The health crisis linked to the coronavirus pandemic, insecurity, climate change, immigration, malnutrition, etc., do not leave Americans – Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates – indifferent. In the 2021 Goalkeepers Report, an annual report published by the Gates Foundation each year tracking progress on the global goals, they review what they remember from the year 2020 marked by an unprecedented health crisis. They highlight the injustice suffered by part of the world population, the need for innovations, and they note a ‘grain of hope’ for a better world.
Read the full 2021 Goalkeepers Report here.
4.55 million people have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. The Covid-19 set the world ablaze some time after the virus was discovered in Wuhan, China. A global health crisis bringing all economies to their knees, whether poor or rich. The Covid-19 pandemic has notably created a great economic divide between these two populations in the world given the growing inequality. The 2021 Goalkeepers Report notes: “Millions of people increasingly in extreme poverty. For many, the economic impacts of the pandemic continue to be severe and lasting “. This remark is illustrated at will with the closing of the various borders between the countries.
In West Africa, especially in countries like Burkina Faso, many players in the commercial field – formal as well as informal – have seen their economies collapse. Goods stuck – or rotten (in the town of Orodara in western Burkina, tons of tomatoes and mangoes have rotted in the wild for lack of exports as borders are closed). Some companies have reduced their staff, some have simply put the keys under the doormat. Others have been shut down completely. “31 million more people have fallen into extreme poverty because of Covid-19”, as the 2021 Goalkeepers Report points out. However, the introduction of the vaccine also helped alleviate the health crisis. There is therefore hope, according to the 2021 Goalkeepers Report. It states that by 2022, 90% of advanced economies should return to their level of per capita income.
Unfortunately, they say, efforts to reduce poverty are not progressing fast enough. A situation that could keep nearly 700 million people, especially in developing countries, in extreme poverty in 2030.
What about education?
The health crisis has really impacted the education system around the world and particularly in Burkina Faso. “Nine out of 10 children in low-income countries were already unable to read and understand basic text, compared to one in 10 children in high-income countries,” says the 2021 Goalkeepers Report. Among these low-income countries is Burkina Faso, which from the first hours of the pandemic closed all schools in the country. Pupils and students could not be assessed in the last quarter of the year. Added to this is the closure of more than 2,000 schools due to terrorism that has raged in the country since 2016.
When Covid-19 supplants other epidemics!
In Burkina Faso, around 600 cases of malaria in children under five were recorded between June and August in the city of Ouagadougou alone. Thousands of children have been unable to benefit from the malaria vaccine due to the coronavirus pandemic which has sometimes disrupted the vaccination schedule in several countries around the world. “More than 30 million children worldwide have missed their immunizations, or 10 million more,” the Goalkeepers Report reads. Many of these children will certainly never be able to catch up with these immunization milestones again.
The citizens’ initiative, a weapon of resilience
Crises, whether security or health, economic, etc. are very often overcome by the populations by the force of their solidarity. The fine example of Bihar in India with more than 100 million people is cited in the 2021 Goalkeepers report. This is one example among many others in countries around the world. In Burkina Faso, a chain of solidarity was set up from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The “CORONATHON” was initiated by parliamentarians during which several hundred million FCFA were collected to deal with the pandemic. Another example of citizens’ initiative is with “Let’s make a gesture”, also known as “A loincloth for their dignity” where some citizens are collecting a loincloth to support internally displaced women in the management of their periods. This is a citizens initiative that has made it possible to bring balms to the hearts of the populations.
The well-being of the world will come from women and girls
Women are the first victims of humanitarian crises. Rape, unwanted pregnancies, early marriage, excision, domestic violence … The coronavirus pandemic has made things worse for the other half of the sky. The 2021 Goalkeepers Report, however, welcomes the initiative of the Ehass Emergency Cash program in Pakistan, which provides money to poor, low-income households, or 42% of the population. In the land of upright men, several initiatives to support women’s activities exist. Internally displaced people also benefit from cash to meet their needs. A popular saying in Burkina Faso often goes: “It’s good, but it didn’t happen”. It is appropriate to invest in women and girls who are real peacekeepers in the world.
Innovate and impact by generation
The 2020/2030 generation will undoubtedly experience many revolutions in the digital domain, technology and innovation. Covid-19, we could say, was in part an opportunity to free the creative geniuses of citizens in order to adapt to the health crisis. Digital solutions, technological inventions, communication strategies were matured and implemented during the crisis. The most illustrative example: the placement of the vaccine. Generations must remain united by setting up innovative, structural and impactful projects and programs for the populations of the world.
Read the full 2021 Goalkeepers Report here.
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In collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates’ Foundation’s 2021 Goalkeepers Report, BellaNaija is taking you on a journey to see how Africans are, with resilience and determination, solving the social, financial, and health problems of the continent. Introducing you to them is just the beginning. We will continue looking to tell the stories of the many more who are blazing trails for a better continent.
#Goalkeepers2030 #AfricaMovesInnovation
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About the Author
Bassératou Kindo is a Burkinabè journalist, community manager, blogger. She is interested in issues of women’s rights, the rights to drinking water, and sanitation.