The FY 2021 omnibus appropriations bill (and accompanying reports), released by Congress on December 21, 2020, includes funding for U.S. global health programs at the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).[i] The…

Borgen Magazine: Four Companies in Developing Countries Contributing to the SDGs (Cade, 12/17). Devex: Q&A: The need for more early stage investment in RMNCAH solutions (12/18). Devex: Q&A: The value of the private sector in health system strengthening (12/18). Devex: If COVID-19 changes finance, will that help development funding? (Saldinger,…

Devex: Exclusive: France to launch development innovation fund chaired by Esther Duflo “France will start a Fund for Innovation in Development next year to test and scale up solutions to poverty and inequality, a move its founders hope will ‘transform’ the country’s approach to aid. The Fonds d’Innovation pour le…

Devex: 4 out of 5 Africans would take a COVID-19 vaccine: Africa CDC survey “About 80% of Africans surveyed said they were willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine once it’s publicly available and deemed safe and effective. Of those that said they would not take a vaccine, safety was the…

The Hill: Global Gag Rule is just the tip of the iceberg: Why Repealing the Helms Amendment matters Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) (12/17). Ms. Magazine: The Helms Amendment: 47 Years of Denying U.S. Support for International Reproductive Health and Rights…

Brookings Institution’s “Up Front”: How international development donors can collaborate in Southeast Asia George Ingram, senior fellow for global economy and development at the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings, discusses the advantages and opportunities for, and forms of, international development donor collaboration in Southeast Asia (12/17).

Center for Global Development: DFC’s December Board Meeting: A Fitting Bookend for the Agency’s First Year Clemence Landers, policy fellow, and Jocilyn Estes, program coordinator and policy outreach assistant, both at CGD, discuss the Development Finance Corporation’s (DFC) efforts and portfolio in 2020, writing, “DFC’s inaugural year leaves us with…

Reuters: EXCLUSIVE — WHO vaccine scheme risks failure, leaving poor countries no COVID shots until 2024 “The global scheme to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries faces a ‘very high’ risk of failure, potentially leaving nations home to billions of people with no access to vaccines until as late as…

AFP/YouTube: Virus hunters delve into Gabon forest in search for next threat | AFP (12/16). Devex: Q&A: The woman tasked with bringing gender to the center of the Gates Foundation (Cheney, 12/17). Devex: Q&A: Addressing polio through a gender lens (12/17). Devex: How a new data portal aims to accelerate…

Health Affairs Blog: In Global Efforts To End HIV And Advance Reproductive Health, President-Elect Joe Biden Should Seize The Opportunity For Bold Leadership Monica Kerrigan, executive director of Planned Parenthood Global, discusses the links between HIV prevention and reproductive health and rights and outlines actions the Biden administration could take…