Friend –

Over these last couple weeks, I’ve been engaged in two fierce advocacy efforts:

• The first – to get my husband to do his Zoom conference calls in another room 😊
  
  
• The second, and far more serious – I’ve been working like mad to ensure that in the next round of emergency COVID-19 funding, our policymakers prioritize a global response along with domestic needs, given that’s the only way to protect American’s health and economic security.

The USGLC’s top military brass – Admiral Stavridis and General Zinni – said it best in a FOX News op-ed this week: if America doesn’t step up the global response, especially in the developing world, the deadly virus could rebound, returning quickly to our doorstep. Details below.

Lastly, I’m pleased to share the launch of USGLC’s new COVID-19 Resource Hub. It’s a one-stop shop with the latest resources on the global response, including policy briefs on a range of topics – plus insights on what our members are doing to respond around the world.

Lots more to share in this edition of the GLOBAL GAB, including the latest on the WHO. Hope you are staying safe and please keep me updated.

Best regards,

Liz
Liz Schrayer, USGLC

THE GLOBAL GAB
April 20, 2020

TOP BRASS’ COVID-19 PLAYBOOK. “We can pay now or we will pay later,” warned General Anthony Zinni and Admiral James Stavridis in a new FOX News op-ed. The two co-chairs of the USGLC’s National Security Advisory Council write that the U.S. must deploy “the full arsenal of America’s global health, humanitarian and economic toolkit” as we address the COVID-19 virus:

• “We worry that if we don’t match our resources to the global scale of this challenge that the sacrifices of all Americans in these difficult times will be in vain.”
  
  
• “Even if we flatten the curve here at home in the short term, our failure to stop the spread among some of the most vulnerable in our world… will lead to a new global surge that will land right back at our doorstep.”

WHO DUST-UP. On Thursday, the Administration announced plans to suspend funding for the World Health Organization pending a review of the world’s global health agency. The action drew significant criticism from Capitol Hill to the business community to global health experts. Read the USGLC’s statement, and here’s what others are saying:

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce international affairs chief, Myron Brilliant, said cutting WHO right now “is not in U.S. interests given the organization’s critical role assisting other countries – particularly in the developing world.”
  
  
• Bill Gates criticized the decision saying that the WHO’s work is “slowing the spread of COVID-19… no other organization can replace them.”
  
  
• The Trump Administration’s first FDA commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, told CBS’s Face the Nation ahead of the decision: “I don't think this is a time to defund the WHO” pointing to the ”parts of the world that don't have resources to deal with this kind of a global issue.”

GLOBAL ROUNDUP. Some of the top COVID-19 global headlines you might have missed:

• CALLING CEASFIRE. Conflict parties in 12 countries – including the Philippines, Colombia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen – have all agreed to a temporary cessation of hostilities following UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ call for a global ceasefire amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Guterres warns that “terrorist or extremist groups may take profit from the uncertainty created by the spread of the pandemic.”
  
  
• YEMEN HIT. Already reeling from one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, Yemen reported its first case of COVID-19 last week. Yemen’s healthcare system has been ravaged by war in recent years with only half of its healthcare centers fully operational and just 500 ventilators for a population of 30 million.
  
  
• GLOBAL ECONOMIC DOWNTURN? In one the most troubling economic forecasts to date, the IMF released its new World Economic Outlook last week predicting that global GDP will shrink by 3% during 2020. The IMF also forecasts that developed economies will bear the brunt with the U.S. GDP shrinking by nearly 6% in 2020. China will still see a positive growth of 1.2%, but down from earlier projections of 6% growth.

AFRICA REPORT. More concerning news from Africa this past week where 52 of 54 countries across the continent have now confirmed cases of COVID-19:

• UN REPORT. A new UN commission report estimates at least 300,000 Africans could lose their lives. The worst case scenario: 3.3 million deaths.
  
  
• VISUAL CHAOS FROM KENYA. National Geographic just released a photographer’s first-hand account documenting how Kenya is coping with COVID-19 and the impact on dense informal settlements, like Kibera with a quarter-million people.
  
  
• EBOLA INCHES BACK. The Democratic Republic of Congo has reported several new cases of Ebola just days before officials were prepared to declare an end to the 18-month Ebola outbreak.

LATEST ON THE GLOBAL RESPONSE. Several new announcements from this past week:

• DEBT RELIEF. On Wednesday, the G20 and IMF approved debt relief measures through the end of 2020 to free up more than $20 billion for 77 of the world’s poorest countries. IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said the action will enable countries to “channel more of their scarce financial resources towards vital emergency medical and other relief efforts.”
  
  
• NEW PLAN FROM FOGGY BOTTOM. Last week, the State Department released a new comprehensive plan – dubbed “SAFER” – on America’s international response to COVID-19. The plan details a five-part strategy to scale up America’s efforts to support fragile health systems, promote disease surveillance, and plan for the distribution of vaccines and treatments – plus reduce the secondary impacts of COVID-19.
  
  
• GATES STEPS UP AGAIN. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged an additional $150 million for the development of diagnostics, vaccines, and support in Africa and South Asia – on top of its initial $100 million commitment for the COVID-19 global response.

TOGETHER AT HOME. Featuring a star-studded line-up from Beyoncé to Elton John to Oscar the Grouch, the Global Citizen’s inspirational global “stay-at-home” concert raised $128 million on Saturday for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO. And the virtual event partners included a number of USGLC members: Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, and Procter & Gamble.

• Former First Ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush: “During this difficult period of physical separation, we've never been closer – not just in our great country – but tonight, we stand with the people of the world.”
  
  
• Melinda and Bill Gates: “There's a lot of vaccine candidates that we're backing – and I'm optimistic by late next year, one of those will come out. And we need to make sure that gets out to everyone in the world.”
  
  
• Raj Shah of the Rockefeller Foundation announced the Foundation’s major investment to “bring together science, industry and government to ramp up access to testing so America can return to work safely.”
  
  
• Paul McCartney: “As this COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis, we have to all come together to fight it on a global scale. Let's tell our leaders that we need them to strengthen the health care systems all around the world.”
  
  
• Priyanka Chopra, actress and Miss World 2000 winner: “For the 70 million people displaced… around the world… that impact is particularly devastating… the overcrowded and unlivable conditions in refugee camps – social distancing, there is simply not an option.”
  
  
• Pharrell: "Now with the spread of COVID-19 across the world, it's estimated that 91% of the world's children are out of school.”
  
  
• Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch: “Hey, this social distancing thing is kind of a grouch’s dream. Anyway, for everyone's sake, just stay home!”

TWO CLOSING ITEMS…

GREEN’S EXIT INTERVIEW. In a marquee story on his tenure at USAID, former USAID chief Mark Green told Foreign Policy that the COVID-19 pandemic underscores why investing in foreign assistance is vital for America’s interests. On the proposals to dial back aid budgets in recent years, he said, “Less resources mean we can do less. It’s not magic, right? It’s not a mystery.”

MADELEINE’S MEMOIR. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright just released her latest memoir, Hell and Other Destinations. Harper Collins describes the work revealing Albright as “her bluntest, funniest, most intimate, and most serious. It is the tale of our times anchored in lessons for all time, narrated by an extraordinary woman with a matchless zest for life.”