such as swift and rapid response to COVID-19, security concerns, and corruption among others are addressed with urgency, experts said on Tuesday. 

The government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhim, which was announced last week, is “a long- overdue but very welcome development,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, said at a briefing on May 12.

Hennis-Plasschaert lauded the new government’s agenda to address a wide range of issues and added, “Iraq does not have the luxury of time, nor can it afford destructive petty politics.” 

Al-Kadhim has said a key priority for his government is to address the current coronavirus pandemic and investigate cases of those who killed protesters in the last few months, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday. 

While experts acknowledge that addressing the coronavirus is an urgent issue, with almost 3,000 cases and 112 deaths in the country, there remain concerns that other long-standing issues might be of higher priority. 

“While the pandemic remains a serious issue, most Iraqi citizens are more concerned by the possibility of not being able to meet basic livelihood needs, in particular in light of the collapse of oil revenue,” Hassan Mneimneh, a scholar at the Middle East Institute (MEI), told IPS after the briefing. “The spread of COVID-19 has so far not been devastating, which complicates the effort of sensitising the general public to its seriousness.”  

At the briefing, in welcoming al-Kadhim’s government, Hennis-Plasschaert further reiterated that containing the spread of the virus should be the top-most priority, especially since the Iraqi health system was “already near breaking point before the coronavirus outbreak”. 

But realistically, this might not be as easy as it has been for other countries. As Mneimneh said, “A sustained total lockdown is not practical or enforceable, [and] contact tracing is virtually impossible, but some forms of social distancing and mandating masks in public may be possible.”

He added that an information campaign could be extremely crucial in order to contain the spread in the country.

Meanwhile, Hennis-Plasschaert reiterated the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ plea for a ceasefire in late March in light of the coronavirus pandemic. But with the Islamic State’s activities, Mneimneh said the issue is more nuanced than a straightforward answer. 

“Note that the Islamic State terrorist group will certainly not abide by any such call, and therefore a sustained fight against it is necessary,” said Mneimneh, whose work has a special focus on radicalism and factionalism. 

A massive highlight in the new government, however, is the glimmer of hope for minority communities and women. At the briefing, Hennis-Plasschaert said minority communities and women must have a representation in the government, which Mneimneh said is likely given al-Kadhimi’s reported record of “deliberate and pro-active attention” to both demographics. 

“This is the moment of reckoning after 17 years of mismanagement and neglect,” Mneimneh said of the new government, highlighting the importance of the people of Iraq in driving through the new force of change, a sentiment also echoed by Hennis-Plasschaert.

“[Al-Kadhimi] assumes his responsibilities while Iraq undergoes its most acute existential crisis — with an empty treasury, grim outlook for revenue, and a potentially devastating public health crisis,” Mneimneh said. “The efforts of all Iraqis and friends of Iraq are essential to avoid the fall into the abyss.”

• Mosul, an Epicentre of the ISIS Conflict, is a Devastated Iraqi City
• Is Iraq Now a Virtual “US-Occupied Territory”?

The post On the Agenda of Iraq’s New Government: An Empty Treasury, Low Revenue, and COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

While experts acknowledge that addressing the coronavirus is an urgent issue for Iraq's new government, there remain concerns that other long-standing issues might be of higher priority. 

The post On the Agenda of Iraq’s New Government: An Empty Treasury, Low Revenue, and COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, just doesn’t have the financial resources to combat human trafficking. With 50 percent of this country’s 18 million people living below the poverty line, many are susceptible to the crime of trafficking. Credit: Charles Mpaka/IPS

By Charity Chimungu Phiri
BLANTYRE, Malawi , May 13 2020 (IPS)

Malawi is not doing enough to enforce its laws on human trafficking, resulting in a number of cases against perpetrators being dismissed by the courts, according to a local rights group. But local officials say that this Southern African nation — one of the poorest countries in the world — just doesn’t have the financial resources to do so.

• The 2015 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Act criminalises sex and labour trafficking, with up to 14 years imprisonment for offences involving an adult victim, and up to 21 years imprisonment for offences involving a child.
•  The TIP Act mandated the creation of a Trafficking in Persons Fund (TIPF), to financially support victims with aid, counselling and seeking justice.
•  In addition, Malawi has set up a National Coordination Committee Against Trafficking in Persons (NCCATIP) and developed a National Plan of Action Against Trafficking in Persons (2017-2022).

Caleb Thole, the national coordinator of the Malawi Network Against Trafficking (MNAT), a coalition of NGOs, told IPS that they are concerned that the TIPF was empty and not enough assistance was being given to victims.

“When we’re rescuing victims they need to be fed, transported and kept in a shelter, but there are literally no funds in the TIPF, the government cannot show you any…there aren’t even shelter homes to provide safety for victims,” he said.

However, senior deputy secretary for Homeland Security and the national coordinator for NCCATIP, Patricia Liabuba, told IPS that government funding to TIPF has increased, but acknowledged there were financial shortfalls.

“Government funding from 2017 has increased gradually from $66,000 to $200,000 in 2019. It is an undisputed fact that trafficking in person issues are multi-sectoral in nature and that the key challenge is insufficient funds to provide shelter and protection services for the victims,” she told IPS. 

Liabuba acknowledged the government was, by law, responsible for “repatriating victims and reintegrating them with the community as well as international victims”.

• Between 2016 and 2018, the Malawian government, with support from international agencies, repatriated over 80 girls who were trafficked to Kuwait under the pretence of gainful employment.
• In 2016, authorities said they needed about $17,300 to bring home 28 girls who were destitute in Kuwait after their employers took away their passports.

Modestar* was one of those young Malawian women who had been stranded overseas. She had left her home in Zalewa, a town in Malawi’s southern region for Kurdistan in northern Iraq, some 5,400 miles away, after being promised a well-paying job looking after the elderly.

But the salary she had been promised was slashed in half, and her phone and passport was confiscated upon her arrival. She was forced to work long hours caring for an elderly patient in a private home.

“I was not allowed to go outside of the compound. I worked long hours, at times from 7am to 1am [the next day], without getting paid,” she told IPS.

• The Global Sustainability Network ( GSN ), which actively supports the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 8 of decent work and economic growth, has focused much of its work on eliminating modern slavery.  GSN has been focusing efforts to create a global movement of change and a list of recommendations aimed at employers states, among other things, that there should be; no withholding of passports and IDs, wages should be directly paid into employees’ bank accounts, their living conditions must be safe and they must be guaranteed freedom of movement.

Eventually she was rescued by Iraqi police who had been tipped off by another woman who had also been in domestic service with Modestar. But the women soon realised they may not be able to return home, as the employment agent refused to return their passports.

“It took the police threatening to shut down their agency for them to agree to let us go; so they went and cancelled our visas and gave us our money and we left,” she recalled.

She had been fortunate that the ‘agent’ had agreed to pay her return airfare — but it was only as far as Johannesburg, South Africa.

While the TIPF is meant for repatriation, there had been no funding available for her. Instead, MNAT stepped in cover the costs her journey from Johannesburg back to Malawi. 

Liabuba pointed out that in Malawi, most women and girls are trafficked from rural areas “to work as prostitutes in urban centres and to foreign countries for forced labour, prostitution and sexual exploitation”.

Thole confirmed this: “The country registers between 15 and 20 cases daily nationwide, mostly from border districts such as Phalombe, Mulanje, and Thyolo. Cases are also reported due to cross border businesses with countries like Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa and also to countries such as Kuwait and the Arab Emirates seeking job opportunities.”

• The International Monetary Fund estimates that 50 percent of this country’s 18 million people live below the poverty line. Youth unemployment, according to World Bank estimates as of April 2020, stands at 7.5 percent.

Liabuba said that in 2019 the country had recorded 142 trafficking victims, with 32 suspected traffickers charged.

“Following the prosecution and successful trial, 16 of the 32 suspects were convicted and four were discharged and the other 12 are being tried in different courts across the country,” Liabuba said.

Malawi’s Police Service had slightly different figures, stating that in 2019 140 victims of human trafficking where rescued, of which 65 were children.

Malawi Police Services’ public relations officer James Kadadzera told IPS that out of these cases, 48 suspects were arrested, prosecuted and are serving different jail sentences.

“Out of the 48 convicts the longest term was given to one who is serving 12 years imprisonment with hard labour; he was arrested in Phalombe on his way to Mozambique with six boys,” said Kadadzera.

But Thole said MNAT was concerned that many cases ended up being dismissed and that perpetrators are being fined for their crimes — which is against the law — instead of being given jail sentences.

“Convicts who are supposed to be jailed are being released on fines, with some getting light sentences. There’re some agencies which cannot even be questioned as to what sort of activities they’re operating in the country…law enforcement agencies don’t even fully understand the law and how it is supposed to be interpreted,” Thole told IPS.

Last year, Malawi was downgraded to a Tier 2 watchlist country by the United States Department of State. A Tier 2 country, means that while the country does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, they are making significant attempts to do so.  

According to a U.S. Department of State report on trafficking in Malawi, the “government did not investigate or hold any complicit officials criminally accountable despite these credible allegations and several past cases of Malawian diplomats, police, health, and immigration officials engaged in trafficking abroad. The government did not report referring or otherwise providing protective services to any trafficking victims”.

But Kadadzera called for intensive civic education on trafficking, especially for young women and girls, who are disproportionately affected by the crime. 

“Just last week a young lady approached us privately saying she was having doubts about a certain gentleman who claimed to be an agent who could help her get health care work in the United Kingdom. She had already paid the man [about $650] which she has since gotten back and swears not to get carried away again,” he said.

The U.N’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Malawi is one of the agencies working with the government to combat human trafficking.

• It supported the government develop the National Plan of Action Against Trafficking in Persons, conducted capacity-building activities against trafficking and aided with resource mobilisation to strengthen the trafficking fund, among other things.

“However, more needs to be done in creating services that increase employment opportunities and reduction of poverty among at-risk population,” said IOM Chief Commissioner Mpilo Nkomo.

Modestar is a case in point. While funding from the TIPF had not been available to her, upon her return home, MNAT provided her with capital, which she used to start a small business selling clothing and cosmetics.   

But Liabuba acknowledged that the government needed to do more in its fight against trafficking.

“The Malawi government should do more to lobby with donor partners for resources for construction of shelters and direct assistance to victims of trafficking…enhance capacity for law enforcers, judicial officers, the National Coordination Committee and protection officers…and develop more nationwide educational programmes targeting mainly women and children,” she said.

But Thole told IPS there was lack of political will to eliminate human trafficking in Malawi.

“We need structures, systems and financial resources in place to support the fight against trafficking in persons in Malawi. Other countries like the U.S. have put stringent measures in place to deal with trafficking for example banning visas for domestic workers for Malawian diplomats. We’re currently we’re on Tier 2 on the watch list which means we’re slowly moving into Tier 3, which is the worst,” Thole said.

* Name changed to protect her identity. 

** Writing with Nalisha Adams in Bonn.

This is part of a series of features from across the globe on human trafficking. IPS coverage is supported by the Airways Aviation Group.

The origins of the GSN come from the endeavours of the Joint Declaration of Religious Leaders signed on 2 December 2014. Religious leaders of various faiths, gathered to work together “to defend the dignity and freedom of the human being against the extreme forms of the globalisation of indifference, such us exploitation, forced labour, prostitution, human trafficking” and so forth.

• Zimbabwe’s Thin Line between Child Smuggling and Child Trafficking
• Indonesia’s Laws Ineffective against Human Trafficking
• Slavery Modernises, Adapts to Stay Alive in Brazil

The post Malawi’s Vulnerable Shortchanged in Human Trafficking Prevention Efforts appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Malawi is a source, destination and transit country for human and sex trafficking. But the poverty-stricken nation, where almost 80 precent of its population is employed by the agriculture sector, doesn't have the funds to combat the crime.

The post Malawi’s Vulnerable Shortchanged in Human Trafficking Prevention Efforts appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: Unsplash / Adolfo Félix

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
BANGKOK, Thailand, May 13 2020 (IPS)

Memories of idyllic beaches and sonorous waves may seem far away while we remain at home. Yet, we need not look far to appreciate the enduring history of the ocean in Asia and the Pacific. For generations, the region has thrived on our seas. Our namesake bears a nod to the Pacific Ocean, a body of water tethered to the well-being of billions in our region. The seas provide food, livelihoods and a sense of identity, especially for coastal communities in the Pacific island States.

Sadly, escalating strains on the marine environment are threatening to drown progress and our way of life. In less than a century, climate change and unsustainable resource management have degraded ecosystems and diminished biodiversity. Levels of overfishing have exponentially increased, leaving fish stocks and food systems vulnerable. Marine plastic pollution coursing through the region’s rivers have contributed to most of the debris flooding the ocean. While the COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily reduced emissions and pollution on the ocean, this should not be moment of reprieve. Rather, recovery efforts have the potential to rebuild a new reality, embedded in sustainability and resilience. It is time to take transformative action for the ocean, together.

Despite a seascape celebrated in our collective imaginations, research shows that our picture of the ocean is remarkably shallow. Insights from Changing Sails: Accelerating Regional Actions for Sustainable Oceans in Asia and the Pacific, the theme study of this year’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, reveal that without data, we are swimming in the dark. Data are available for only two out of ten targets for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14: Life Below Water. Due to limitations in methodology and national statistical systems, information gaps have persisted at uneven levels across countries. Defeating COVID-19 has been a numbers game and we need similar commitment to data for the state of our shores.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

While there is much we cannot see, images of plastic pollution have become commonplace. Asia and the Pacific produces nearly half of global plastic by volume, of which it consumes 38 per cent. Plastics represent a double burden for the ocean: their production generates CO2 absorbed by the ocean, and as a final product enter the ocean as pollution. Beating this challenge will hinge upon effective national policies and re-thinking production cycles.

Environmental decline is also affecting dwindling fish stocks. Our region’s position as the world’s largest producer of fish has come at the cost of overexploitation. The percentage of stocks fished at unsustainable levels has increased threefold from 10 per cent 1974 to 33 per cent in 2015. Generating complete data on fish stocks, fighting illicit fishing activity and conserving marine areas must remain a priority.

Economic activity from shipping must also be sustainable. While the most connected shipping economies are in Asia, the small island developing States (SIDS) of the Pacific experience much lower levels of connectivity, leaving them relatively isolated from the global economy. Closing the maritime connectivity gap must be placed at the centre of regional transport cooperation efforts. We must also work with the shipping community to navigate toward green shipping. As an ocean-based industry, shipping directly affects the health of the marine ecosystem. Enforcing sustainable shipping policies is essential to mitigate maritime pollution.

The magnitude of our ocean and its challenges represent how extensive and collaborative our solutions must be. Transboundary ocean management and linking ocean data call for close cooperation among countries in the region. Harnessing ocean statistics through strong national statistical systems will serve as a compass guiding countries to monitor trends, devise timely responses and clear blind spots impeding action. Through the Ocean Accounts Partnership, ESCAP is working with countries to harmonize ocean data and provide a space for regular dialogue. Translating international agreements and standards into national action is also key. We must fully equip countries and all ocean custodians to localize global agreements into tangible results. ESCAP is working with member states to implement International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements on emissions reduction and environmental standards.

Keeping the ocean plastic-free will depend on policies that promote a circular economy approach. This strategy minimizes resource use and keeps them in use for as long as possible. This will require economic incentives and disincentives, coupled with fundamental lifestyle changes. Several countries in the region have introduced successful single use plastic bans. ESCAP’s Closing the Loop project is reducing the environmental impact of cities in ASEAN by addressing plastic waste pollution and leakages into the marine environment.

Our oceans keep our health, the economy and our lives above the waves. In the post-COVID-19 era, we must use the critical years ahead to steer our collective fleets toward sustainable oceans. With our shared resources and commitment, I am confident we can sail in the right direction.

The post Healthy Oceans: Keeping Asia and the Pacific Afloat appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP

The post Healthy Oceans: Keeping Asia and the Pacific Afloat appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Vladimir Popov
BERLIN, May 13 2020 (IPS)

In public health discussions, it is generally recognized that the social returns to health care investments are greater than the private returns, and much of such investments should be financed by the state.

Also, global benefits from national health care spending are greater than just the national benefits, while the costs of underinvestment in national health care are borne not only by the country in question, but also by the rest of the world.

Vladimir Popov

Extending life expectancy
First, governments have a responsibility to increase the life expectancy of their citizens, at least commensurate with their level of economic development, typically proxied by per capita income. Available evidence suggests life expectancy is strongly correlated with per capita income, but some countries are clearly doing better than others.

China, Japan and many European countries have higher life expectancies than their per capita incomes would suggest, whereas the converse is true of South Africa, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US, even when comparing purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita national income, probably due to their greater inequalities in incomes and healthcare access.

Income inequalities were low and access to health care was free and universal in the ‘communist’ countries. In the 1960s, life expectancy in the Soviet Union reached 70 years – nearly the level of much richer developed countries.

But the early 1990s’ mortality crisis, following the abrupt neoliberal reforms during Yeltsin’s first term, caused average life expectancy to fall by over five years! Even after this, life expectancy in former communist countries was, on average, five years higher than for other countries at the same per capita income level.

Universal access to health care in China before the 1979 market liberalization reforms weakened over the next two decades. However, things improved thereafter with the creation of a national health care insurance system, and especially with more progressive reforms after the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic.

How efficient is health care spending?
Second, countries must strive for health care system ‘efficacy’, so that greater health care spending commensurately increases life expectancy. Total health care spending as a share of GDP is correlated with life expectancy, but more spending in South Africa, Saudi Arabia and the US has been less beneficial, again due to unequal health care access.

Third, national governments have a responsibility to ensure a certain level of health care access for all, irrespective of personal means. The government share of total (public and private) health care spending has increased with per capita income.

But private financing shares in India, Brazil, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and the US were higher than in other countries with similar average incomes. Despite some notably exceptional less unequal countries, e.g., South Korea, greater reliance on private financing generally reduced life expectancy, implying that even high government health care spending is not enough to counter the negative impact of greater inequality.

South Africa, with one of the most unequal income distributions in the world, and its Gini coefficient inequality measure exceeding 60%, is a case in point. Over half of its relatively high (8% of GDP) health care spending comes from government. It is a higher proportion than in other countries at similar income levels, but has not raised mean life expectancy (64 years) to that of other countries at the same income level, such as Indonesia, with an average life expectancy of 71 years.

Coping with epidemics
Finally, fourth, national governments should be able to isolate and quarantine infected individuals in the event of an epidemic. Preliminary statistics for the Covid-19 pandemic suggest very varied death rates among countries.

These differences are partly explained by statistical variations: the higher the level of testing, the greater the number of infections and deaths attributable to Covid-19. As developed countries can generally afford far more testing, they may appear to have higher infection and death rates than developing countries, everything else being equal.

However, another likely explanation is East Asian governments’ early ‘symptomatic tracking’ (without testing) and isolation measures. In this regard, East Asian, Middle Eastern and North African countries have performed much better than most developed countries, where strict tracing, isolation, quarantine and ‘lockdown’ measures may be seen as draconian.

China trumps US
On all four counts, China has performed much better than the US: its life expectancy is higher than in most countries with similar levels of average income and health care spending as a share of GDP.

China’s government health care spending is higher than in other countries at a similar level of development, while its ability to contain epidemics via symptomatic tracking and isolation has been impressive.

China would thus come out well in such comparisons with the US whose health care performance indicators were generally considered poor even before the Covid-19 crisis underscored such differences, which have even larger implications in a US election year.

Vladimir Popov is a Research Director at the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute in Berlin.
This article is based on a longer paper with figures on the DoCRI website.

The post Why Some National Health Care Systems Do Better than Others appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The Bijoy Sarani Railway Slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Credit: UNHabitat/Kirsten Milhahn

By Maimunah Mohd Sharif and Leilani Farha
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 13 2020 (IPS)

Public health officials are calling the “stay home” policy the sacrifice of our generation. To flatten the curve of COVID-19 infections, this call of duty is now emblazoned on t-shirts, in street art and a celebrity hashtag.

But for the 1.8 billion people around the world living in homelessness and inadequate shelter, an appeal to “stay home” as an act of public health solidarity, is simply not possible. Such a call serves to highlight stark and long-standing inequalities in the housing market. It underscores that the human right to shelter is a life or death matter.

Throughout this global pandemic, governments are relying on access to adequate housing to slow the viral spread through self-isolating or social distancing policies. Yet, living conditions in poor or inadequate housing actually create a higher risk of infection whether from overcrowding which inhibits physical distancing or a lack of proper sanitation that makes regular hand-washing difficult.

At the most extreme, people experiencing homelessness must choose between sleeping rough or in shelters where physical distancing and adequate personal hygiene are almost impossible. Homeless populations and people living in inadequate housing often already suffer from chronic diseases and underlying conditions that make COVID-19 even more deadly.

It is now clear, housing is both prevention and cure – and a matter of life and death – in the face of COVID-19. Governments must take steps to protect people who are the most vulnerable to the pandemic by providing adequate shelter where it is lacking and ensuring the housed do not become homeless because of the economic consequences of the pandemic.

These crucial measures include stopping all evictions, postponing eviction court proceedings, prohibiting utility shut-offs and ensuring renters and mortgage payers do not accrue insurmountable debt during lockdowns.

In addition, vacant housing and hotel rooms should be allocated to people experiencing homelessness or fleeing domestic violence. Basic health care should be provided to people living in homelessness regardless of citizenship status and cash transfers should be established for people in urgent need.

Steps should be quickly taken to establish emergency handwashing facilities and health care services for at-risk and underserved communities and informal settlements.

In many cities and countries, emergency measures are already moving in this direction.

Berlin opened a hostel to temporarily house up to 200 homeless people, catering to all nationalities. The Welsh government pledged GBP10 million to local councils for emergency homeless housing by block booking empty lodging like hotels and student dormitories.

A woman outside a community run water facility in Old Town, Accra Ghana. Credit: UNHabitat/Kirsten Milhahn

In South Africa where under half of all households have access to basic handwashing facilities and in Kenya, where it is under a quarter of households, governments are increasing access to water for residents living in rural areas and informal settlements by providing water tanks, standpipes, and sanitation services in public spaces.

Many jurisdictions, such as Canada’s province of British Columbia, have suspended evictions. The eviction ban means landlords cannot issue a new notice to end a tenancy for any reason and existing orders will not be enforced.

Spain, France, the United Kingdom and the United States have announced mortgage postponements in an effort to curb potential defaults.

National and local governments are also working with the private sector to tackle housing issues. For example, Singaporean firms with government backing are providing accommodation for Malaysian workers who had been commuting to Singapore daily.

And as they are no tourists in Barcelona, the city has agreed with the Association of Barcelona Tourist Apartments to allocate 200 apartments for emergency housing for vulnerable families, homeless people and those affected by domestic violence.

Some cities are leveraging citizen solidarity. Residents of Los Angeles are making hand-washing stations for homeless people living in a depressed area known as Skid Row which are installed and maintained by a local community centre.

All of these urgent measures and more are desperately needed and demonstrate the way in which housing is inherently connected to our collective public health. These successful interventions also show concrete ways that governments and communities can effectively tackle the pre-existing global housing crisis – a crisis which affected at least 1.8 billion people worldwide, even before the pandemic.

In 2018 the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless reported that homelessness had skyrocketed across the continent. In the United States, 500,000 people are currently homeless, 40 per cent of whom are unsheltered.

In April last year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned that rent is currently the biggest expense for households accounting on average for one-third of their income. In the last two decades, housing prices have grown three times faster than incomes.

The current global housing system treats housing as a commodity. In times of crisis, the inefficiencies of the market are clear with the public sector expected to absorb liabilities.

This is not sustainable and many cities are struggling to find shelter for their citizens. COVID-19 has brought into sharp relief the housing paradox – in a time when people are in n desperate need for shelter, apartments and houses sit empty. This market aberration needs correcting.

Governments are at a crossroads. They can treat COVID-19 as an acute emergency and address immediate needs without grappling with hard questions and fundamental questions about the global housing system.

Or they can take legislative and policy decisions to address immediate needs, while also addressing the present housing system’s structural inequalities, putting in place long term ‘rights-based’ solutions to address our collective right to adequate shelter. Housing must be affordable, accessible and adequate.

COVID-19 is unlikely to be the last pandemic or global crisis that we face. What we do now will shape the cities we live in, and how resilient we will be in the future.

The post Housing is Both a Prevention & Cure for COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Maimunah Mohd Sharif is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat & Leilani Farha is the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, and Global Director of The Shift.

The post Housing is Both a Prevention & Cure for COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By External Source
Beirut, Lebanon, May 12 2020 (IPS-Partners)

(UNESCO/Ministry of Education and Higher Education/ECW) – The COVID-19 pandemic has translated into a major education crisis. In Lebanon, 1.2 million children are affected by school closures and have seen their learning routines disrupted. While Lebanon has switched to distance teaching and learning to mitigate the effects of this disruption, challenges related to preparedness, infrastructure and capacity, as well as the digital gaps, have put additional strains on students, parents, teachers, and the educational authorities.

In this context, and in the framework of their educational response to the COVID-19 crisis, UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States (UNESCO Beirut) and Education Cannot Wait (ECW) quickly joined efforts to support the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in developing inclusive distance learning solutions to ensure that learning never stops.

As one of the tracks of the Ministry of Education’s strategy to respond to the COVID-19 crisis focuses on developing online learning as an alternative to school closures, UNESCO Beirut and ECW, with generous support from the French government, provided the Ministry with online learning material and digital resources to be used by teachers and students in Lebanon. 297 video lessons, covering Math, Science, and French classes, were provided by Reseau CANOPE, and are available on the online platform launched by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education for the COVID-19 response.

Minister of Education Dr Tarek Majzoub said: “We are happy to partner with UNESCO and ECW to facilitate inclusive learning opportunities for children during this period of sudden and unprecedented educational disruption. Special thanks to the French Government for its generous contribution that made this important initiative happen”, while adding: “This collective action will help build a more resilient system to develop more open and flexible approaches to reach all our children in Lebanon and to promote the values of citizenship, coexistence, and dialogue”.

This cooperation comes within the framework of UNESCO’s project “Supporting francophone teaching and learning in Lebanon”, funded by ECW with the support of the French government, and launched in November 2018. The project aims to promote the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning in French for vulnerable Lebanese and non-Lebanese students enrolled in public schools, and is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

UNESCO’s Regional Director for Education in the Arab States, Dr Hamed al Hamami, said: “From school closures, to isolation, to a persistent sense of anxiety, the effects of this pandemic are greatly impacting children and youth. Despite the crisis, learning should never stop. This is why UNESCO is committed to supporting the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in developing remote learning solutions and ensuring inclusion and equity for all learners, so that no one is left behind. Our cooperation with the Ministry will not only help ensure continuity of education but can also contribute to building a more resilient education system for the future, through providing teachers and students with new learning material and resources ”.

Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, stated: “Lebanon deserves all our support and cooperation. UNESCO has years of experience in modeling, testing, and sharing some of the world’s most innovative learning solutions, and their ideas are now available for nations like Lebanon amidst this crisis. The admirable efforts of the Lebanese Ministry of Education to enable online learning brings equity and access to education for vulnerable children, including refugee and displaced girls and boys. This is how we empower these children to improve their learning, while unlocking the amazing potential for innovation. Our appreciation and gratitude to the Government of France for making this possible.”

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