Wealthy Nations, Corporate Titans ’ False Promises of Fair COVID-19 Recovery Exposed, How Africa’s Inequality Deepened

Alice Atieno relies on sack farming outside her shanty in the sprawling Kibera Slums in Nairobi, Kenya. COVID-19 reversed gains made in poverty reduction, and the unequal access to vaccines has deepened global inequality. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS By Joyce ChimbiNairobi, Kenya, Mar 29 2022 (IPS) Even as COVID-19 brought Africa’s already fragile health care and economic systems to the brink, wealthy states colluded with corporate giants to dupe people with empty slogans and false promises of a fair recovery from the ongoing health pandemic, a newly released report by Amnesty International report finds. The global human rights organization says at the heart of the report are revelations of how “global leaders peddled false promises of a fair recovery from COVID-19 to address deep-seated inequalities, despite only 8 % of Africa’s 1.2 billion people being fully vaccinated by the end of 2021.” Amnesty International Report 2021/22: The State of the World’s Human Rights finds that wealthy nations, alongside corporate titans, have driven deeper global inequality. As a result, African countries are worse off and left struggling to recover from the pandemic against a backdrop of significant levels of inequality. Grace Gakii, a Nairobi-based gender and development expert, says fall-out from COVID-19 includes “poverty and unemployment, severe food insecurities, increased sexual and gender-based violence as well as a strained and struggling health system.” According to the W...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa COVID-19 Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies TerraViva United Nations #VaccineInequity IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Vaccines Source Type: news