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World
WHO Declares Covid-19 Global Health Emergency Officially Over
The agency leader said that "it is time for countries to transition from emergency mode to managing Covid-19 alongside other infectious diseases."
May 05, 2023
The World Health Organization chief announced Friday that it is "with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency."
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had declared the emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, when there were fewer than 100 reported cases outside of China.
"In the three years since then, Covid-19 has turned our world upside down," Tedros noted Friday. "Almost 7 million deaths have been reported to WHO, but we know the toll is several times higher—at least 20 million."
"But Covid-19 has been so much more than a health crisis," he continued. "It has caused severe economic upheaval, erasing trillions from GDP, disrupting travel and trade, shuttering businesses, and plunging millions into poverty."
Stressing that the move does not mean the virus "is over as a global health threat," Tedros said that "it is time for countries to transition from emergency mode to managing Covid-19 alongside other infectious diseases."
The public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) "is a tool created within the International Health Regulations to help the WHO respond to disease events with the potential for global spread," STATexplained.
As the news outlet reported:
When a PHEIC is in place, the WHO director-general can make special recommendations, mainly aimed at discouraging countries from closing borders or restricting trade—actions that could deter countries from alerting the WHO if they are dealing with dangerous disease outbreaks.
Didier Houssin, the chair of the emergency committee, said the decision to recommend an end to the PHEIC was in part due to the belief that the tool was not adapted to disease events that are sub-acute or chronic. Houssin acknowledged that there remains a risk that a more pathogenic variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus may emerge, and that a new PHEIC might need to be declared.The WHO's declaration comes days before the U.S. public health emergency will expire, on May 11.
The Biden administration announced Monday that when the U.S. emergency ends next week, so will Covid-19 vaccine requirements for federal employees and contractors as well as international air travelers—and agencies will start the process to cancel such mandates for Head Start educators, employees of some healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at land borders.
"While vaccination remains one of the most important tools in advancing the health and safety of employees and promoting the efficiency of workplaces," the White House said, "we are now in a different phase of our response when these measures are no longer necessary."
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'Should We All Join Them?' NPR First Major News Outlet to Leave Twitter
"We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public's understanding of our editorial independence."
Apr 12, 2023
NPR on Wednesday announced plans to leave Twitter—the social media platform now owned by billionaire Elon Musk—after being branded last week with a "state-affiliated media" label that, after backlash, was replaced with "government-funded media."
"NPR's organizational accounts will no longer be active on Twitter because the platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent," the media organization said in a statement.
"We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public's understanding of our editorial independence," the statement added. "We are turning away from Twitter but not from our audiences and communities. There are plenty of ways to stay connected and keep up with NPR's news, music, and cultural content."
After the platform's initial decision last week, NPR president and CEO John Lansing said that "we were disturbed to see... that Twitter has labeled NPR as 'state-affiliated media,' a description that, per Twitter's own guidelines, does not apply to NPR."
Others also criticized applying that specific label to NPR—including Liz Woolery, PEN America's digital policy leader, who called it "a dangerous move that could further undermine public confidence in reliable news sources."
\u201cIt won\u2019t be the last news org to do this. Interesting months ahead.\u201d— Richard Deitsch (@Richard Deitsch) 1681308253
In an email exchange, an NPR reporter informed Musk that—like other U.S. public media—only about 1% of NPR's budget comes from the government, while about 40% is from corporate sponsors and 31% is from local stations' programming fees.
Musk reportedly wrote to the journalist that "the operating principle at new Twitter is simply fair and equal treatment, so if we label non-U.S. accounts as [government], then we should do the same for U.S., but it sounds like that might not be accurate here."
Twitter then updated the label on NPR's main account—which has 8.8 million followers—to government-affiliated, a label that has also been applied to the BBC, which has disputed the platform's decision.
"The BBC operates through a Royal Charter agreed with the U.K. government, which states the corporation 'must be independent,'" the British outlet explained Wednesday. "Its public service output is funded by U.K. households via a TV license fee, as well as income from commercial operations."
In a wide-ranging Tuesday interview with the BBC, Musk said: "We want [the tag] as truthful and accurate as possible. We're adjusting the label to [the BBC being] publicly funded. We'll try to be accurate."
\u201cBefore we get too lost in the latest @NPR/@Twitter scuffle, it's worth noting that having more "publicly-funded media" is a proven positive for democratic nations.\n\nIf anything, the U.S. doesn't have enough. \n\nht @jbenton, @VWPickard & @Teejneff \n\nhttps://t.co/5r9VBAQCOf\u201d— Tim Karr (Hold This Space for Substack Notes) (@Tim Karr (Hold This Space for Substack Notes)) 1681314683
Since Musk finalized his $44 billion purchase of Twitter in October, when he was the world's richest man, "it has been quite a rollercoaster," Musk admitted to the BBC. "It's been really quite a stressful situation."
The billionaire has come under fire for various platform policy and business decisions, from suspending journalists reporting on the movements of his private jet to laying off Twitter staff. While there was an initial exodus of advertisers, Musk said Tuesday that "I think almost all advertisers have come back or said they are going to come back."
However, the battle over how or even whether to label publicly funded media and NPR's decision to become the first major media outlet to ditch Twitter have some users, such as the U.S.-based advocacy group Free Press, asking, "Should we all join them?"
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Thousands in Israel March Against 'Fascism and Apartheid' at Anti-Netanyahu Protests
"We can see right now many laws being advocated for against LGBTQ, against Palestinians, against larger minorities in Israel," said one organizer.
Jan 08, 2023
Carrying signs reading, "Together against fascism and apartheid" and "Democracy in danger," thousands of Israelis on Saturday marched in protest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition government, which less than a week after being sworn in has already threatened to strip the country's judiciary of power and announced punitive measures against Palestinian people and leaders.
According toHaaretz, about 20,000 people attended two different marches—one organized by the grassroots group Standing Together and calling for equality and partnership between Palestinians and Israelis, and another focusing on Netanyahu's threats to the Israeli justice system.
The protests came days after Netanyahu's new national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, angered Palestinians and the Israeli opposition by entering the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, which was seen as a provocation and an escalation of Israel's attacks on Palestine.
"Extremists are starting to deploy their forces and it's not the majority," a protester named Omer toldFrance24 at a march in Tel Aviv.
\u201cThousands of Israeli citizens marched in Tel Aviv today to protest Israel's new extremist government (Photo credit: Yair Palti)\u201d— Ori Nir | \u0627\u0648\u0631\u064a \u0646\u064a\u0631 | \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05d9 \u05e0\u05d9\u05e8 (@Ori Nir | \u0627\u0648\u0631\u064a \u0646\u064a\u0631 | \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05d9 \u05e0\u05d9\u05e8) 1673132516
Netanyahu's government, which has been called the most right-wing in Israel's history, also announced that it would expand settlements in the occupied West Bank. The prime minister's office indicated on Friday the punitive measures are being taken in retaliation for Palestinians' call for the International Court of Justice to render a legal opinion on Israeli's policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Despite the opposition of Israel and the U.S., the United Nations General Assembly voted last week in favor of a resolution calling for an opinion.
One U.S.-based observer noted that language describing Israeli's violent anti-Palestinian policies as "apartheid" was prevalent at Saturday's demonstration. The term has long been rejected by supporters of Israel and used by human rights advocates and experts.
\u201cWhat was surprising\u2014in a good way\u2014about the protest in Tel-Aviv was the amount of people who said the word #Apartheid to describe #Israel, and acknowledged the frightening place we are in in history, see photo:\u201d— Guy Ben-Aharon (@Guy Ben-Aharon) 1673130274
The protests were held days after Netanyahu's newly appointed justice minister, Yariv Levin, announced reforms that would allow lawmakers to override Supreme Court decisions. Members of Netanyahu's Cabinet have also made derogatory claims about LGBTQ+ people and reportedly plan to roll back laws allowing gay couples to adopt children.
"We can see right now many laws being advocated for against LGBTQ, against Palestinians, against larger minorities in Israel," Rula Daood of Standing Together told ABC News. "We are here to say loud and clear that all of us, Arabs and Jews and different various communities inside of Israel, demand peace, equality, and justice."
In addition to the expansion of illegal settlements, Netanyahu's government announced last week that it would withhold $39 million from the Palestinian Authority and use the funds to compensate the families of Israeli victims of the conflict and said on Sunday that it had revoked Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki's travel permit.
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Two-Weeks Increase in Food Billionaires' Wealth Enough to Fully Fund East Africa Hunger Crisis Response
Food inflation in East African countries where tens of millions of people are caught in an alarming hunger crisis has increased sharply, reaching a staggering 44% in Ethiopia - nearly five times the global average.
It is estimated that one person is dying every 48 seconds in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia alone, where the worst drought in decades is being exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and is pushing food prices to skyrocketing levels.
Jul 18, 2022
Food inflation in East African countries where tens of millions of people are caught in an alarming hunger crisis has increased sharply, reaching a staggering 44% in Ethiopia - nearly five times the global average.
It is estimated that one person is dying every 48 seconds in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia alone, where the worst drought in decades is being exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and is pushing food prices to skyrocketing levels.
Against this backdrop, food billionaires have increased their collective wealth by $382bn since 2020. Less than two weeks' worth of their wealth gains, would be more than enough to fund the entirety of the UN's $6.2 billion humanitarian appeal for East Africa. The appeal is currently woefully funded at merely 16 percent.
Hanna Saarinen, Oxfam's Food Policy Lead, said: "A monstrous amount of wealth is being captured at the top of our global food supply chains, meanwhile rising food prices contribute to a growing catastrophe which is leaving millions of people unable to feed themselves and their families. World leaders are sleepwalking into a humanitarian disaster."
"We need to reimagine a new global food system to really end hunger; one that works for everyone. Governments can and must mobilize enough resources to prevent human suffering. One good option would be to tax the mega-rich who have seen their wealth soar to record levels during the past two years.
"This fundamentally broken global food system - one that is exploitative, extractive, poorly regulated and largely in the hands of big agribusinesses - is becoming unsustainable for people and the planet and is pushing millions in East Africa and worldwide to starvation."
People in East Africa spend as much as 60 per cent of their income on food, and the region over-relies on imported staple food. For example, food and beverages account for 54 percent of CPI in Ethiopia, compared to just 11.6 percent in the United Kingdom. While many people in affluent countries are struggling with the increased consumer prices, their counterparts in East African countries are facing hunger and destitution.
In Somalia, maize prices were six times higher (78%) than global prices (12.9%) in May 2022 than they were 12 months before. In some regions, the minimum food basket expenditure has soared to over 160% compared to last year. The cost of one kilo of sorghum - a staple food - was more than 240% higher than the five-year average.
In Ethiopia, food inflation soared by 43.9% since last year. Cereals prices increased by 70% in the year to May, more than double the global increase
In Kenya, the price of maize flour, the main staple, has doubled in seven months and rose by 50% in just a month (between June and July 2022). Rising food and energy prices will increase poverty by 2.5 percent, pushing about 1.4 million Kenyans into extreme poverty.
In South Sudan cereals prices in May were triple their levels a year earlier, while the price of bread has doubled since last year. The average price of cereals has been higher than 30% of the five-year average.
In Bundunbuto village, Puntland, Somalia, families' purchasing power has been halved compared with two months ago, meaning when they used to buy 25kg of rice and sugar, now they can only buy 12.5kg per month.
In Somalia, where a "risk of famine" was recently declared, nearly half the population - over seven million people - face acute hunger, of whom 213,000 are at risk of famine.
Shamis Jama Elmi (38), a mother to a family of eight, moved from Barate to Docoloha displacement camp in 2017 because of the drought. The $60 cash assistance she gets each month from Oxfam can only buy 12 kg of flour, rice and sugar to sustain her family for half a month. "We eat one meal a day and used to eat 3 times a day. We only eat rice with salt."
Global food prices have hit a 50-year high and worldwide there are now 828 million people going hungry - 150 million more than at the start of the COVID pandemic. The Ukraine conflict has caused a huge spike in grain and energy prices but these have only worsened what was already an inflationary trend. This means that even when food is available, millions cannot afford to buy it.
Even within advanced economies like the US, the poorest 20% of the population are forced to spend four times more on food than the wealthiest 20%.
"Our broken global food system, and the inequality that underlies it, have wrought a war of attrition to millions of poor people who have lost their last purchasing power and can no longer afford to eat," Saarinen said.
"To help those countries cope with rising food prices and the hunger crisis, rich nations must immediately cancel debt for those countries - which has doubled over the last decade- in order to enable them to free resources to deal with the skyrocketing hunger and to import needed grains. This money can and should be easily recovered by taxing the ultra-rich."
To end the root causes of hunger, governments must better regulate food markets and ensure more flexible international trade rules in favor of the world's most vulnerable consumers, workers and farmers. Governments and donors should support small-scale farmers who in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa provide more than 70 per cent of the food supply.
Notes to editors
Food inflation over the last year in Ethiopia (44%,) Somalia (15%), and Kenya (12%) is exceeding the G7 (10%) and global average (9%).
One year food inflation up until May 2022 for Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia was sourced from Trading Economics. The G7 average from the OECD (up to May 2022) and the global average from the ILO (the latest data available is up to March 2022).
Data on food and agriculture billionaire wealth was drawn from Oxfam's Profiting from Pain report and is for the period of March 2020 to March 2022. A two-week increase in food billionaires' wealth would correspond to $7.3 billion.
In Kenya, the price of maize flour, the main staple, doubled in seven months (KES 108 in Nov 2021 for 2kg packet; KES 210 in July 2022).
As of 12 July 22, only $982 million of the total $6.2 billion UN appeal for Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan (both HRP and FA) has been funded. This is a gap of 84%. Source: UN OCHA Appeals and response plans 2022 | Financial Tracking Service (unocha.org)
Grain prices are from FAO's GEIWS Food Price Monitoring and Analysis tool for May 2021-May 2022; and FAO's Food Price Monitoring and Analysis Bulletin #5, 15 June 2022
Oxfam, together with partners is supporting the most vulnerable people in East Africa with life-saving food, cash assistance and water and sanitation services. It aims to reach over 1.3 million of the most vulnerable people.
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