IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 245 
Calling for renewed, decisive, and robust international collaboration and 
coordination to fight COVID–19 across Africa. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 17, 2021 
Ms. BASS (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. RUSH, Ms. 
JACKSON LEE, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. SIRES, Mr. JOHN-
SON of Georgia, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. BERA, 
Mr. VARGAS, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mrs. LAWRENCE, 
Mr. EVANS, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. BROWN, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. 
PRESSLEY, Ms. OMAR, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. NEGUSE, and Ms. JACOBS 
of California) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Calling for renewed, decisive, and robust international col-
laboration and coordination to fight COVID–19 across 
Africa. 
Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) declared 
COVID–19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, and by the 
end of that month, the virus had infected more than 
500,000 people and killed nearly 30,000; 
Whereas the first COVID–19 case on the African continent 
was recorded on February 14, 2020, in Egypt, and as of 
May 2020, the WHO’s modeling predicted that if con-
tainment measures failed, 29,000,000 to 44,000,000 Af-
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ricans could be infected in the first year of the pandemic, 
with 83,000 to 190,000 deaths; 
Whereas, in early October 2020, a new COVID–19 variant 
was first detected in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa, 
and as of February 1, 2021, the South Africa variant 
had spread rapidly around the globe, including to the 
United States; 
Whereas COVID–19 is highlighting how interconnected our 
social, economic, and environmental challenges are, and 
the United States will not fully emerge from the pan-
demic until COVID–19 has been contained worldwide, in-
cluding in Africa; 
Whereas leaders across Africa acted swiftly in response to the 
early spread of COVID–19 cases, repurposing existing 
health protocols and tools from previous epidemic out-
breaks to fight COVID–19; 
Whereas the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Preven-
tion (Africa CDC) warned that shortages of health care 
professionals in African countries would devastate already 
fragile health care systems that are unable to meet the 
unprecedented demands of the COVID–19 pandemic; 
Whereas African countries have exhibited varying COVID–19 
infection rates and responses, and different testing prac-
tices and capabilities among the continent have likely 
contributed to significant underreporting of COVID–19 
confirmed cases and fatalities; 
Whereas, as of February 2021, South Africa had reported 
more than 1,460,000 cases (roughly 40 percent of the 
total African continent’s reported COVID–19 cases) and 
more than 49,000 COVID–19 related deaths (roughly 48 
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percent of the African continent’s reported COVID–19 
deaths); 
Whereas across the African continent, COVID–19 has com-
pounded existing education challenges, as schools have 
closed while limited access to electricity and technological 
gaps have hindered distance learning; 
Whereas responses to COVID–19 by some African govern-
ments have raised concerns about democratic backsliding, 
with some countries postponing elections and violently 
cracking down on citizens accused of violating lockdown 
orders; 
Whereas according to the WHO, women and girls in Africa 
are likely to be the hardest hit by health, social, and eco-
nomic consequences of COVID–19, and women and girls 
may face a ‘‘shadow pandemic’’ of domestic violence, 
forcing large numbers of girls into early marriage and re-
sulting in increased sexual violence and higher rates of 
unplanned pregnancies; 
Whereas the WHO and the United Nations International 
Children’s Emergency Fund have warned of an alarming 
decline in the number of children receiving lifesaving vac-
cines in Africa and elsewhere around the world, and so-
cial distancing and lockdowns to control the spread of 
COVID–19 have disrupted vaccination campaigns, as well 
as prevention and treatment programs, including those to 
treat and prevent HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria; 
Whereas aid disruptions and rising food prices linked to the 
COVID–19 
crisis 
are 
increasing 
the 
needs 
and 
vulnerabilities of refugees and internally displaced people 
across Africa, leading to even greater food insecurity for 
millions; 
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Whereas the World Food Programme estimated that in 
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, food insecurity rose by 
1,000,000 to 4,800,000 since the start of the COVID–19 
pandemic, and ongoing conflicts, mass displacement, 
droughts, and locust infestations have further contributed 
to severe food insecurity in parts of Africa; 
Whereas Africa’s youth are playing a crucial role to help their 
communities by fighting misinformation and leading cam-
paigns to fight COVID–19; for example, in Nigeria, a 
young man disseminated accurate information about the 
pandemic in more than 60 local languages, and in the 
eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, youth activ-
ists went door-to-door distributing informational pam-
phlets on how to stop the spread of COVID–19; 
Whereas many migrants and their families rely on remit-
tances as a source of income, and the Brookings Institu-
tion reports that remittance to Sub-Saharan Africa will 
decline by 5.8 percent to $41,000,000,000 in 2021 com-
pared to $44,000,000,000 in 2020 and $48,000,000,000 
in 2019; and 
Whereas there is a need for a renewed, strategic, and focused 
approach to United States policy toward Africa, and by 
focusing United States efforts, working respectfully with 
our allies, strategic partners, and other stakeholders, and 
mitigating future economic and security impacts stem-
ming from COVID–19, the United States can protect Af-
rica and the rest of the world’s health economic security: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
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(1) reaffirms that decreasing the spread of 
COVID–19 in Africa is in the national interest of 
the United States; 
(2) commends the heroic work of Africa’s front-
line health workers to keep the continent and the 
world safe; 
(3) calls on the international community to en-
sure equitable global distribution of personal protec-
tive equipment to keep African health care workers 
safe; 
(4) urges the G–20 members, including the 
United States Government, to— 
(A) renew their global public investments 
and efforts to develop and distribute thera-
peutics and vaccines to address COVID–19 and 
prevent further deaths, and for other global 
health purposes, including continued support 
for the GAVI Alliance and the Global Fund, 
multilateral funding institutions, civil society, 
and new global collaboration initiatives, such as 
the Access to COVID–19 Tools ACT-Accel-
erator and the COVAX facility; 
(B) increase contributions to concessional 
lending facilities managed by the International 
Monetary Fund to support implementation of 
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COVID–19 containment measures and provide 
liquidity to African countries over the next 2 
years; 
(C) amend national remittance plans to cut 
the cost of remittance fees to close to zero and 
ensure remittance costs do not exceed the 3 
percent called for in the United Nations Sus-
tainable Development Goals; and 
(D) continue to support efforts, such as 
the G–20’s Debt Service Standstill Initiative to 
finance debt standstill for African countries, to 
be followed by fair, transparent, and com-
prehensive debt restructuring to free up re-
sources to respond to the pandemic and its fall-
out; 
(5) calls on the United States Government aid 
recipients and donor countries to renew the global 
fight against hunger, including by contributing to 
the 
World 
Food 
Program 
appeal 
to 
raise 
$6,800,000,000 by April 2021 to avert famine dur-
ing the COVID–19 crisis; 
(6) encourages the United States, other donor 
governments, the United Nations, nongovernmental 
organizations, and other stakeholders to— 
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(A) maintain or increase support to Afri-
can governments’ responses to COVID–19, in-
cluding their country-specific actionable na-
tional deployment and vaccination plans, and to 
support efforts by the Africa Centres for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and 
the African Union (AU); 
(B) align humanitarian, peacebuilding, and 
development efforts in Africa to respond more 
effectively and efficiently as COVID–19 exacer-
bates conditions and drains precious resources; 
and 
(C) increase programming flexibilities, 
meaningfully engage local organizations, and 
adopt country-specific approaches to fight 
COVID–19 by recognizing the unique needs 
and challenges and enormous size and diversity 
of the African continent; 
(7) urges the United States Government to— 
(A) partner with the AU to ensure that 
United States Government assistance is aligned 
with the goals of the AU’s and Africa CDC’s 
Africa Task Force for Coronavirus to bolster 
the continentwide COVID–19 recovery re-
sponse; and 
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(B) renew the commitment of the United 
States Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion (CDC) and Africa CDC to work collabo-
ratively in order to tackle the continent’s health 
system challenges and ensure that the Africa 
CDC is well equipped to deliver science-based 
and quality health care to the continent’s more 
than 1,300,000,000 people; for example, the 
CDC should continue to embed staff at Africa 
CDC and continue supporting data analysis, 
and trainings, among other scientific activities; 
(8) urges the United States to prioritize global 
education including a strong pledge at the Global 
Partnership for Education replenishment conference; 
(9) urges African governments to prioritize edu-
cation, including by strengthening electrification in-
frastructure, internet access, and technology to ad-
vance and facilitate learning amid the challenges 
posed by COVID–19; 
(10) calls on AU member states, as well as civil 
society organizations, to— 
(A) promote a comprehensive, people- and 
rights-centered response to COVID–19 by using 
the outbreak as an opportunity to reaffirm peo-
ple’s rights to equal treatment, dignity, access 
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to information, health care, and other neces-
sities; and 
(B) actively incorporate the United Na-
tions Office of the High Commissioner for 
Human Rights and the AU’s joint guidance en-
titled 
‘‘Seven 
Possible 
Actions—Women’s 
Rights and COVID–19’’ into their COVID–19 
response plans; and 
(11) encourages African governments, as part 
of COVID–19 response efforts, to implement inclu-
sive development planning and policymaking that in-
cludes open, participatory, and transparent budg-
eting processes to allow citizens to participate in and 
monitor budget development and implementation, 
and to implement procurement, contract, and bene-
ficial ownership transparency to ensure the account-
able and effective use of COVID–19 emergency 
funds. 
Æ 
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