Title: Calling for renewed, decisive, and robust international collaboration and coordination to fight COVID-19 across Africa.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution declares that decreasing the spread of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) in Africa is in the national interest of the United States, commends the work of Africa's frontline health workers, and calls on the United States and the international community to support African countries' responses to the pandemic.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 245 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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. Johnson 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 collaboration 
           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 containment measures failed, 29,000,000 to 44,000,000 
        Africans 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 pandemic until COVID-19 has been contained worldwide, 
        including 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 outbreaks to fight COVID-19;
Whereas the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (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 practices 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 
        percent of the African continent's reported COVID-19 deaths);
Whereas across the African continent, COVID-19 has compounded 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 governments 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 economic 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 resulting 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 vaccines in Africa and elsewhere around the world, and social 
        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;
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 campaigns 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 activists went door-to-door 
        distributing informational pamphlets on how to stop the spread of COVID-
        19;
Whereas many migrants and their families rely on remittances as a source of 
        income, and the Brookings Institution reports that remittance to Sub-
        Saharan Africa will decline by 5.8 percent to $41,000,000,000 in 2021 
        compared 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 
        stemming from COVID-19, the United States can protect Africa and the 
        rest of the world's health economic security: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (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 frontline health 
        workers to keep the continent and the world safe;
            (3) calls on the international community to ensure 
        equitable global distribution of personal protective 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 therapeutics 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-Accelerator and the COVAX 
                facility;
                    (B) increase contributions to concessional lending 
                facilities managed by the International Monetary Fund 
                to support implementation of 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 Sustainable 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 comprehensive debt restructuring 
                to free up resources to respond to the pandemic and its 
                fallout;
            (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 during the 
        COVID-19 crisis;
            (6) encourages the United States, other donor governments, 
        the United Nations, nongovernmental organizations, and other 
        stakeholders to--
                    (A) maintain or increase support to African 
                governments' responses to COVID-19, including their 
                country-specific actionable national deployment and 
                vaccination plans, and to support efforts by the Africa 
                Centres for Disease 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 exacerbates 
                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 response; and
                    (B) renew the commitment of the United States 
                Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and 
                Africa CDC to work collaboratively 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 education, 
        including by strengthening electrification infrastructure, 
        internet access, and technology to advance 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 people's rights to equal 
                treatment, dignity, access to information, health care, 
                and other necessities; and
                    (B) actively incorporate the United Nations Office 
                of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the AU's 
                joint guidance entitled ``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 inclusive development planning 
        and policymaking that includes open, participatory, and 
        transparent budgeting processes to allow citizens to 
        participate in and monitor budget development and 
        implementation, and to implement procurement, contract, and 
        beneficial ownership transparency to ensure the accountable and 
        effective use of COVID-19 emergency funds.
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