To Build Back from COVID-19, Don’t Overlook Informal Workers
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread health and economic hardship, and it’s occuring in parallel to a year of climate-driven catastrophes. East Africans face food shortages after the worst locust invasion in 70 years. Cyclone Amphan in eastern India caused an estimated $13.2 billion in
Five Lessons We’re Taking from 2020
“Challenging” “Sobering” “Unprecedented” Words fail to adequately describe 2020. The staggering toll of the pandemic defines this year, but so do examples of hope, unity, and innovation. And not all of those stories made headline news. In the remote communities where Root Capital
How the EU Can Achieve its Bold New Climate Target
European leaders agreed on December 11, 2020 to slash the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030. This is a significant improvement over the EU’s previous pledge of at least a 40% reduction by
COVID-19: Two Sides of China in Global Health
Watching how the COVID-19 pandemic developed, it is fair to ask what was the role of China in global health: Was it the good guy or bad guy? The Very Bad Side We learned recently of the People’s Republic of China’s treatment
Christmas in Bethlehem: The COVID-19 Experience of the Holy Family Hospital
What is Christmas like in Palestine at the time of COVID-19? There is no better place to find out about the challenges brought on by the COVID emergency than in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ. And in a hospital like
COVID-19 Vaccines: More than Short-Term Solutions Are Needed
COVID-19 has dominated 2020 with unimaginable harm to health, economies, livelihood, and political stability. In the last few months, there have been signals of hope, possible exit ramps from this nightmare. COVID-19 vaccines, which conceivably could prevent and contain the
What Gender Responsive Adaptation Teaches Us About an Equitable Recovery
The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the ways in which gender inequality interacts with shocks and stresses to exacerbate the impacts on women and girls. As this global crisis unfolds, we are seeing gender-specific risks, including an increase in
The Year of COVID-19 Misinformation: “These Foolish Things”…
As 2020, the year of COVID-19 comes to a close, misinformation continues to pile up relentlessly. Quotes from two men of the distant past, each from different backgrounds and places, come to mind in capturing the global fixation with easy
COVID-19 Vaccines: Science and Scientists are Out to “Getcha”!
There is widespread concern about how fast the current COVID-19 vaccines were produced compared to other past conventional vaccines such as polio, measles, and other contagious diseases - and this has nothing to do with being “health illiterate”. The concern
Sub-Saharan Africa: Sustainable and Transformative Recovery
There is no doubt COVID-19 shattered progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On top of a horrific loss of life, an additional 95 million people globally could be thrust into poverty and hunger because of the pandemic. Two decades of
What happened after COVID-19 hit: Uganda
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, globally, 243 million women and girls were abused by their intimate partners in the past year. Since the pandemic, with lockdown measures, countries around the world have seen an alarming rise in reporting on
COVID-19 Vaccines: Bridging Religious Divides, Engaging Religious Support
With hope of true progress in emerging from the COVID-19 emergency finally on the horizon, ironically, an urgent challenge is to persuade citizens that vaccines can be trusted and that they are a vital part of the solution. Thoughtful and