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Fallout of COVID-19 pandemic causes spike in world hunger
Critical juncture: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic worsening of world hunger – in 2020, just under 10% of the global population was undernourished, up from 8.4% in 2019. A UN report on the state of food security and nutrition in the world found that Africa saw the sharpest rise – at 21% of the population, Africa’s rate of undernourishment is more than double that of any other region...
Arielle Witter
Rasna Warah is a Kenyan writer and journalist who is working with the ONE Campaign’s COVID-19 Aftershocks project.
EU countries will issue a COVID-19 vaccine certificate that excludes key vaccines distributed through the COVAX facility – which is financed by many of the same countries – placing Africans at a unique disadvantage.
Africans who have expressed concern over the extremely stringent and punitive visa application procedures of EU countries now have to contend with another barrier to their entry to Europe....
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Africa’s worst week since the pandemic started
Nothing we have seen before: This week was Africa’s worst since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Confirmed cases across the continent surged past the previous peak. Infections are now rising by 25% every week. The WHO’s Africa Director, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said, “the speed and scale of Africa’s third wave is like nothing we have seen before.” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the country’s health system is “buckling” as...
This guest blog was written by ONE Youth Ambassador Veerle Blokhuis.
The coronavirus has brought about a lot of change in the world. The various measures deployed worldwide to combat the pandemic have had a major impact on our daily lives, from many workers losing part, or all, of their income to children no longer being able to go to school. In African countries, however, these impacts are even more severe.
On the continent, lower incomes and less education have led...
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Governments, businesses and philanthropists commit $40 billion to fight for gender equality
Time for change: The Generation Equality Forum taking place in Paris this week is an opportunity to ensure that gender is at the heart of the post-COVID agenda. The event has already raised $40 billion in new financial commitments, including a pledge of $2.1 billion from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. US Vice-President Kamala Harris announced that the US plans to double PEPFAR’s DREAMS partnership, which...
Rasna Warah is a Kenyan writer and journalist who is working with the ONE Campaign’s COVID-19 Aftershocks project.
Tanzania’s new president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, is slowly reversing the COVID-19 policies of her predecessor, the late John Magufuli, who infamously declared that the coronavirus had been defeated in the country. He banned the publication of official data and reports on the disease, even as doctors privately reported a rise in the number of patients with COVID symptoms dying in hospitals.
Despite being...
Megan Gieske is a storyteller and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa.
A 1-hour drive from Johannesburg, rolling amber hills replace the concrete and skyscrapers of downtown. This is Tarlton. Here Vutlhari Chauke, the woman behind the agricultural business VT Harvest, is fighting against gender stereotypes and disempowerment, and she is bringing other women along with her.
Down a long dirt road, 10 greenhouses stand out against the slanting light of the afternoon sun. Women bend over crops of rocket, mint,...
The world is over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’ve seen some progress in global coordination to end it, including the Biden administration’s deal with Pfizer-BioNTech to purchase 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to share globally. But we need more global action to end the pandemic for everyone, everywhere.
The fastest way to do so and beat the virus is to ensure that everyone, regardless of where they live, has access to vaccines. Otherwise, the world is at...
Aya Chebbi is a Pan-African activist, Chair of Nala Feminist Collective, CEO of Afresist, and served as the first African Union Special Envoy of Youth.
Young people may be less likely to fall severely ill from COVID-19, but in so many other ways, the pandemic has disproportionately impacted their lives.
This is especially true on the African continent. The informal, low-paying labour market, where most young people work, was hit hardest by the pandemic. In Nigeria, 45% of people surveyed said...
Megan Gieske is a storyteller and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Disclaimer: This story contains accounts of gender-based violence.
At just 13-years-old, Siyabonga Khusela was confronted with the reality of gender-based violence (GBV).
After a fight with Siyabonga’s step-father, Siyabonga’s pregnant mother arrived at the hospital to deliver her baby. With high blood pressure and other injuries, “she passed on,” Siyabonga said. “The least that the doctors could do was to protect my baby brother.” He was just 13-years-old when he...