Newsweek: Record Number of Children ‘Internally Displaced’ by Conflict and Violence in 2019, UNICEF Says
“…According to UNICEF’s report, titled ‘Lost at Home,’ by the end of 2019, approximately 45.7 million people were internally displaced by conflict and violence, with 19 million estimated to be children, the highest recorded number yet. … As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore has warned that displaced families could be the ‘hidden victims’ of the pandemic…” (Da Silva, 5/5).

NPR: U.N. Warns Number Of People Starving To Death Could Double Amid Pandemic
“The U.N.’s humanitarian chief has warned that without global cooperation and financial assistance, the number of people dying from hunger or hunger-related diseases could double this year due to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic…” (Mai, 5/5).

Quartz: Refugees are suffering from a “catastrophic” worldwide aid shortage
“…Even giant aid organizations like the International Rescue Committee (IRC) are having a hard time procuring goods needed to keep refugees safe as the coronavirus pandemic disrupts supply lines around the globe…” (de Haldevang/deHahn, 5/4).

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Devex: Tuberculosis can backslide to 2013 levels, new study reveals
“The coronavirus has disrupted tuberculosis programs in many countries, but a new modeling analysis reveals the seriousness of the situation. TB cases could increase by up to 11% globally between 2020 and 2025 under a 3-month-lockdown, with delays in the resumption of TB services, according to a new report commissioned by the Stop TB Partnership in collaboration with the Imperial College London, Avenir Health, and Johns Hopkins University, and supported by USAID…” (Ravelo, 5/6).

Additional coverage of the report is available from CNBC, The Guardian, and UPI.

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U.N. News: Top U.N. official calls for universal basic income to tackle growing inequality (5/6).

U.N. News: Coronavirus and human rights: New U.N. report calls for disability-inclusive recovery (5/5).

U.N. News: U.N. celebrates midwives during COVID-19 crisis because ‘childbirth doesn’t stop for pandemics’ (5/5).

U.N. News: COVID-19 makes universal digital access and cooperation essential: U.N. tech agency (5/5).

U.N. News: U.N. rights expert urges States to step-up anti-slavery efforts to protect most vulnerable during COVID-19 (5/5).

U.N. News: Soap for refugee shelters; a matter of life and death as pandemic continues (5/5).

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AP: France, Tunisia urge U.N. council to adopt COVID-19 resolution
“France and Tunisia urged the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to adopt a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in major conflicts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic after weeks of contentious negotiations that have paralyzed the United Nations’ most powerful body. France, one of five veto-wielding permanent council members, and Tunisia, one of 10 elected members, melded their rival resolutions in hopes of winning approval for the first council resolution since COVID-19 started circling the globe. But diplomats say a vote has been held up primarily over a dispute between the United States and China on including a reference to the World Health Organization…” (Lederer, 5/6).

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AFRICA

Al Jazeera: Coronavirus heightens anxiety among LGBTQ Nigerians with HIV (Dayo, 5/4).

CIDRAP News: As exponential COVID-19 spread hits parts of Africa, WHO issues advisory on traditional medicines (Schnirring, 5/5).

DW: COVID-19: WHO cautions against the use of traditional herbs in Africa (Mugabi, 5/5).

Quartz Africa: The challenge with African countries promoting traditional cures for Covid-19 without research (Ekonde, 5/6).

U.N. News: Food insecurity in West Africa could leave 43 million at risk as coronavirus hits (5/5).

ASIA

AP: Virus outbreak in India market could cause cases to snowball (Ghosal/Schmall, 5/6).

Reuters: Exclusive: Bangladesh’s Beximco to begin producing COVID-19 drug remdesivir — COO (Siddiqui/Paul, 5/5).

Xinhua: Interview: Australian trial of TB vaccine for COVID-19 expands internationally (Murray, 5/5).

EUROPE

CNN: U.K. coronavirus adviser resigns after reports his lover visited during lockdown (Veselinovic/Smith-Spark, 5/6).

POLITICO: Europe’s economy, employment dive in pandemic fallout (Smith-Meyer, 5/6).

Reuters: Russia’s coronavirus cases rise by more than 10,000 for fourth straight day (Stolyarov, 5/6).

Xinhua: Ireland pledges 18 mln euros to GAVI in support of global COVID-19 fight (5/4).

LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

The Guardian: Chile: pandemic highlights health crisis as lockdown halts inequality protests (Bartlett, 5/5).

Miami Herald: COVID could lead to social unrest and even famine in Haiti, global health experts warn (Charles, 5/5).

Reuters: Prison contagion in Americas ‘deeply worrying,’ U.N. says (Farge, 5/5).

Reuters: Ecuador indigenous community fears extinction from COVID-19 (Valencia, 5/5).

MIDDLE EAST

AP: Palestinians fear outbreak in Jerusalem’s ‘no man’s land’ (Daraghmeh/Krauss, 5/6).

New York Times: Herd Immunity, or Big 2nd Wave? Israel Antibody Testing Hopes to Find Out (Halbfinger, 5/5).

NPR: Migrants Are Among The Worst Hit By COVID-19 In Saudi Arabia And Gulf Countries (Sherlock, 5/5).

Reuters: U.N. Palestinian refugee agency operating on ‘month-to-month’ basis due to U.S. aid cut: official (Ayyub/al-Mughrabi, 5/5).

Reuters: Yemen’s Houthis report first coronavirus case with death in Sanaa hotel (Ghobari et al., 5/5).

Reuters: Afghanistan distributes free bread as prices soar amid coronavirus (Sediqi et al., 5/5).

NORTH AMERICA

The Hill: Mexico thanks Trump for shipment of hundreds of ventilators (Moreno, 5/5).

New York Times: New Studies Add to Evidence that Children May Transmit the Coronavirus (Mandavilli, 5/5).

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Quartz: An E.U.-led coronavirus fundraising event reveals the politics of a vaccine search
“A fundraising event convened by the European Union and billed as a show of global solidarity in the fight against Covid-19 instead showed just how political this public health crisis has become. The Coronavirus Global Response Pledging Conference … collected pledges worth €7.4 billion ($8.2 billion) to ‘accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.’ … Even before it launched, however, the fundraising drive was controversial…” (Timsit, 5/5).

Additional coverage of the E.U.-led summit is available from Bloomberg Law, Foreign Policy, and NPR.

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STAT: Mounting promises on Covid-19 vaccines are fueling false expectations, experts say
“Vaccines to prevent Covid-19 infection are hurtling through development at speeds never before seen. But mounting promises that some vaccine may be available for emergency use as early as the autumn are fueling expectations that are simply unrealistic, experts warn…” (Branswell, 5/6).

Additional coverage of efforts to develop vaccines and treatments for the novel coronavirus is available from Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Science, and STAT (2).

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AP: Taiwan makes new push for inclusion in World Health Assembly
“Taiwan’s exclusion from the upcoming World Health Assembly would harm the global response to the coronavirus pandemic and cannot be excused by mere rules of procedure, the island’s health minister said on Wednesday. Chen Shih-chung told international media at a news conference that global health officials ‘have not been honest and failed in their responsibilities,’ in an apparent reference to the U.N. World Health Organization that oversees the assembly…” (Lai, 5/6).

Bloomberg: E.U. Backs Independent Probe Into Origins of Coronavirus
“The European Union will put forward a proposal to the World Health Assembly calling for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus. The E.U. is a co-sponsor of the plan that will be put forward at the assembly’s May 18 meeting, European Commission spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson said by email Tuesday. The bloc is consulting with World Health Organization members and regional groups on the wording of the proposal, she added. … The meeting of the WHO’s decision-making body later this month is shaping up as a test of China’s diplomatic standing in the wake of the pandemic. In addition to calls for an independent probe, nations such as the U.S. are also pushing to reinstate Taiwan — which Beijing views as a province — as an observer to the assembly…” (Scott et al., 5/5).

Reuters: Give us first-hand information to fight virus, Taiwan asks WHO
“…Taiwan has produced a list of complaints against the WHO, including that it gave wrong case numbers for Taiwan, ignored requests for information, and has bent to Chinese pressure to interfere with the island’s requests for help. Both the WHO and China say Taiwan has been provided with the help it needs. China says only it has the right to speak for Taiwan’s 23 million people internationally, a claim Taipei’s democratically elected government angrily rejects. Taiwan has stepped up its campaign to attend, as an observer, this month’s virtual meeting of the WHO’s decision-making body, the World Health Assembly (WHA), though government and diplomatic sources say China will not agree to that…” (Blanchard/Hamacher, 5/6).

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New York Times: Administration to Phase Out Coronavirus Task Force
“Despite growing evidence that the pandemic is still raging, administration officials said on Tuesday that they had made so much progress in bringing it under control that they planned to wind down the coronavirus task force in the coming weeks and focus the White House on restarting the economy. Vice President Mike Pence, who has led the task force for two months, said it would probably wrap up its work around the end of the May, and shift management of the public health response back to the federal agencies whose work it was created to coordinate…” (Weiland et al., 5/5).

Wall Street Journal: White House Coronavirus Task Force Team Restricted From Congressional Hearings
“The Trump administration has issued new guidance that bars members of the White House’s coronavirus task force from appearing at congressional hearings this month, according to an administration official and document reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. The task force includes such figures as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease official, and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator. Dr. Fauci and other task force members are still scheduled to testify this month in the Senate, however…” (Restuccia, 5/5).

Additional coverage of the White House plan to disband the coronavirus task force, as well as other Trump administration comments on the pandemic, is available from Bloomberg (2), Financial Times, The Hill, POLITICO (2), and Reuters.

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Wall Street Journal: Vaccine Expert Alleges Top U.S. Health Officials Resisted Coronavirus Warnings
“A government vaccine specialist who was moved out of his job last month alleges that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services resisted his warnings about the dangers of the coronavirus and removed him from his position for raising alarms about an antimalarial drug President Trump had touted as a potential treatment. Rick Bright, who had led an HHS division on biomedical research, portrayed agency leadership as dismissing his concerns about the novel coronavirus in a complaint filed Tuesday with the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal investigative agency. The complaint alleges that career scientists were concerned the U.S. wasn’t properly preparing for a potential pandemic…” (Armour et al., 5/5).

Additional coverage of Bright’s whistleblower complaint is available from AP, CNN, Financial Times, Fox News, NBC, New York Times, NPR, Roll Call, STAT, and Washington Post.

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New York Times: How Kushner’s Volunteer Force Led a Fumbling Hunt for Medical Supplies
“…The fumbling search for new supplies — heralded by Mr. Trump and [Jared] Kushner as a way to pipe private-sector hustle and accountability into the hidebound federal bureaucracy — became a case study of Mr. Trump’s style of governing, in which personal relationships and loyalty are often prized over governmental expertise, and private interests are granted extraordinary access and deference. … Records and emails obtained by the Times — along with interviews with current and former FEMA officials, former task force volunteers, and others briefed on the agency’s work — provide the most detailed picture yet of how the Kushner-installed personnel complicated the government response amid a deadly crisis…” (Confessore et al., 5/5).

Washington Post: Kushner coronavirus effort said to be hampered by inexperienced volunteers
“…Although some of the volunteers have relevant backgrounds and experience, many others were poorly matched with their assigned jobs, including those given the task of securing personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospitals nationwide, according to a complaint filed last month with the House Oversight Committee. … The complaint, obtained by the Washington Post, was submitted by a volunteer who has since left the group and who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the administration. Key elements of the complaint were confirmed by six administration officials and one outside adviser to the effort, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations…” (Abutaleb et al., 5/5).

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Devex: Coronavirus could stall U.S. stabilization strategy in fragile states
“The COVID-19 pandemic could impact the U.S. government’s ability to implement the Stabilization Assistance Review, a State Department official said Tuesday. … Eythan Sontag, senior adviser at the State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, said disruptions to U.S. mission activity because of the coronavirus may delay next steps on country-specific stabilization strategies that nearly a dozen embassies developed at the end of last year…” (Welsh, 5/6).

Roll Call: Going viral at the Pentagon
“…[I]n the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Pentagon’s role in waging this different kind of war could grow, experts say. To many lawmakers, the Defense Department is an attractive place to fund medical programs, partly because the defense budget is so large and enjoys support from both political parties, especially Republicans…” (Donnelly, 5/4).

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AP: Justices wary of tying AIDS money to prostitution pledge
“In its second day of arguments by phone, the Supreme Court appeared skeptical of a requirement that foreign affiliates of U.S.-based health organizations denounce prostitution as a condition of receiving taxpayer money to fight AIDS around the world. The justices on Tuesday heard a new version of a case they decided seven years ago … The court ruled in 2013 that the anti-prostitution pledge, contained in a 2003 law, improperly restricts the U.S. groups’ constitutional rights. The new question is whether the administration can subject the foreign organizations to the pledge…” (Sherman/Gresko, 5/5).

Additional coverage of the Supreme Court case is available from Al Jazeera, Bloomberg Law, CBS News, Fox News, NPR, and USA TODAY.

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The Hill: Trump’s push to use global aid for nuclear projects alarms development groups
“A new effort by the Trump administration to bolster the nuclear industry is eyeing a surprising source of financing — a fund designed to fight poverty in developing countries. In a list of official recommendations to President Trump last month, the Nuclear Fuels Working Group argued the U.S. needs to sell nuclear power technology abroad and battle the influence of countries like China and Russia that have become dominant suppliers. One way to do that, the group said, is to lift restrictions at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to let the agency fund nuclear projects alongside other development work. But development groups worry that tapping the DFC to greenlight nuclear projects will do more to promote American interests than alleviate poverty…” (Beitsch, 5/6).

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Devex: USAID humanitarian leader Tim Ziemer to resign
“Tim Ziemer, who leads the U.S. Agency for International Development’s humanitarian assistance, democracy, and conflict efforts, informed the White House on Monday that he plans to resign effective June 5, according to an internal email obtained by Devex…” (Igoe, 5/5).

POLITICO: ‘Very difficult and emotional’: Pandemic expert leaves Trump administration
“…Timothy Ziemer’s departure robs the Trump administration of another expert as it tries to battle the coronavirus pandemic. The former Navy rear admiral is highly regarded and has decades of government service, although he has been somewhat sidelined during the ongoing crisis…” (Toosi, 5/5).

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New York Times: Billions Could Live in Extreme Heat Zones Within Decades, Study Finds
“As the climate continues to warm over the next half-century, up to one-third of the world’s population is likely to live in areas that are considered unsuitably hot for humans, scientists said Monday. … The parts of the world that could become unsuitably hot ‘are precisely the areas that are growing the fastest,’ said Timothy A. Kohler, an archaeologist at Washington State University and an author of the study, which was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…” (Fountain, 5/4).

Additional coverage of the study is available from AP, BBC, The Guardian, The Telegraph, and USA TODAY.

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Christian Science Monitor: Ebola experts’ tips to fight COVID-19: Listen. Build trust. Show respect (Brown, 5/5).

Devex: Aid contractors not liable for U.S. foreign policy, lawyers argue in terror-financing case (Igoe, 5/5).

Devex: Has it become too dangerous to measure violence against women? (Rogers, 5/6).

Devex: The journey to measure how donors leverage the private sector to achieve RMNCAH goals (5/6).

The Guardian: Covid-19 could trigger ‘media extinction event’ in developing countries (Ahmed, 5/6).

The Guardian: ‘I had no choice’: the desperate Nigerian women who sell their babies (Obaji, 5/6).

Homeland Preparedness News: Bipartisan group in Congress urge action on antibiotic resistance (Kovaleski, 5/1).

Xinhua: China’s full payment of its dues demonstrates support for U.N.: mission (5/5).

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Bloomberg: What’s Really Going on With the CDC’s Virus Model?
Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg Opinion columnist (5/5).

The BMJ: Developing a vaccine for covid-19
Sarah Caddy, clinical research career development fellow at the Wellcome Trust (5/4).

Devex: Opinion: Building resilient businesses and economies in the coronavirus recovery
Nick O’Donohoe, chief executive at CDC Group and member of CDC Group’s board (5/6).

EuroNews: The E.U.’s COVID-19 budget and recovery plans must ensure a safe and healthy future for all
Jeni Miller, executive director of the Global Climate and Health Alliance (5/6).

Financial Times: Finding a Covid-19 vaccine needs a global effort
Editorial Board (5/6).

Financial Times: The World Health Organization can be reformed
Jennifer Prah Ruger, Amartya Sen professor of health equity, economics, and policy at the University of Pennsylvania (5/6).

Foreign Affairs: COVID-19 Tempts Would-Be Authoritarians
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, professor of history and Italian studies at New York University (5/5).

Foreign Affairs: Latin America’s Prison Gangs Draw Strength From the Pandemic
Steven Dudley, co-founder and co-director of InSight Crime (5/5).

The Hill: Coronavirus vaccines, drugs are just a Band-Aid approach to zoonotic viruses
Apryle Horbal, president of VetNow and One Health Solutions, veterinary medical doctor, diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College (Equine Specialty), and member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (5/5).

Los Angeles Times: Column: Is it time for Drs. Fauci and Birx to quit on principle?
Nicholas Goldberg, associate editor and Op-Ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times (5/6).

New York Times: In Lebanon, a Pandemic of Hunger
Lina Mounzer, writer and translator in Beirut (5/6).

Project Syndicate: Who’s Afraid of COVID-19?
Kaushik Basu, professor of economics at Cornell University and nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (5/6).

Project Syndicate: The Misguided War on Global Value Chains
Célestin Monga, senior economic adviser at the World Bank (5/5).

Washington Post: Speed is essential in developing this vaccine. But so is safety
Editorial Board (5/5).

Washington Post: Trump wants to defund the World Health Organization. That could hurt health partnerships in Africa
Amy S. Patterson, professor of politics at University of the South, and Emmanuel Balogun, assistant professor of international relations at Webster University (5/5).

Washington Post: Chinese ambassador: Ignoring the facts to blame China will only make things worse
Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the United States (5/5).

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The Atlantic: Virus Experts Aren’t Getting the Message Out
Renée DiResta, technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory (5/6).

The Hill: The long, sad decline of the United Nations
William Moloney, fellow in Conservative Thought at Colorado Christian University’s Centennial Institute (5/3).

Ms. Magazine: From Sweden to Mexico, Foreign Policy Goes Feminist. Is the U.S. Next?
Lyric Thompson, director of policy and advocacy at the International Center for Research on Women (5/5).

Washington Post: The U.N.’s neglect of another recent pandemic stains its legacy
Editorial Board (5/5).

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BMJ Opinion: Now is not the time to undermine the World Health Organization
José M. Martin-Moreno, professor of medicine and public health at University of Valencia, and John Middleton, president of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (5/5).

Brookings: The unreal dichotomy in COVID-19 mortality between high-income and developing countries
Philip Schellekens, senior economic adviser to the Office of the CEO with the International Finance Corporation, and Diego Sourrouille, financial sector analyst with the Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice at the World Bank (5/5).

Council on Foreign Relations: Another Victim of COVID-19: Sustainable Development
Stewart M. Patrick, James H. Binger Senior Fellow in Global Governance and Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program with the Council on Foreign Relations (5/4).

U.N.: “We have a unique opportunity to design and implement more inclusive and accessible societies”
António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations (5/6).

UNAIDS: UNAIDS donates N-95 masks for frontline health workers in China (5/5).

UNICEF: COVID-19 in Yemen: A day in the life of Muna (5/5).

World Bank: Ensuring food security and nutrition in South Asia during COVID-19
Cecile Fruman, director of regional integration and engagement for South Asia, and Yinan Zhang, operations analyst, both with the World Bank (5/5).

Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program’s “New Security Beat”: Water for the Most Vulnerable Could Help Stop Spread of Covid-19
Mara Tignino, reader in the faculty of Law and Institute for Environmental Sciences at University of Geneva and lead legal specialist for the Platform for International Water Law, Geneva Water Hub; and Tadesse Kebebew, teaching assistant at Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and researcher for the Platform for International Water Law, Geneva Water Hub (5/6).

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Global Citizen: See How Mothers and Midwives Are Trying to Deliver Babies During COVID-19 Crisis
Leah Rodriguez, women and girls and WASH writer at Global Citizen (5/5).

PAHO: Helping women give birth during the pandemic: the experience of four midwives (5/5).

Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program’s “New Security Beat”: International Day of the Midwife: A Global Call to Action
Sarah Barnes, project director of the Maternal Health Initiative at the Wilson Center (5/5).

World Economic Forum: COVID-19 is highlighting global neglect of pregnant women and midwives
Bjorn Andersson, Asia-Pacific regional director with the United Nations Population Fund (5/5).

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U.S. Department of State: Additional U.S. Foreign Assistance Builds Upon U.S. Leadership in the Global COVID-19 Response
In this press statement, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo says, “Today, the United States continues to demonstrate global leadership in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an additional $128 million in global health and humanitarian assistance. This enhanced commitment brings our total to more than $900 million in life-saving global health, humanitarian, and economic assistance to more than 120 countries to-date. The funding announced today includes $100 million in global health funding to support virus prevention, detection, and control. The remaining $28 million announced today will also help prevent the spread of COVID-19 among vulnerable refugees and migrants, including through the provision of humanitarian assistance…” (5/6).

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USAID: COVID-19 Global Response — Fact Sheet #2 FY20
This fact sheet provides details on U.S. efforts to address COVID-19 globally, highlighting key developments in the U.S. response, the U.S. action plan to support the international response, and regional summaries (5/5).

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NIH: NIH Statement on World Asthma Day 2020
“…[O]n World Asthma Day, the National Institutes of Health stands with patients, families, advocates, researchers, and health care professionals to raise awareness about this common chronic respiratory disease, the people it affects, and the biomedical research that improves its prevention and treatment. … This year, we recognize that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is creating concern and uncertainty for many people around the globe, including those with asthma…” (5/5).

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KFF: COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker — Updated as of May 6, 2020 (5/6).

Additional KFF COVID-19 resources, including those focused on the response and impact within the U.S., are available here. KFF’s new blog series “Coronavirus Policy Watch” is available here.

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