A global alliance of more than 1,000 organisations has announced $US20.6 billion in pledges to help women, newborns, young children and adolescents deal with the COVID-19 pandemic as well as longstanding issues.
The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, which is hosted by the World Health Organization, says $US16.1 billion are new commitments to address COVID-19, $US2.2 billion is new money not linked to the coronavirus, and $US2.3 billion is new funding for existing programs.
Low and middle income countries including Afghanistan, India, Kenya, Liberia and Nigeria pledged a total of $US6.6 billion while $US14 billion came from international aid and grants from Germany, Canada, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the partnership said. The pledges were announced last Thursday and Friday.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who chairs the partnership, says: “Our concern is that resources – insufficient to begin with – are being diverted away to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Clark, who also led the UN development agency from 2009 to 2017, said the $US20.6 billion will ensure women, children and adolescents can access health services and priority social protections throughout the COVID-19 crisis and recovery periods.
