Africa UN Knowledge Hub for COVID-19

Addis Ababa, 24 December 2020 (ECA) - “We are gathered here today to extend our hand of solidarity in response to an appeal by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) for support in their COVID-19 response activities,” said Carlos Haddad who heads the Division of Administration at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). 

He was speaking during a ceremony to handover two 30 seater Nissan Civilian buses to the EPHI on 24 December 2020 in Addis Ababa - as part of a wider United Nations support to COVID-19 efforts in the country.

The sixth meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the WHO Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) took place on Thursday, 14 January 2021 from 12:15 to 16:45 Geneva time (CEST). 

Proceedings of the meeting

Members and Advisors of the Emergency Committee were convened by videoconference. 

The Director-General welcomed the Committee, expressed the need for global solidarity in addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic, and emphasized the need for protection of the most vulnerable. He thanked the Committee for their continued support and advice. 

The coronavirus pandemic in South Africa has reached a record new level driven by the more infectious novel Covid-19 variant—the 501Y.V2—discovered in the country on Dec. 19 and now set to be the dominant variant, according to local scientists.

South Africa is the hardest-hit African country by Covid-19 with over 1.26 million cases and over 34,000 deaths. It now has highest daily infections, hospital admissions, and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in the country last year and local hospitals are being overwhelmed.

Our world has reached a heart-wrenching milestone:  the COVID-19 pandemic has now claimed two million lives. 

Behind this staggering number are names and faces:  the smile now only a memory, the seat forever empty at the dinner table, the room that echoes with the silence of a loved one.

Sadly, the deadly impact of the pandemic has been made worse by the absence of a global coordinated effort.

“Our midwives who work during this period of political crisis are brave and courageous because they face both COVID-19 and violence in the streets,” said Dr. Sekou Keita, the director of Communal Medical Center (CMC) of Matam, a commune of Conakry.

It has indeed been a harrowing year for the midwives of Guinea.

As evidence mounts of the association between air pollution levels and higher COVID-19 death tolls, a joint study by UNDP and the European Space Agency (ESA) provides insight on the impact of the pandemic on the air quality in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

Sharifa Ahammad, along with more than 900,000 stateless Rohingya refugees, lives in extremely congested camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, near the border with Myanmar. Having fled violence, the refugees now have to contend with the threat of landslides, flooding and cyclones, in a region that is known for poverty and violence.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, WHO and its partners keep up their support to countries around the world. Here are some ongoing activities WHO was able to carry out thanks to the vital backing of its many donors.

Dr James Cockayne sets out four steps for the UN Secretary-General to take towards a coordinated global response to COVID-19.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the opening of the 2021 Economic and Social Council Forum on Financing for Development, in New York today:

Financing for Development in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic means an unprecedented effort to mobilize resources and political will.  Since the pandemic began one year ago, no element of our multilateral response has gone as it should.