Gita Ramjee →
HIV researcher who specialized in HIV prevention for women. Born on April 8, 1956, in Kampala, Uganda, she died of complications from COVID-19 on March 31, 2020, outside Durban, South Africa. Read more.
Are local and international aid worker disparities worsening under COVID-19? →
Humanitarian and development agencies have long been criticized for perpetuating neocolonialism through internal policies that tacitly — or explicitly — value international staffers over their local counterparts. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic followed a similar pattern. Read more.
Catherine Hamlin →
Obstetrician and gynecologist who transformed treatment of obstetric fistula in Ethiopia. Born on January 24, 1924, in Sydney, Australia, she died on March 18, 2020, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Read more.
Elizabeth Wurtzel →
Author who wrote about mental health, and lawyer. Born July 31, 1967, in New York City, she died on January 7, 2020, in New York City. Read more.
As aid groups scramble to contain COVID-19, malnutrition set to increase →
In the rush to stall the spread of COVID-19, experts are warning of disastrous increases in malnutrition in both the immediate and long terms as key programs to deliver food and micronutrients to vulnerable populations are interrupted. Read more.
Radical rudeness in Uganda →
In Uganda, there is a history of deploying intentionally coarse language to shame the leadership, the imagery so graphic and memorable the ruler is never truly able to escape the humiliation. Carol Summers, a historian at the University of Richmond, calls the practice “radical rudeness.”
The decolonizing activists of the 1950s saw the mannered British rituals of teas and dinners, steeped in politeness, as a means not just of tamping down radicalism but as a locus of decision-making that excluded the vast majority of Ugandans. So they cursed, hollered, and ridiculed.
A creatively foul-mouthed medical anthropologist and single mother of three named Stella Nyanzi is their heir.
Germany plans sweeping changes to aid →
Germany is planning sweeping changes to its development spending, cutting its support to 25 countries — including ending eight bilateral country programs — and rerouting most money for health and early education through multilateral agencies. Read more.
Aron Goldhirsch →
Medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer. Born on April 25, 1946, in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, he died on February 26, 2020, in Lugano, Switzerland. Read more.
As Europe uses aid to push private investment in Africa, NGOs push back →
Germany is part of a pattern across Europe of leaders pushing private sector expansion in Africa — in part to shore up domestic support for aid among voters and industry, but also in the hopes it may create jobs that will help slow migration flows. Read more.
The challenge of local implementation in Uganda's new nutrition policy →
Despite presidentially endorsed, multisectoral strategies to end malnutrition, including a new national plan set for approval in a matter of weeks, stunting remains pervasive among children across Uganda, affecting almost a third of all children under 5 years old — an estimated 2.2 million, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development.
That rate has dropped gradually over the years, from 44 percent in 2010, and it is actually slightly ahead of the regional rate of 35.6 percent. But it is not falling fast enough for many children. According to experts, Uganda’s shortcomings underscore, not a policy gap, but a failure to translate those policies into more resources, better services or even higher awareness of the problem in some communities.
International agencies and NGOs have taken some of the slack, but Uganda’s struggles reflect a broader concern with a global target approaching to reduce stunting by 40 percent by 2025 rapidly: Doing so requires coordination across sectors and a willingness to push national policies to a local level that only a government can provide. What happens if that commitment, whether for political or economic reasons, never makes it past the planning stage?
Li Wenliang →
Ophthalmologist who warned about the outbreak of COVID-19. Born in Beizhen, China, on Oct 12, 1986, he died after becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China, on Feb 7, 2020. Read more.
Peter Salama →
Medical epidemiologist and Executive Director of WHO's Division for Universal Health Coverage. Born in Melbourne, Australia, on December 22, 1968, he died in Geneva, Switzerland, on January 23, 2020. Read more.
Fazle Hasan Abed →
Founder of BRAC. He was born in Baniachong village, in what is now Bangladesh, on April 27, 1936, and died in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on December 20, 2019. Read more.
Germany follows UK to launch €25M climate disaster insurance fund →
The German government is looking to share the risk with the global south for climate-related catastrophes that happen there, building on a model established by the U.K. Read more.
Tetsu Nakamura →
Japanese physician and humanitarian. Born in Fukuoka, Japan, on September 15, 1946, he died after being shot in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on December 4, 2019. Read more.