COVID-19: Women and girls face greater dangers during COVID-19 pandemic

INTERVIEW FROM SOUTH AFRICA: Providing safe abortion care during a national lockdown The COVID-19 pandemic is having potentially catastrophic secondary impacts on the health of women and girls around the world. Decisions made at every level of the response to the pandemic are resulting in women being further cut off from sexual and reproductive health…

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Madagascar receives USD 2.13 million from African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Limited Policy for Drought Response

The Government of Madagascar today received a symbolic cheque in the amount of USD 2,13 million from the African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd) to cover anticipated losses to livelihoods of its vulnerable population from the crop failure in the just concluded farming season. The ARC payout is the result of drought insurance…

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Caribbean countries get access to Africa Medical Supplies Platform for procurement of COVID-19 supplies

Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have been given access to the Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP), a procurement system for supplies and equipment in the fight against COVID-19.  The AMSP unlocks immediate access to an African and global base of vetted manufacturers and procurement strategic partners.  It enables African Union Member States to…

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Ecobank Group spearheads new private-sector initiative to end malaria

Zero Malaria Business Leadership Initiative supports global movement for malaria elimination in Africa Today, Ecobank Group (www.Ecobank.com) confirms its commitment to support ending malaria, launching the first-of-its-kind Zero Malaria Business Leadership Initiative in partnership with Dakar-based not-for-profit strategic communications and advocacy organization, Speak Up Africa, and the UN-hosted RBM Partnership to End Malaria. The new…

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Multilateral development banks and the World Trade Organization (WTO) supporting trade finance during the COVID-19 crisis

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, multilateral development banks have stepped up trade finance programs to support essential imports and key exports The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked the deepest economic downturn of our lifetimes. In addition to the ongoing shocks to supply and demand, international trade has been affected by a reduction in the…

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PPE boost for Parirenyatwa and UBH frontline healthcare workers

Parirenyatwa and UBH frontline healthcare workers HARARE, 1 July 2020: The country’s fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus received a boost when the Econet Group handed over 400 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worth $347,341to Parirenyatwa Hospital, with United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) scheduled to receive its consignment later this week.  The donated PPEs consist of PVC overalls,…

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African Sun’s Troutbeck Inn reopens

By Anyway Yotamu African Sun Hotels and Resorts has announced the reopening of its Troutbeck Resort in Nyanga the Eastern Highlands after three months’ closure. The Group Marketing, Public Relations, and Innovation Manager, Ms. Karen Dhliwayo said in a statement to the media Tuesday, from the 1st July 2020 Troutbeck Resort in Nyang reopens after…

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Econet responds to Cyclone Idai emergency with $5 million

Masiyiwa donates 120 000 Test Kits and border laboratories to Zimbabwe

UK-based Econet founder and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa, who also serves as AU Special Envoy for COVID-19, has donated 120 000 Test Kits to Zimbabwe, along with Mobile Test Laboratories to be used at the country’s border posts. The donation of Test Kits also includes 50 000 of the highly accurate PCR type Test,  used by…

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MultiChoice Group Joins the UN as Official African Media Supporter for Global COVID-19 Campaign

The MultiChoice Group is proud to announce its latest initiative in the fight against COVID-19.  The group has supported a number of initiatives in the fight against the spread of the pandemic which continues to wreak havoc across the globe, and it is being acutely felt across Africa. Early in the spread of the pandemic…

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New Agreements to Expand Access to 20 Lifesaving Cancer Medicines for Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia

Cancer Access Partnership is expected to result in a 59 percent savings on procured cancer medicines The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) today announced agreements with pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Novartis (www.Novartis.com), and Mylan to expand access to 20 lifesaving cancer treatments in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia….

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COVID-19: Debt and investment transparency for better outcomes

By DAVID MALPASS Since the COVID-19 outbreak, developing economies have suffered unprecedented capital outflows. To reverse these outflows and make debt and investment more productive, it is critical to embrace strong principles of debt and investment transparency. Such transparency involves many difficult steps, but today we’re taking an important one: we are disclosing new information on the…

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Masiyiwa in COVID-19 Home-Based care initiative: gives US$50 monthly support to help victims

Invites victims to step forward and get assistance for 3 months Worried that there are people suffering at home from COVID-19 that have not come forward, Strive Masiyiwa, through his Higher Life Foundation (HLF), called upon them to come forward on their own and report their status so that they can get assistance worth US$50…

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MSF opens 100-bed COVID-19 treatment centre in Bihar, India

As the number of people infected with COVID-19 continues to grow in India, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has set up a 100-bed temporary treatment centre for COVID-19 patients in Patna, the capital of Bihar state in the northeast of the country. The MSF COVID-19 treatment centre is housed in the remodelled Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna Indoor…

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AfDB approves 100.5 million euros budget support for COVID-19

The loan will support the central African nation’s Budget Support Programme in Response to the COVID-19 Crisis or PABURC, which aims to strengthen the health system The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (https://www.AfDB.org/) has approved a 100.5 million euros loan to the government of Gabon as budget support to mitigate against the…

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Experts call for digitalisation, e-connectivity in post-COVID-19 world

The global coronavirus pandemic caused overnight challenges for governments around the world adapting to the impacts on supply chains and goods clearances. Now, a group of supply chain and Customs experts have come together virtually to underline the importance of digitalisation as the world starts its recovery in a post COVID-19 world. The first in a…

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Saving lives is more important than re-opening schools: PTUZ

By Ronnie Chisamba The Mashonaland East chapter of the Progressive Teachers Union Of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has expressed concern over the government’s plans to re-open the country’s schools in the wake of a sharp increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19. Addressing parents during a consultative meeting at Mbuya Nehanda Hall in Marondera on Wednesday, Progressive Teachers…

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South Korea church hit by COVID-19 says members to give plasma for research

SEOUL (Reuters) – Around 4,000 recovered COVID-19 patients from a religious group at the centre of South Korea’s largest outbreak will donate plasma for research, an official said on Tuesday, a day after local officials filed a lawsuit against the church. In February and March, a massive outbreak among members of the Shincheonji Church of…

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HLF steps up Testing in Zimbabwe with free testing for the poor

Businessman and Africa Union Special Envoy Strive Masiyiwa has announced free COVID-19 testing in Zimbabwe, along with ramped up testing for the broader population at cost, through his Higherlife Foundation (HLF) and Testing Alliance. The billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist wrote: #Free Testing in Zimbabwe! Starting today, any Zimbabwean who wants a COVID-19 test can get…

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Cassava Fintech International launches SASAI Health Status Report as it steps up fight against COVID-19

Healthtech platform set to offer handy solution to tackle epidemic Report to assist employers, businesses safely get employees back to work London – June 24, 2020: Cassava Fintech International (CFI), a subsidiary of the Econet Group, has launched the SASAI Health Status Report (SHSR), a secure blockchain technology-supported solution expected to digitize the testing process,…

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PAP called upon to promote continental policies in the context of COVID-19

African Union (AU) specialized institutions and committees have turned to the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) to advocate for the domestication of policies adopted at continental level and aimed at mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on key African socio-economic sectors. This includes civil aviation and labour migration around the continent. Members of the PAP Permanent…

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Masiyiwa ventilators now in the country, ready for distribution

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ventilator suites that were donated by businessman and Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa are now in the country ready to be deployed. Through his Higher Life Foundation Zimbabwe, working with some donor partners, Mr Masiyiwa acquired 45 ventilators suites to be distributed to Zimbabwe’s public hospitals. The ventilator suites were manufactured…

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COVID-19 Hub to support global scientific response launched

As the UN warns of an impending global food emergency, researchers in health, nutrition and agriculture have united to support COVID-19 response, recovery and resilience. Montpellier, FRANCE, June 23, 2020 – Leading researchers across health, nutrition and agriculture have launched a new COVID-19 hub to consolidate existing scientific evidence and support response, recovery and resilience…

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Assessing the COVID-19 impact on SMEs and preparing for a new normal

By ITC News • International Trade Centre’s 2020 SME Competitiveness Outlook reveals profound disruptions to global supply chains• Global loss of manufacturing export due to lockdowns in the three global supply-chain hubs – China, the EU, and the US – will amount to $126 billion in losses in 2020• Almost 55% of SMEs say pandemic…

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Providing disability-inclusive education is challenging but worth it.

By Manos Antoninis Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa get bad press for their progress in providing inclusive education. Just two in three children complete primary school on time, while the number of out-of-school children and youth is 97 million and growing. Less is said, however, about the range of tools many countries in the region are deploying…

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COVID-19 diagnostics—not at the expense of other diseases

Priya Venkatesan The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of abating, with WHO reporting 4·9 million cases and 322 000 deaths globally as of May 21, 2020. What also shows no sign of abating is the ferocious reactive response to the pandemic—academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and governments alike have turned almost their whole focus to COVID-19…

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The dilemma of COVID-19 and Sports

By Lewis Maunze This cartoon is the perfect caricature of what sports enthusiasts (specifically soccer fans) are going through during the continued lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is supposed to share a lighter moment in contrast to what the world is experiencing in reality. The picture depicts the current situation in world sport….

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Times of Unprecedented Crisis present Unique Opportunities for Unprecedented Action

By Graça Machel, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr. Vera Songwe, Maria Ramos COVID 19 has unearthed massive inequalities within our societies and brought to glaring light the unique burdens which women carry the world over. Allocation of response resources should be targeted towards the immediate needs of managing the virus as well as future-looking to simultaneously…

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African Parliamentarians aim for increased health budgets amid COVID-19 pandemic

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) has urged its members to ensure that African Union (AU) member states allocate adequate funding to cater for healthcare systems when budgets are submitted to Parliaments for consideration. The call follows a briefing to members of the PAP Committees on Health and Gender by the Africa CDC, which revealed that inadequate…

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Donors allocate additional funds to the Health Development Fund in Zimbabwe

The European Union (EU) and Sweden have provided significant new funding to the multi-donor Health Development Fund (HDF) – managed by UNICEF and UNFPA. The HDF supports health system strengthening in Zimbabwe since its inception in 2011 under the Health Transition Fund. The EU has  provided new funds amounting to over USD 41 million as…

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Government outlines measures to ensure safety when schools reopen

By Anyway Yotamu The government continues to put in place intervention measures to increase the capacity to fight the coronavirus pandemic as infections stood at 387 on Monday. Addressing journalists after the Covid-19 inter-ministerial Taskforce meeting at State House in Harare this Monday, Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa said the government…

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Zimbabwe Achievers Awards Foundation donates to the less privileged

By Anyway Yotamu The Zimbabwe Achievers Awards Foundation (ZAA ) on Monday the 15th of June 2020 handed over food hampers donated by ZAA Alumni to Esteemed Children’s Trust (ECT) Caledonia branch in an effort to assist the charity’s work with underprivileged children in the communities. A representative of the foundation and also the ZAA…

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United States increases COVID-19 funding to $18 million in Zimbabwe

The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has committed an additional $10 million in response to COVID-19. The funds will go to the World Food Programme (WFP) for humanitarian assistance for nearly 100,000 vulnerable people in eight urban areas.  With this additional funding, U.S. assistance to the COVID-19 response in…

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DRC: COVID-19 continues to spread, with potentially deadly secondary impacts

Since Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared its first case of COVID-19 on March 10, the coronavirus has gradually spread across the country. Congolese authorities are working to reduce the spread of disease, especially in the capital, Kinshasa, with some 13 million residents. The government implemented preventive measures, including movement restrictions, a partial lockdown of…

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Masiyiwa and his global partners donate 1 000 ventilators

Strive Masiyiwa has announced the arrival of 45 full ICU ventilators in Zimbabwe which the businessman ordered a couple of months back. The billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist, who is the African Union’s Special Envoy to Coordinate the Africa Private Sector Initiative for the Procurement of Personal Protective Equipment and other Essential Supplies, also announced that…

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Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters

Can shoes spread the COVID-19 virus? The likelihood of COVID-19 being spread on shoes and infecting individuals is very low. As a precautionary measure, particularly in homes where infants and small children crawl or play on floors, consider leaving your shoes at the entrance of your home. This will help prevent contact with dirt or…

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