The COVID-19 pandemic has shown opportunities for strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships, especially among development partners, as they mitigate the economic, environmental and social impacts for the most vulnerable. Pandemic response efforts have often left women and children, farmers, fisherfolk, Indigenous Peoples, and urban poor, among other sectors, behind. Despite the trend of shrinking civic spaces and the threats they face, civil society organizations (CSOs) have served as ‘first responders’ to the threats of the pandemic, as

Despite making progress in addressing the pandemic, 2022 saw a surge of new cases, caused by Omicron, the latest  COVID-19 variant. Governments were expected to urgently respond by re-opening COVID-19 wards, expediting distribution of booster shots, implementing containment measures and providing social assistance to vulnerable households.  The continued mutation of the virus could have been prevented if  developed countries only prioritize global public health and welfare over profit. As COVID-19 vaccines are still patented and

As Asia-Pacific struggles to cope with COVID-19, a global recession, and existing development challenges, it is imperative that aid must be used effectively and efficiently. Initiatives for monitoring and analyzing the quantity and quality of aid in the region must be scaled up in order to ensure the transparency and accountability of donors and development institutions. Impacts of development projects that serve to worsen existing inequalities must also be exposed, as the vulnerable and marginalized

This article is part of Reality of Aid – Asia Pacific’s COVID-19 Response Series, “Resisting Repression; Recovering Together”, which aims to document the struggles, best practices, and lessons learned, as well as share recommendations of RoA-AP members as they responded to the pandemic at the national or regional level. Read more stories here.   By Md. Mujibul Haque Munir, COAST Foundation In March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown in Bangladesh, the COAST Foundation reacted

Reality of Aid Statement on the IMF-WBG Annual Meetings 2021November 2021The Covid-19 pandemic has created the deepest economic crash in recent history highlighting the critical role of development finance now more than ever. With Official Development Assistance (ODA) underperforming in recent years, developing countries are in desperate need for financing to boost their domestic budgets and contain the pandemic.In response, the World Bank Group has provided its biggest loan commitments in history. But a closer

Reality of Aid Network statement on the 26th Conference of Parties of the UNFCCCThe UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow came at a critical point, where the multi-faceted impacts of the climate emergency pose even greater challenges for the international aid system. Amid already stretched Official Development Assistance (ODA) levels, the growing gap betweenwhat available climate financing there is, and escalating needs for Covid response and recovery threaten prospects to fulfill climate finance commitments. But