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Cash Transfers Lead the Social Assistance Response to COVID-19
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries are using cash transfers — a tool that can be fast and support local economies. The humanitarian sector has used this tactic for years to ensure that communities living through crises don’t slip into deep poverty.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Malaysian Social Enterprise Teaches the Needy How to Be Entrepreneurs Despite COVID-19 Pandemic
PSC is a Malaysian social enterprise that aims to equalise financial capacity for marginalised communities, with the hopes of enabling them to have better livelihoods and teams up with welfare departments and NGOs to identify participants.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Gates Foundation’s Efforts to Fight Coronavirus, Explained
The Gates Foundation has emerged as a leader in the coronavirus response.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Region
- North America
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Press Release: MIT Solve Announces Over $1.5 Million in Funding for 2020 Solver Teams
Solve is seeking solutions to critical Global Challenges, including Health Security & Pandemics; innovators should apply by June 18, 2020.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Technology
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‘We’re Abandoned to Our Own Fate’: Coronavirus Menaces Brazil’s Favelas
As of Thursday, Brazil had 22,169 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 1,123 deaths, although underreporting means numbers are likely tp be much higher. Community leaders, activists and organisers of social projects in favelas in São Paulo, Belém, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Manaus, Belo Horizonte and São Luís have been delivering food and hygiene kits to desperate residents as hunger begins to bite.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Region
- Latin America
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Coronavirus Could Spark Demand for E-Wallets, Digital Banks in LatAm
The coronavirus outbreak could drive financial inclusion in Latin America, as governments look for agile partners to distribute state aid and large segments of the informal economy grapple with restricted access to cash.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Latin America
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Big Data in a Time of Crisis: Maximizing its Value – And Avoiding its Risks – In the Fight Against COVID-19
About 2 million people around the world have been infected by the coronavirus, and the numbers continue to grow. Yet this data reveals only a fraction of the scale of the crisis. As Jessica Espey at SDSN TReNDS points out, the pandemic has exposed the acute weakness of the world’s data systems. But she cautions that, in modernizing these systems, we must not sacrifice our long-term data rights for short-term benefits.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Technology, Telecommunications
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In Africa, COVID-19 Crisis Puts Squeeze on Millions Who Rely on Remittances
Remittances amount to 5% of GDP in at least 13 African countries. For some, like tiny Lesotho, they amount to 23% of its annual income. With stay-at-home orders throwing millions out of work in Western countries, millions of Africans are feeling the pinch.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech, remittances