Africa's humanitarian crises, COVID surges + more
🌎 Your briefing from the WorldWise desk.
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There are too many reports.
Over the past week, coverage of humanitarian crises on the African continent has come in from a number of locations, with new stresses appearing to add to ongoing tensions.
In Kenya, 1.4 million people are at risk of starvation as the pandemic adds to problems such as a short rainy season and locust invasions. South Sudan is experiencing its highest-ever levels of food insecurity (Devex + AllAfrica/UN). Yemen is facing famine as conflict escalates, with 700,000 people expected to flee their homes this year (WaPo + UN + NRC).
In Ethiopia’s Tigray region, health facilities have been targeted in the course of a conflict that began last November. And there are horrific accounts of sexual violence against women—this is a strong report by Jamal Osman for Channel 4.
Disturbing reports of violence and displacement also come from northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, where a long-standing conflict escalated last year, which the UN refugee agency describes as a “humanitarian tragedy”.
The Central African Republic has also seen an ‘alarming’ increase in violence and displacement since December, which has led to a humanitarian crisis. In Niger, gunmen attacking villages along the border with Mali have left 137 people dead. Violence is growing in new parts of Cameroon, causing mass displacement.
Meanwhile, on the pandemic front, cases of Covid-19 appear to be rising again in various parts of the world, probably because of more transmissible variants.
Scroll down for more on Covid-19—first, let’s look at other news.
Beyond the pandemic
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT | Over the past six months, more than 10 million people have been displaced by disasters related to climate change—now the leading cause of internal displacement, particularly in Asia. It turns out that seafood trawling is responsible for a surprisingly large amount of greenhouse gas emissions, on par with aviation (TRF + Vox + NYT). About 70% of families in Somalia have been left without safe drinking water due to severe shortages. The country’s sea-border dispute with Kenya threatens local fishing communities. Sudan has asked for help from the UN, the United States and the EU to resolve the long-standing conflict with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. New Delhi is the world’s most polluted capital for the third year in a row. The UN’s biodiversity summit, due to take place in China’s Kunming city, has been delayed a second time.
HUMAN RIGHTS | There’s a small wave of positive news on transgender rights from South Asia. Pakistan now has its first trans-only Islamic school (TRF + Al Jazeera). The Indian state of Chhattisgarh has recruited its first transgender police officers. Tashnuva Anan Shishir has made history in Bangladesh by becoming the first transgender news presenter.
Also in Bangladesh, a massive fire has swept through hundreds of homes of Rohingya refugees at Cox’s Bazaar, leaving thousands homeless (Al Jazeera + VOA + LAHT + ReliefWeb). In Myanmar, health-care sites are under attack, ethnic Karen villagers are uprooted, and prices for food and fuel are rising as the country’s violent political crisis continues (Lancet + Euronews + Al Jazeera).
🔹 Other headlines that caught my eye
Kenya court ruling gives boost to fight against FGM - TRF
Mystery surrounds the poisoning of more than 650 people in India - WaPo
The victims of Agent Orange the US has never acknowledged - NYT
China aims to be carbon neutral by 2060. Its new 5-year plan won’t cut it - Vox
New mega-city could be a death blow for India’s ancient tribes - Diplomat
Brazil’s isolated tribes resist miners targeting Indigenous lands - Mongabay
🎥 VISUAL | Seen from the sky: polluted waters around the world - Reuters Wider Image
Catching up with Covid-19
SNAPSHOTS FROM THE GLOBAL SOUTH | After a number of reports about Brazil’s Covid-19 crisis, which is ongoing and has global implications, over the past week India got a fair amount of media attention. Along with Pakistan, it’s seeing a resurgence and the number of cases has hit a three-month high (Reuters + Al Jazeera + Reuters + Al Jazeera + LAHT + Reuters + LAHT). A strong wave is also sweeping across Papua New Guinea, which has little testing and healthcare capacity: the number of cases has tripled in the space of a month (Reuters + TNH + Economist + Guardian + Al Jazeera). The Philippines is also battling a surge in cases linked to new variants, prompting new government restrictions (Al Jazeera + LAHT). Syria’s hospitals are full with coronavirus patients.
SCIENCE AT A GLANCE | Most coronavirus deaths have occurred in countries where most adults are overweight (WaPo + CNN + Guardian). Older people are more likely to catch the virus a second time (Guardian + CIDRAP). The disease could cause diabetes. New evidence suggests reinfections are rare. The coronavirus variant that emerged from the UK has been found in pets for the first time. Where does the back and forth between humans and animals end?
VACCINE ACCESS | Europe’s temporary suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine, due to a suspected link with a higher risk of blood clots, has reportedly seeded doubts in other parts of the world (WaPo + LAHT + AllAfrica/DW). In addition to hesitation and supply problems, many countries aren’t quite ready to deliver the vaccines they have in hand: only 30% have developed plans for training up the number of vaccinators needed, according to the World Bank (Devex + World Bank). In Pakistan, Covid-19 vaccines are on sale, a move set to widen inequalities in access. In Haiti, distrust of government is driving vaccine hesitancy. While Western nations are hoarding at the risk of prolonging the pandemic, India and China are competing for vaccine diplomacy through their donations. And for a dose of the absurd, there’s the story of a Bahraini prince who planned to climb Mount Everest and showed up in Nepal with thousands of doses of an unapproved Chinese vaccine (WaPo + LAHT + LAHT).
📲 INTERACTIVE | What does the data show about COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy? - Devex
🔹 Other headlines that caught my eye
First batch of COVAX-supplied vaccines arrives for Palestinians - Reuters
Five reasons why COVID herd immunity is probably impossible - Nature
Covid-19 has created risky disruptions on newborn care across 62 countries - Devex + BBC
Fight against tuberculosis set back 12 years by pandemic - Guardian
How Chile's vaccination push outpaced the rest of the Western hemisphere - WaPo
Did the coronavirus leak from a lab? These scientists say we shouldn’t rule it out - MIT Tech Review 🌎
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