Message from the Director
Dear Colleagues,
Although the devastating surge of COVID-19 infections in India seems to be stabilizing, the enormous short- and long-term challenges continue to cause suffering as coronavirus cases continue to rise elsewhere, including in Malaysia, the Philippines, Brazil, and Colombia. We have seen increased advocacy for countries to unite to support health and vaccine equity and calls for global solidarity between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Robust, global collaboration to support LMICs’ ability to respond to and get ahead of the pandemic is not only the right thing to do, but is in the best interest of every nation. The United States, for example, can and should do more in India and globally.
ACTION partners are pushing governments and donors to invest in stronger, more equitable health systems in order to promptly respond to and prevent future pandemics. On May 18, ACTION hosted “COVID SOS: India to the World,” a webinar in which experts from India, Africa, and the U.S. discussed the magnitude of devastation in India and the need for the global community to unite to bolster the response to COVID-19.
ACTION and Italian think tank Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) co-hosted a high-level, closed-door virtual meeting to examine the G20’s role in fighting malnutrition, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. On May 21, after months of ACTION partners’ work to influence the Global Health Summit outcomes, G20 members renewed their commitment via the Rome Declaration to accelerate progress in global health, including pandemic preparedness and prevention structures. We were disappointed (though not surprised) that stronger language supporting the TRIPS waiver was not included.
This month, ACTION partners celebrated a successful kick-off of the Global Financing Facility’s resource mobilization campaign to #ReclaimTheGains on the health of women, children, and adolescents made before the pandemic. Donors and partners raised more than US$200 million, including a CAD$100 million commitment from Canada, which ACTION partner Results Canada helped secure.
Follow us online at @ACTION_tweets and @guptavineeta and share your thoughts.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Vineeta Gupta, MD, JD, LL.M
Director, ACTION Secretariat
   
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"Inner Applause"
Advocacy Moments to Remember
Chris Dendys, executive director of Results Canada, recalls mentoring and coaching six young advocates from Lebanon, Benin, Jamaica, Mali, South Africa, and Wikwemikoong (unceded territory in Northern Ontario) to speak truth to power.
Results Canada was working with a small group of CSOs pushing the G7 to advance a G7 declaration in support of the rights and health of adolescent girls.
“That’s when it happened. Irmine from Burkina Faso smiled at me as she put her hand to her heart and tapped it lightly, acknowledging her ‘inner applause’. And then Hannah did the same, followed by Aissata, Alnastazia, Reine, and Motshedisi.”
Without a doubt, they helped secure passage of the Whistler Declaration that day.
More.
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Advocacy Updates
ACTION partner Results Canada and local civil society are appreciative of the Canadian government’s leadership in the Global Financing Facility’s (GFF) replenishment campaign — both as co-host and for their CAD$100 million pledge announced at the launch of the #ReclaimTheGains fundraising campaign on May 7. Donors and partners pledged more than US$200 million to kickstart the resource mobilization campaign; this is a great first step towards raising $1.2 billion in additional resources for GFF by December. More.
ACTION partners will continue to support the GFF Resource Mobilization Campaign, joining a group of leaders in the GFF 2021 Resource Mobilization Leadership Group and the GFF CSO Resource Mobilization Working Group. RESULTS Educational Fund, Results Canada, WACI Health, and the ACTION Secretariat will provide updates on advocacy and strategize across ACTION partner countries, and WACI Health is working to leverage the GFF We Want Campaign into these efforts. More.
In April, HDT conducted a high-level meeting with the Tanzania government’s PoRALG – Health to discuss the GFF's contribution to primary healthcare and infrastructure development, revealing that the GFF has increased access to RMNCAH services.
ACTION worked to influence the outcomes of the Global Health Summit co-hosted by Italy and the European Commission on May 21. Partners Focus Equality (Italy) and Global Health Advocates France (France and the EU) were pleased to hear their governments make significant pledges to the COVID-19 response. Italy pledged €300 million for COVAX and 15 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, France pledged another €500 million to ACT-A and 30 million vaccine doses, and the EU aims to donate at least 100 million doses to LMICs by the end of 2021. The Summit culminated in the Rome Declaration in which leaders of the G20 committed to act to accelerate progress on global health.
Throughout April and May, civil society in the UK has been pushing back against the devastating cuts to ODA. ACTION partner RESULTS UK coordinated a cross-party letter from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on vaccines to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and APPG members followed up with questions in Parliament. RESULTS UK also worked with nutrition champion and co-chair of the APPG on N4G, Lord Collins, to push this in the House of Lords from the nutrition angle, challenging the government to give more information about the effect of the aid cuts on nutrition. More.
On May 20, ACTION, led by our partner Focus Equality in Italy, co-hosted a high-level, closed-door webinar organized in cooperation with IAI, an Italian think tank and co-host of the Think 20, one of the G20 Engagement Groups. The workshop featured remarks from ACTION partners KANCO, GHA France, and RESULTS Educational Fund, and ACTION Secretariat Director facilitated an examination of urgent actions needed by the G20. More.
ACTION participated in the 45th Global Fund Board meeting on May 11–12. The Board met virtually and discussed how the Global Fund can continue supporting efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HIV, TB, and malaria programs and strengthen systems while supporting countries to respond to COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics. More.
KANCO, Results Australia, Results Canada, and RESULTS UK joined civil society in signing a join letter to PM Boris Johnson as host country of the G7, calling for action on current and future oxygen crises, as part of the broader COVID-19 advocacy. More.
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Spotlight
Meet our partner: Health Promotion Tanzania (HDT)
Health Promotion Tanzania (HDT) is a local NGO working at the community level to advocate for policy, budget, and system changes to meet unmet needs for family planning and prevent maternal and neonatal death. More.
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Meet our team member: Sizwe Nombasa Gxuluwe
Meet Sizwe Nombasa Gxuluwe, WACI Health’s campaign manager. Born and raised in her beloved country of South Africa, Nombasa’s love for Africanism and passion for expanding human rights drives her advocacy work at WACI Health. More.
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Resources and Blogs
On May 7, ACTION Secretariat Director and India COVID SOS team member Dr. Vineeta Gupta shares with Good Day LA her perspective on the urgent crisis in India. More.
Catch GHA France’s Marcin Rodzinka on the May 21 episode of The Burning Case: “Vaccine apartheid: How rich countries are denying access to vaccines to the rest of the world.” More.
“The United States can and should do more in India,” written by ACTION Secretariat Director, Dr. Vineeta Gupta, and Drs. Aakriti Pandita and Kavita Patel. More.
Improving Vaccine Uptake, a new report by the APPG on Vaccines for All. (RESULTS UK acts as the secretariat of the group and assisted in the compiling of the report.) More.
“Why Canada Must Support a Temporary Waiver of IP during the COVID-19 Crisis,” a call-to-action by Results Canada and Partners in Health Canada. More.
“Clinical trials – the role of volunteers in developing safe and effective vaccines,” by Results Australia’s Mark Rice. More.
The CSO GFF Hub expanded their Country Profiles and the Knowledge Exchange, giving the broader context for civil society engagement at the country-level. More.
GHA France’s 4th edition of their newsletter #EssentiELLES. More.
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Events and Opportunities
We’re hiring at the ACTION Secretariat! Check out ACTION’s job board to see our open full-time and consultant positions.
June 8: Civil Society Roundtable on PHC in Kenya, co-organized by WACI Health and local partners. More.
June 10: “Delivering on the promise of a polio-free world.” Join GPEI for the launch of their 2022–2026 strategy. More.
June 11–13: The G7 Summit in Cornwall, UK. More. You can join the #WaveOfHope campaign to send a message to the G7.
June 12–13: RESULTS International Conference (virtual), featuring former heads of state for Australia and Tanzania, ACTION partners, and grassroots advocates young and old — as well as poets, musicians, and academics. More.
June 16: Day of the African Child. More.
June 22: “The impact of COVID-19 on global education” with Alice Albright, champion for global education and CEO of the Global Partnership for Education (webinar as part of Results Canada’s Annual General Meeting). Register.
June 22–24: 1er Congrès International d’ASAPSU (en Abidjan et en ligne) // ASAPSU’s 1st International Congress (in Abidjan and online). More. |
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