Direct Link to Full 36-Page 2020 UNICEF Report:
https://www.unicef.org/media/68826/file/Lost-at-home-risks-and-challenges-for-IDP-children-2020.pdf
Some of the inflows of emergency funds will be pocketed by government officials, some will be stolen by managers of health facilities and some will be used to buy overpriced, locally produced gowns and face masks and other essential supplies by businesses paying kickbacks to government contractors. Others will be circumvented by watchdogs, outed by undercover journalists, thwarted by honest government employees, and pressured by engaged citizens.
A farmworker in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Poor countries heavily dependent on foreign aid have received some debt emergency relief by official global lenders during the pandemic. But that opportunity can also open channels for corruption, the author says, making transparency imperative.
By Frank Vogl - May 28, 2020
Fears abound as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across the poorer nations of the world, not only about appalling levels of death and economic depression but also about criminal opportunism. Never before have agencies in the United Nations system, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other official lenders and aid agencies moved on such a giant scale so rapidly to provide relief. But will these vital resources be stolen?
S. Duke Han PhD - Laura Mosqueda MD
First published:20 April 2020
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is particularly deleterious to older adults,1 and there has been a massive increase in reports of elder abuse during the pandemic. Reports of elder abuse range from financial scams to incidents of family violence, with public warnings issued accordingly from the Federal Trade Commission2 and the American Bar Association.3 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines elder abuse as an intentional act or failure to act by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult.4 Abuse of older adults can be physical, emotional, financial, neglect, or any combination of these. To better understand the complex dynamics that lead to elder abuse, our group developed a theoretical model called the Abuse Intervention/Prevention Model (AIM5). This model focuses on three core and intersecting considerations: (1) the vulnerable older adult, (2) the trusted other, and (3) the context in which the abuse occurs. We consider each of these in relation to the COVID‐19 pandemic and end with suggested ways to mitigate the risks.
NO LESS THAN 5!
ALAMES Ecuador
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the structural weaknesses of health systems in Ecuador and most Latin American countries. Decades of consolidation of the private health sector made a joint and effective response to the worst health threat in our history impossible.
The progressive dismantling of public, state and community health systems in favour of the market has elements in common throughout the region. In some cases, services were directly privatized; in others, the State and social security were used as levers to transfer resources to private companies, through the scheme of outsourcing1. The truth is that, after four decades of applying neoliberal policies, alternating with populist and progressive nuances, the private health sector has a decisive weight in the definition and/or application of public policies.
The high out-of-pocket spending of the population is one of the most harmful consequences of this process and one of the causes for increasing social inequalities. By 2016, average out-of-pocket spending in Latin America and the Caribbean was 39.5%, three times the average spending of the populations of rich countries (13.8%)2. If we take into account that this spending is equivalent, on average, to 80% of all private spending, the population is assuming a disproportionate burden on its family economy.
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