Covid Pandemic Outpacing Vaccinations: Daily Brief
The coronavirus is outpacing vaccination efforts, the World Health Organization warns; UN sharing of refugee data puts Rohingya at risk; ICC prosecutor wants to probe Philippines 'war on drugs'; Hungary’s parliament votes on anti-LGBT bill; grave concerns for Rwandan asylum seeker in Mozambique; steps towards ending child marriage in UK and US; time to protect adolescent mothers across Africa; and Italy sets example how to make education accessible to children with disabilities during a pandemic.
While German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to stand in the way of a temporary suspension of intellectual property protections for Covid vaccines, the World Health Organization has warned that the pandemic is outpacing vaccination efforts. Meanwhile, Uganda has all but run out of Covid-19 vaccines and oxygen as the country grapples with another wave of the pandemic.
The United Nations refugee agency improperly collected and shared personal information from ethnic Rohingya refugees with Bangladesh, which shared the data with Myanmar, exposing those who had fled persecution to further risk.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has asked the court’s judges for permission to investigate the Philippines’ “drug-war” killings.
Hungary’s parliament adopted a bill today which effectively bans discussion of sexual and gender diversity in schools, media, advertising, and other public spaces. Most opposition parties boycotted the vote in protest.
Concerns grow for the safety of a Rwandan asylum seeker who has been forcibly disappeared by Mozambique authorities.
An additional 13 million child marriages are projected to take place over the next ten years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to UN estimates. So it is all the more important to see continuing progress toward banning the practise, like in Rhode Island - now the fifth US state to ban child marriage -, and the United Kingdom, where the government has pledged to do the same.
Tens of thousands of adolescent girls suffer discrimination or exclusion from schools across Africa because they are pregnant. With the continent marking 30 years since the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child tomorrow, it's time to protect education for adolescent mothers on the continent.
And lastly: When remote learning proved inaccessible to many students with disabilities during Covid-19-related school closures, some schools in Italy provided safe opportunities for in-person learning, setting an important example how to make education accessible to children with disabilities at all times.