Key Messages • An additional 14.3 million people are expected to fall below the poverty line in the Arab Middle-Income Countries (MICs) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and an additional 1.9 million people will become undernourished. • Projections for economic growth in MENA indicate a contraction of 5.7 percent by end of fiscal year 2020, with some countries shrinking up to 13 percent. • Unemployment is also forecasted to rise sharply in 2021 in the region, especially in Jordan (20.5 percent), and Iran (14.4 percent). • Currency devaluation in Lebanon…
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COVID-19 Situation update for the WHO African Region, External Situation Report 29 (16 September 2020)
1. Situation update The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the WHO African Region has continued to decrease in the past weeks. Since our last External Situation Report 28 issued on 9 September 2020, a total of 29 710 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 921 new deaths were reported from 46 countries between 9 and 15 September 2020. This is a 14% and 22% decrease in incidence cases and deaths, respectively, as compared to 34 564 cases and 1 773 deaths registered during the previous reporting period (2…
Read MoreCOVID-19 emergency response – Africa Region situation report #12, 17 September, 2020
Situation Overview Increasing vulnerabilities and worsening humanitarian needs due to lockdowns are devastating livelihoods. UN OCHA’s humanitarian response plans are showing a higher number of people in need (10% higher than this time last year, which equates to 48.9 million in East Africa, 45 million in Southern Africa and 44.7 million in West Africa). Prolonged school closures have negatively affected children’s learning and led to higher teenage pregnancy. According to a recent World Vision study, as many as one million girls may be blocked from returning to school across Sub-Saharan…
Read MoreWhat is the humanitarian impact of the COVID-19 pandemic?
On 15 September, ICRC Africa deputy regional director Linh Schroeder gave evidence to the UK International Development Committee as part of a panel of humanitarians. Linh was joined by Selena Victor, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at Mercy Corps and Kate White, Medical Emergency Manager and COVID-19 medical technical lead for Médecins Sans Frontières, to answer MP’s questions on how Coronavirus is impacting humanitarian operations. What are we seeing in our Africa operations? “COVID did not spread out as quickly and was not as deadly in Africa as elsewhere,”…
Read MoreCOVID-19 Situation Report #25 – 17 September 2020
Key Updates • In Ethiopia, Project HOPE has reached 4,327 internally displaced persons (IDP) from 748 households with handwashing supplies and education with support from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. Under the same project, 162 health care workers have been trained on COVID-19 to date. • In partnership with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and ECHO, Project HOPE is training Master Trainers in its COVID-19 Preparedness and Response curriculum from Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Eswatini, Lesotho and Zambia. A second training is scheduled for next week…
Read MoreUNHCR West & Central Africa COVID-19 Emergency Response, 17 September 2020
21 Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. In West and Central Africa, the increase rate in new COVID-19 cases is slowing down while the number of active cases is declining for the past two months, going from 48,443 on 20 July to 23,195 as of 17 September 2020. In Cote d’Ivoire, UNHCR obtained the opening of humanitarian corridor to facilitate the voluntary…
Read MoreWHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 – 17 September 2020
Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends, Thank you for joining us for this week’s Member State briefing. Today we will hear from the Minister of Health of Togo, Moustafa Mijiyawa, on the lessons Togo has learned in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Welcome my brother. We will then hear an update on planning for the Solidarity Vaccines Trial from our chief scientist, Dr Soumya Swaminathan. We have minimized the presentations today to allow enough time for discussion on this initiative, and we look forward to your guidance and advice…
Read MoreAfrican Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) Initiative – Embedding Nutrition within the Covid-19 Response and Recovery: COVID-19 Position Paper [EN/AR/PT]
The African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) have unveiled a position paper calling upon African Heads of State and Governments to ensure that financing for nutrition is included in their country’s COVID-19 response and recovery plans. The position paper, titled “Embedding Nutrition within the COVID-19 Response and Recovery”, was sent to African member states by His Majesty King Letsie III of the Kingdom of Lesotho, an ALN “Nutrition Champion”. Embedding Nutrition within the COVID-19 Response and Recovery recommends that countries maintain and increase the level of funding allocated to nutrition to…
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