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5 COVID-19 Relief Efforts in Developing Countries

5 Efforts Toward Reduction of COVID-19 Effects in Developing CountriesSince the end of 2019, the spread and containment of the novel coronavirus have been on many people’s minds. Throughout the pandemic, it has become clear that money and access to the resources necessary to combat this virus are a privilege that not all countries can afford. However, the needs of impoverished countries in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic have not gone unheard. Various foundations, organizations and governmental leaders from developed countries have made efforts to combat the effects of  COVID-19 in populations that need assistance the most. Here are five COVID-19 relief efforts in developing countries.

5 COVID-19 Efforts in Developing Countries

  1. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has long fought against global poverty by making healthcare and education accessible to those in need. This foundation has responded to the global health crisis by donating approximately $2 billion to combat the novel coronavirus worldwide. The money that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated is used for a variety of measures to combat the pandemic and its effects. Support for the endeavor of creating accurate tools to diagnose individuals with the virus within populations is one such measure. Another is the support of healthcare systems within developing countries with medical resources and front-line working personnel. A third measure is an increase in the availability of digital learning technologies within countries that are suffering further due to a lack of educational resources. The creation of a COVID-19 vaccine was also supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
  2. Developing nations have come together to assist developing countries struggling with the pandemic’s secondary effects through the G20 Debt Pact. G20 countries created a debt pact in which it was agreed to write off debts that developing countries owed. Due to the expenses of the pandemic, many nations are struggling to repay debts to developed countries. This pact eased the financial burden of countries already suffering from the novel coronavirus.
  3. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is an organization that works to vaccinate populations in developing countries with limited medical resource access. As the novel coronavirus has become a present worldly concern, Gavi has recently been working to make the COVID-19 vaccine available to countries without the necessary resources to purchase vaccine doses independently. Developed countries have thus far obtained the majority of vaccines produced as a result of a monetary advantage. Gavi has urged that the vaccine be more widely distributed as the pandemic will not cease if vaccines are only available in select areas of the world. Its hope is that, by the end of 2021, efforts will allow one billion vaccines to be available to the vulnerable in developing countries.
  4. The Papal Foundation is a Catholic-based organization working to offer a helping hand to global communities. Part of the mission of the foundation is to assist those who are most vulnerable in the world, regardless of age. This foundation has fulfilled its mission with respect to COVID-19 reduction by donating $1.8 million to the impoverished in the face of this pandemic. Overall, this money goes toward providing individuals in impoverished countries with basic needs and care, as the pandemic has made resources like food and hygienic materials scarce for many.
  5. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) found that increased COVID-19 testing can be one of the most effective ways for impoverished countries to fight the effects of this pandemic. Increased testing allows for fewer lockdown measures put into place, which can greatly help the economies of these countries. Rapid tests are an inexpensive and effective way of testing mass amounts of people. Moreover, increased testing can help COVID-19 relief efforts by both decreasing the spread of COVID-19 in impoverished countries and increasing desperately needed funds and resources.

The needs of individuals in impoverished countries are still drastic, as many of the economies and medical systems remain underdeveloped amid COVID-19. While the effects of COVID-19 have hit developing countries harder than in other areas of the world, these COVID-19 relief efforts, along with many others, have made a positive impact in combating the virus and its secondary effects.

– Olivia Bay
Photo: Flickr

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G20 Summit Aims for Sustainable and Inclusive Development

Sustainable Development

From Sept. 4 to 5, heads of state and government from nineteen countries and the European Union will gather in Hangzhou, China for the 11th G20 summit. The theme of this year’s conference is “Towards an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy”, a motto which many officials and experts find encouraging.

In an interview with the Xinhua News Agency, China’s state-owned media outlet, Atsushi Sunami, the vice president of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo, explained that the G20 summit could forge consensus on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Adopted by the U.N. last fall, the 2030 Agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aims to end poverty and hunger by the end of the third decade in the 21st century.

Sunami also called on countries to work together and build innovation across borders. The conference in Hangzhou, in his view, could jump-start the dialogue on open innovation and inclusive development.

Also speaking with Xinhua, Peter Thompson, who will be the president of the upcoming 71st Session of the U.N. General Assembly, voiced his support for the summit’s theme as well as the U.N.’s desire to work with the G20 organizers. “We will certainly be doing our part here at the United Nations in terms of the G20 outcome to make sure it’s built into the international implementation plans,” he said.

Likewise, Daniel Funes de Rioja, President of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), expressed his hope that the G20 summit will be a step in the direction of inclusive development. “Prosperity requires growth, investment, technology and innovation, with employment and social coverage for all,” according to de Rioja.

Indeed, while the G20 is primarily a forum for leaders of the developed world, developing countries are also starting to make their voices heard.

Senegal, which will be present at the summit in Hangzhou, sees the G20 as a platform to call attention to African issues as well as an opportunity to explore solutions. Alioune Sarr, the country’s commerce minister, told China Central Television (CCTV) that the conference will highlight the necessity of poverty eradication and inclusive development on the continent.

The G20 has consistently underscored the importance of international cooperation when it comes to solving the world’s problems, and the renewed emphasis on inclusive development and shared prosperity is certainly a welcome change.

– Philip Katz

Photo: Flickr

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G20 Leaders Tackle Gender Employment Gap

Gender Employment Equality
At the G20 Summit 2014, leaders have agreed to tackle the persisting gender employment gap in their respective countries. The final agreement is to decrease the gap by 25 percent by 2025.

The gender employment gap varies from region to region. Developed regions generally have a lower gap, while developing regions have a higher gap. Currently in OECD countries, where the gap is one of the lowest, there is a 12 percent difference between the sustained, legal employment of men and women. In North Africa and the Middle East, where the gap is the one of the highest, there is a 50 percent difference in employment between men and women.

Ways of tackling the gap also vary region-to-region and country-to-country. Approaches include increasing access to education and childcare and making maternity leave options more attractive and widely available. More innovative approaches include things like fostering women in business and finance, creating opportunities for women in the public sector and encouraging investment in higher education for women.

Reaching the goal of decreasing the gap by 25 percent will add 100 million jobs for women across the world and add $1 trillion to the global economy.

In 2015, Turkey will take over leadership of the Summit. As the G20 country with one of the highest gender employment gaps, as well as its position at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Turkey and its leadership will be in the spotlight on this issue. For them especially, tackling the gap will mean pulling a large number of people into the workforce, which will create opportunities for households in poverty to have another income-generator.

The G20, in an official statement, said that this agreement “will significantly increase global growth and reduce poverty and inequality.” The G20 acts, in some ways, as an agenda-setter for the rest of the world. Effects on the gender employment gap could be seen in much more impoverished areas of the world simply because it is being addressed by the biggest economies in the world market. Employing women and expanding the workforce increases generated income, possibly creating drastic, positive outcomes for poorer, smaller economies.

– Caitlin Huber

Sources: The Australian, Work Place Information, University of Toronto
Photo: Employer Rights Blog