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WHO, UN Foundation and partners launch first-of-its-kind COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund 13 March 2020   News release 中文 Français Русский Español GENEVA and Washington, D.C. – A new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Solidarity Response Fund will raise money from a wide range of donors to support the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to help countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund, the first-of-its-kind, enables private individuals, corporations and institutions anywhere in the world to come together to directly contribute to global response efforts, and has been created by the United Nations Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, together with WHO.  “We are at a critical point in the global response to COVID-19 – we need everyone to get involved in this massive effort to keep the world safe,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “We are immensely grateful to the UN Found...

Lagos Not On Lockdown, Gov Insists …Drug Shops, Food Sellers Not Affected By Directive Lagos State Government, on Tuesday, took more restrictive measures to break the cycle of transmission of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the State. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu directed all markets and stores trading in non-essential commodities to close for seven days. The directive takes effect from Thursday, March 26. Also, the Governor reduced the number of people that must participate in a public gathering at any given time from 50 to 25. Sanwo-Olu disclosed that he had instructed the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, to close all High and Magistrate courts across the State from Thursday to support the efforts being made to stop the epidemic. Other public places shut by the Government include parks, playgrounds and recreational centres within the State, regardless of ownership. In a televised briefing after State’s Security Council meeting held at the State House in ...

 "We don't need an existential threat to remind us that Nigeria lacks leadership." Left to Right: Bill Clinton, US president (1993-2001); William H. Gates III, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Thabo Mbeki, South Africa president (1999–2008); Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister (1997 to 2007); Bono, musician; and Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria president (1999-2007), World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, January 27, 2005.  Image by  Remy Steinegger  (CC BY-SA 3.0).  This essay, written by Temitayo Fagbule and first published in  Business Day,  was lightly edited and re-published here with permission from the author.  Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of  the global impact of COVID-19 . March 22, 2018, will make it exactly two years since Bill Gates stood in the banquet hall at Aso Rock, Nigeria's seat of power, with President Muhammadu Buhari, members of the Federal Executive Counc...

 "The  bell of a historical moment had rang." Wuhan, China as the epicenter and origin of COVID-19, has been  locked down  by the Chinese government since January 23, 2020. The city holds 11 million people and during the outbreak, about 6 million people were put under quarantine, and approximately 5 million left the city during a holiday break. Many Wuhan people began keeping diaries during the lockdown. However, negative depictions of daily life in Wuhan are often subjected to censorship on Weibo, the popular social media platform in China. On WeChat, another popular social media platform, the diaries mostly circulate among friends. However,  Ai Xiaoming,  an independent filmmaker and  feminist scholar,  and feminist activist  Guo Jing,  have shared their diaries on Matters News. Their diaries vividly reflect the emotions among common people during the sudden lockdown. China's control over the pandemic has been described as...