ACTION partners are mobilizing to address India’s horrific second COVID-19 wave. We’re all in this together 🌏

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May 2021


** Message from the Director
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Dear Colleagues,

I grew up in India in a strong family environment of human rights and equity. I served in the public health system as a maternal and child health physician providing integrated family health services in rural areas and urban slums for over 10 years. The horrific situation in India with COVID-19 rampaging all aspects of life has brought back the painful memories of helplessness, seeing death and disease that is preventable.

I feel fortunate to lead the ACTION Secretariat and volunteering with the diaspora group India COVID SOS to have the opportunity to contribute and collaborate with people who are passionate about saving lives. I’ve seen the devastating effect of health disparities on vulnerable communities. This last year has exposed those inequities for the problem they are, making it critical to speak up and seek change — now more than ever.

Our focus is on influencing multilaterals, particularly Gavi, the Global Fund, and the World Bank. ACTION partners, committed to eliminating inequities globally, are working to foster meaningful inclusion of the community and accountable global governance, as we push for increased health systems capacity. We advocate to ensure a focus on global health equity and a new form of thinking about financing health (including flexibility with IP controls) in the Rome Declaration, which will be issued at the Global Health Summit in May.

We have a long way to go to deliver lifesaving COVID-19 vaccinations to the entire world while not sliding back on routine immunization. We must continue to advocate for a world where everyone, everywhere, and at every age has access to lifesaving vaccines.

Follow us online at @ACTION_tweets ([link removed]) and @guptavineeta ([link removed]) and share your thoughts.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Vineeta Gupta, MD, JD, LL.M
Director, ACTION Secretariat
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** Vaccine Equity
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** Leave No One Behind
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Dr. Vineeta Gupta, director of the ACTION Secretariat, said, “World Immunization Week matters more than ever, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, to achieve vaccine equity and health equity. ACTION partners work very hard every day across the globe to decrease inequities that make us all vulnerable to vaccine preventable diseases.

“India is a critical example. This devastating second wave has claimed the lives of over two hundred thousand people and is deeply affecting the country’s health system.”

Dr. Peter Singer, special advisor to the director-general at the WHO, said that there are three lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic:
“Equity, equity, and equity.”

More ([link removed]) .


** Advocacy Updates
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On April 20, ACTION partners from GHA France, WACI Health, and KANCO spoke in a CSO consultation for the upcoming Global Health Summit. GHA France followed up with a statement, saying that preparing for future global health crises and learning from mistakes is important, but not at the cost responding to the current global health crisis. In their statement ([link removed]) , GHA calls for 1) urgently filling the ACT-Accelerator funding gap, 2) correcting policy incoherence: taking bold actions towards health equity, 3) increased health systems capacity and avoidance of global health fragmentation, 4) enabling a stronger and more accountable global governance, and 5) meaningful civil society and community inclusion. Shortly thereafter, nearly 400 MEPs and MPs joined the chorus of voices calling for a TRIPS waiver on
COVID-19 vaccines. More ([link removed]) .

ACTION partners participated in numerous events to mark World TB Day. On March 23, RESULTS UK, through the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global TB, hosted a virtual briefing with 70 participants; it was opened by the APPG's co-chair, Virendra Sharma MP, and featured Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, and TB survivor and ACTION media champion Nandita Venkatesan. RESULTS UK also collaborated with CITAM to produce short videos ([link removed]) featuring TB survivors speaking about why it’s important to end TB. The videos were widely circulated on social media. More ([link removed]) .

KANCO co-organized events in 6 counties across Kenya in collaboration with the National TB program and other CSOs. The events featured TB survivors, including former ACTION media champion Timpiyan Leseni who spoke about the need for increased resources for Global Fund to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on community health workers.

ACTION partners participated in the 2021 Virtual World Bank Spring Meetings from late March to mid-April, including the Civil Society Policy Forum, the Human Capital Ministerial Conclave, the High-level Roundtable on World Bank COVID-19 Response, the Global Parliamentary Workshop for the World Bank and IMF, and the 2021 Spring IDA Forum. Rosemary Mburu ([link removed]) , executive director of WACI Health, was invited to be one of the commentators during the 2021 Spring IDA Forum, and she highlighted the importance of ensuring that Health and Human Capital are elevated within the IDA 20 Replenishment and that targets and commitments outlined in the Africa Human Capital Plan are prioritized. VP of Development Finance at the WB, Aki Nishio, sent a follow up thank you letter for our contributions and partnership in the Forum and with the Bank.

RESULTS joined other CSOs in the U.S. on a sign on letter entitled “Biden Budget GH Community Response,” urging the U.S. administration to increase funding for global health programs beyond the proposed funding focusing on global health security. RESULTS is urging grassroots advocates to submit letters-to-the-editor calling on Congress to quickly pass a large-scale recovery package that reduces child poverty and helps low-income families keep a roof over their head. More ([link removed]) .

“A tragic blow for many of the world’s most marginalised people” was the headline of a UK civil society joint statement from 200 UK NGOs ([link removed]) , including RESULTS UK, condemning government cuts to the aid budget. RESULTS UK vows to keep pressing the Government on this issue. More ([link removed]) .


** Spotlight
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** Meet our partner: Results International Australia
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Results International Australia has been doing good work advancing health, nutrition, and education programs in the Indo-Pacific region for 35 years, but never more so than throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Their large network of advocates and inspiring social media campaign was successful in gaining an AU$1.1 billion commitment from the Australian government to support the regional response to the COVID crisis. More ([link removed]) .

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** Meet our team member: Dela Anderson
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"For a lot of the time I’ve worked at RESULTS UK, I’ve had a second job, supporting artists-run workshops for and with young people who use social care services in east London. I’m really passionate that art and creativity should be accessible to everyone, which is obviously a serious issue, but for me, has involved lots and lots of being quite silly. For example, here’s me sporting some hand-crafted regalia made by the group of teenage girls I worked with during a school half term. Later we took our portraits into the local council chambers and ‘reclaimed’ the space as our own!" More ([link removed]) .
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News
April 14: “India post-COVID-19: An opportunity to strengthen health security through cross-sector collaboration,” from the Pandemic Action Network. More ([link removed]) .

April 15: The “One World Protected” event launched a campaign to raise US$2 billion for the global fight against COVID-19, with early pledges totaling $400 million and millions of vaccine doses to COVAX. More ([link removed]) .

April 15: The World Bank announced the launch of an early IDA20 Replenishment ([link removed]) process to conclude in December 2021 with a policy and financial package to support IDA-eligible countries from July 2022 to June 2025. More ([link removed]) .

April 20: The World Bank announced that it has reached $2 billion in approved financing for the purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines for 17 developing countries. More ([link removed]) .

April 26: Launch of the Immunization Agenda 2030! Join ACTION in calling for renewed commitments to delivering the IA2030 vision. More ([link removed]) .

April 7: “Hundreds of studies confirm: Women hit hardest by COVID-19,” in Devex. More ([link removed]) .

The Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) is launching a resource mobilization campaign to raise $1.2 billion by the end of 2021 to protect essential health services and strengthen health systems, as countries prepare for the rollout of COVID-19 tools and strive for a resilient and inclusive recovery. More ([link removed]) .

Resources and Blogs
WACI Health’s Run4TB campaign. More ([link removed]) .

RESULTS UK World Tuberculosis (TB) Day Digital Exhibition ([link removed]) and #TBhope Advocates' stories. More ([link removed]) .

RESULTS Australia’s World TB Day E-booklet and Virtual Parliamentary event recording. More ([link removed]) .

RESULTS Canada’s “Together against TB: A World TB Day discussion on taking action to #endTB” webinar recording. More ([link removed]) .

Civil Society Engagement Guide to the HLM 2021, created to support civil society to engage and contribute more effectively during the 2021 High-Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS (HLM). More ([link removed]) .

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.

* Nutrition Capacity Building Consultant ([link removed])
* More full-time and consulting positions ([link removed])

May 7 at 8:30–10am IST: Episode no. 3 of “Improving Performance in Primary Health Care Systems in LMICs.” Hosted by PHCRC. More ([link removed]) .

May 7 at 8–9am EDT: GFF replenishment launch event, “Reclaim the Gains.” More ([link removed]) .

May 15: Training event “Creating and inclusive campaigning.” Hosted by RESULTS UK. More ([link removed]) .

May 17–18 at 8-11:30am EDT: “Lives in the Balance: Equity in COVID-19 Recovery.” Co-hosted by PMNCH, the Global Financing Facility (GFF), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and CORE Group. More ([link removed]) .

May 21: Global Health Summit in Rome, Italy. More ([link removed]) .

June 11–13: The G7 Summit in Cornwall, UK. More ([link removed]) .

June 12–13: RESULTS International Conference (virtual). More ([link removed]) .

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