Pandemic relief policies need more resources, better design

‘Pandemic relief measures in developing countries have been limited by modest resources, fear of financial market discipline and policy mimicry. COVID-19 has triggered not only an international public health emergency, but also a global economic crisis, setting back decades of uneven progress, especially in developing countries.’

This story is well argued and contains several relevant and informative links under the following subheadings:

• Struggling to cope
• Urgent financing needs
• COVID-19 recessions different
• Government as ‘payer-of-last-resort’
• Policy blind spots
• Diverging recoveries
• Appropriate relief measures
• Recoveries threatened

Read here (IPS News, Jun 1, 2021)

 

Developing countries desperately need Covid-19 financing

‘Failure to sufficiently accelerate comprehensive efforts to contain COVID-19 contagion has greatly worsened the catastrophe in developing countries. Grossly inadequate financing of relief, recovery and reform efforts has also further set back progress, including sustainable development.’

This story is well argued and contains several relevant and informative links under the following subheadings:

• Uncertain and unequal recovery
• Global disparities
• Insufficient international support
• Leveraging the new SDRs
• Financing options for developing countries

Read here (IPS News, May 25, 2021)

US support for vaccine waiver welcome, but more needed

‘Thanks to President Biden, the US now supports a suspension of intellectual property (IP) rights to increase vaccine supplies. However, without vaccine developers sharing tacit technical knowledge for safe vaccine mass production, it will be difficult to rapidly scale up vaccine output.’

This story is well argued and contains several relevant and informative links under the following subheadings:

• Waiver delayed is waiver denied
• Foot dragging for profit
• Vaccine monopolies not yet IP dependent
• Vaccine profits kill
• TRIPS discourages knowledge sharing
• Accelerate vaccinations for all

Read here (IPS News, May 11, 2021)

EU leaders reach recovery deal after marathon summit

‘Tempers were often frayed during the negotiations. The "frugal four", Sweden, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands, along with Finland had opposed extending €500bn in grants. The group originally set €375bn as the limit. Other members, such as Spain and Italy, did not want to go below €400bn. At one point French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly banged his fists on the table, as he told the "frugal four" they were putting the European project in danger...

‘Another issue was over linking aid to the "rule of law". Hungary and Poland both threatened to veto the package if it adopted a policy of withholding funds from nations deemed to fall short of democratic principles.’

Read here (BBC, July 21, 2020)

UN makes record $10.3bn appeal for pandemic fight: Up to 265m people could face starvation by end-2020

‘The United Nations is making an appeal for $10.3 billion (£8.2 billion) to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, its largest ever fundraising call. The UN says up to 265 million people could face starvation by the end of the year because of the impact of Covid-19. The money will be for used for low income and fragile countries.’

Read here (BBC, July 17, 2020)

Covid-19 could foster boom in aid-dependency: Red Cross

Economic hardships brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic could cause a boom in aid-dependency in countries at conflict, a new survey by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) showed – prompting the international body to call for social protection programmes to be maintained or extended and to include the most vulnerable.

In a statement issued from Geneva on Wednesday, ICRC said without concerted action from the global community, it expects humanitarian needs to deepen and worsen in the wake of Covid-19.

Read here (Malaysiakini, June 3, 2020)