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A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Connect with Vineeta:

Dear Colleagues,

We are saddened to see the unfolding situation in Afghanistan and the implications it will have on Afghans, particularly women and girls. Now is not the time to cut aid to the country, but instead to rally together to protect the progress made in the past several years and ensure women and girls have access to quality healthcare. With one of the highest maternal death rates in the world, we cannot allow RMNCH care to decline further. The United Nations 2030 SDGs include the reduction of global maternal mortality to less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births. Afghanistan’s latest figure of 638 per 100,000 is more likely to increase than decline if the global community does not step up to meet the need. UNFPA estimates that without immediate support, there could be 51,000 additional maternal deaths, 4.8 million unintended pregnancies, and twice as many people who won't be able to access family planning clinics between now and 2025. We will be convening an all-women panel titled Protecting Health for Women and Girls in Afghanistan on Oct 7, 2021, at 10 AM EDT to share voices of experts and advocates on health, gender equality, human rights, and advocacy in Afghanistan. Please stay tuned for more information.

RESOURCES + BLOGS

The Pandemic has been Devastating for Food Security in India by ACTION Secretariat Director, Dr. Vineeta Gupta and Kavita Patel.

A Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity was launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), WHO, and Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker. The dashboard combines COVID-19 vaccination rollout data with socio-economic information to evaluate vaccine inequality insights and policy implications.

Vaccine Advocacy:

ACTION partners have engaged their governments consistently over the past several months to encourage continued and increasing support for the COVAX Facility and

other urgently needed support to countries most vulnerable to the pandemic. In July, Japan announced an additional US$4.66 million to cover part of the delivery costs of approximately 11 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, and Pacific Island Countries through the COVAX Facility. In August, Canada announced it will share 10 million doses through the COVAX Facility.

GFF Advocacy:

WACI Health, in coordination with Global Health Visions, led a #GFFWeWantCampaign Strategy meeting where they discussed tactics and plans ahead of the UNGA to support the GFF Resource

Mobilization Campaign. GFF Country CSO partners from 8 countries joined and will look to leverage various country “First Lady’s” and make a strong social media push towards key donor markets at the UNGA. In addition, GFF CSO colleagues in Afghanistan provided an update on the situation on the ground and asked for support to a call for the World Bank to continue to support health programs in country.

More advocacy updates

VIDEO: WATCH OUR LATEST DIALOGUE ON HEALTH EQUITY FEATURING DR. VINEETA GUPTA OF ACTION AND ROSEMARY MBURU OF WACI HEALTH

Forward

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 25: Global Citizen Live. More.
Oct 5–6: C20 Summit. More.
Oct 11–17: 2021 World Bank Annual Meetings. More.
Oct 16: World Food Day. More.
Oct 19–22: 2021 Union World Conference on Lung Health. More.
Oct 24: World Polio Day. More.
Oct 28–29: G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting 2021. More.
Oct 30–31: G20 Leaders’ Summit 2021. More.
Nov 24–26: Canadian Conference on Global Health. More.
Dec 7–8: N4G Summit 2021. More.

Calendar of Events

Celebrating one year of a wildpolio-free Africa

ACTION partners participated in a 2-day retreat hosted by the Polio Resource Mobilization Group in July, joining the global polio community to discuss common priorities for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and how could best civil society can build support for immunization financing. During the week of August 23, ACTION partners celebrated the 1-year anniversary of the Africa region being certified free of wild polio, and the partnership will continue to raise awareness about polio and why more people should care about child immunization on World Polio Day (October 24).

Meet our team member from Côte d'Ivoire: Kenneth Prudencio

My name is Kenneth Prudencio, Advocacy Officer at ASAPSU, Côte d'Ivoire and I am from Benin, in West Africa. I have lived in Nigeria, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and France.

Growing up on this part of the African continent has played a very strong part in the way I see the world. My Portuguese surname, while being an African person, made me try to understand how international relations have been made between Africa and the world. This reflection led me straight to the development issues and guided my studies.

This southern perspective about the opportunities and the challenges in Africa has made me what I like to call an Afro-realistic. On the other hand my experience in France has enriched my vision on the world dynamics which I think need to be understood by African professionals and leaders. More.

More about our partners

THE ACTION SECRETARIAT IS HIRING!

We're looking for newest member to join our team of passionate advocates and be part of a global effort to advance health outcomes and health equity. Learn more about the Senior Associate, Global Health position here.

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