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“Complicit in Exclusion” South Africa’s Failure to Guarantee an Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities

Human Rights Watch (2015) C2

This report from Human Rights Watch found that South Africa has failed to guarantee the right to education for many of the country’s children and young adults due to widespread discrimination against children with disabilities in enrollment decisions. Human Rights Watch research in five out of Sou... more

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Africa’s Health Financing in a New Era

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) (2025) CC

Africa’s health sector is facing an unprecedented financing crisis, driven by a sharp decline of 70% in Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 2021 to 2025 and deep-rooted structural vulnerabilities. This collapse is placing immense pressure on Africa’s already fragile health systems as ODA ...is seen as the backbone of critical health programs: pandemic preparedness, maternal and child health services, disease control programs are all at risk, threatening Sustainable Development Goal 3 and Universal Health Coverage. Compounding this is Africa’s spiraling debt, with countries expected to service USD 81 billion by 2025—surpassing anticipated external financing inflows—further eroding fiscal space for health investments. Level of domestic resources is low. TThe Abuja Declaration of 2001, a pivotal commitment made by African Union (AU) member states, aimed to reverse this trend by pledging to allocate at least 15% of national budgets to the health sector. However, more than two decades later, only three countries—Rwanda, Botswana, and Cabo Verde—have consistently met or exceeded this target (WHO, 2023). In contrast, over 30 AU member states remain well below the 10% benchmark, with some allocating as little as 5–7% of their national budgets to health. In addition, only 16 (29%) of African countries currently have updated versions of National Health Development Plan (NHDP) supported by a National Health Financing Plan (NHFP). These two documents play a critical role in driving internal resource mobilisation. At the same time, public health emergencies are surging, rising 41%—from 152 in 2022 to 213 in 2024—exposing severe under-resourcing of health infrastructure and workforce. Recurring outbreaks (Mpox, Ebola, cholera, measles, Marburg…) alongside effects of climate change and humanitarian crises in Eastern DRC, the Sahel, and Sudan, are overwhelming systems stretched by chronic underfunding. The situation is worsened by Africa’s heavy dependency with over 90% of vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics being externally sourced—leaving countries vulnerable to global supply chain shocks. Health worker shortages persist, with only 2.3 professionals per 1,000 people (below the WHO’s recommended 4.45), and fewer than 30% of systems are digitized, undermining disease surveillance and early warning. Without decisive action, Africa CDC projects the continent could reverse two decades of health progress, face 2 to 4 million additional preventable deaths annually, and a heightened risk of a pandemic emerging from within. Furthermore, 39 million more Africans could be pushed into poverty by 2030 due to intertwined health and economic shocks. This is not just a sectoral crisis—it is an existential threat to Africa’s political, social, and economic resilience, and global stability. In response, African leaders, under Africa CDC’s stewardship, are advancing a comprehensive three-pillar strategy centered on domestic resource mobilization, innovative financing, and blended finance. more

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Ethiopia Country/Regional Operational Plan (COP/ROP) 2017. Strategic Direction Summary

PEPFAR (2017) C1

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Africa’s digital solutions to tackle COVID-19

European Investment Bank EIB and UN Development Programme UNDP (2020) CC

It highlights how proven digital innovation can be replicated to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Africa. It also estimates investment required to implement such high impact solutions.

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Congo, Forgotten: The Numbers Behind Africa’s Longest Humanitarian Crisis

Human Rights Watch, Congo Research Group - Groupe d’Étude sur le Congo (2019) CC

This report used the results of the Tracker’s first two years to examine the general trends of conflict in North and South Kivu, the main factors contributing to the violence, and the broader challenges for peacekeeping efforts.

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OAU Convention governing the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa/La convention de l’OUA régissant les aspects propres aux problèmes des réfugiés en Afrique

Organization of African Unity (OAU) Organization of African Unity (OAU) (1969) CC2

The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa takes into account the unique aspects of the refugee situation on the African Continent. The 1951 Geneva Convention definition of refugees as "persons fleeing a well-founded fear of persec... more

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Return of the Rebel: Legacies of War and Reconstruction in West Africa’s Ebola Epidemic

Lind, J. and Ndebe, J. IDS (2015)

Practice Paper in Brief 19

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Zimbabwe: Floods Situation Report No. 2, As of 10 April 2019

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) (2019) C1

299 deaths have been recorded and 329 people are still missing, according to the Government. • Latest assessments indicate that the homes of some tens of thousands of people have been destroyed or damaged beyond habitability. Most of these people are staying with hosts in the extended community. ... more

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Zimbabwe: Emergency Situation Report No. 6, As of 6 May 2019

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2019) C2

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Handbook for Public Health Emergency Operations Center Operations and Management

African Union; Africa CDC Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) CC

A Public Health EOC (PHEOC) serves as a hub for coordinating the preparation for, response to, and recovery from public health emergencies. The preparation includes planning, such as risk and resource mapping, development of plans and procedures, and training and exercising. The response includes al... more

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Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Guidance for the African Region

Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2024) CC

Antimicrobials are medicines, including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics, that are used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals, and plants. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) arises when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to these medicines, ren... more

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Key prevention and control interventions for reducing cancer burden in the WHO African Region

World Health Organization; Africa Region (2016) C_WHO

A handbook for leaders and managers

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Reproductive Health Financing for Uganda - Commitment to Action

Partners in Population and Development Africa (2013) C1

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Focus on Key Populations in national HIV strategic plans in the African Region

World Health Organization (Africa) (2018) C_WHO

Report

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Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) Legal Framework Guide

African Union; Africa CDC Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) CC

A public health emergency operation center (PHEOC) serves as a hub for better coordinating the preparation, response, and recovery for public health emergencies. A functional PHEOC is critical for the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). The Framework for a Public Healt... more

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Syrian Arab Republic: Humanitarian Snapshot (as of 31 August 2016)

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2016) C1

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A Global Call for Support and Action: Responding to El Niño

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2016) C1

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Methamphetamine continues to dominate synthetic drug markets

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; Global smart (2018) C2

Volume 20, September Global smart update

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COVID-19 Scientific and Public Health Policy Update – (6 July 2022)

African Union; Africa CDC Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2022) C1

This bi-weekly brief details the latest developments in scientific knowledge and public health policy from around the world as well as updates to the COVID-19-related guidance from Africa CDC, WHO and other public health agencies.

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Mpox Testing Strategy - November 2024

Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2024) CC

Mpox is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the mpox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus closely related to the variola virus that causes smallpox. Mpox was first discovered in 1958 when outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in monkeys kept for research. The first human case was recorde...d in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox and since then the infection has been reported in a number of African countries. Mpox can spread in humans through close contact, usually skin-to-skin contact, including sexual contact, with an infected person or animal, as well as with materials contaminated with the virus such as clothing, beddings and towels, and respiratory droplets in prolonged face to face contact. People remain infectious from the onset of symptoms until all the lesions have scabbed and healed. The virus may spread from infected animals through handling infected meat or through bites or scratches. Diagnosis is confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of material from a lesion for the virus’s DNA. Two separate clades of the mpox virus are currently circulating in Africa: Clade I, which includes subclades Ia and Ib, and Clade II, comprising subclades IIa and IIb. Clade Ia and Clade Ib have been associated with ongoing human-to-human transmission and are presently responsible for outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while Clade Ib is also contributing to outbreaks in Burundi and other countries. In 2022‒2023 mpox caused a global outbreak in over 110 countries, most of which had no previous history of the disease, primarily driven by human-to-human transmission of clade II through sexual contact. In just over a year, over 90,000 cases and 150 deaths were reported to the WHO. For the second time since 2022, mpox has been declared a global health emergency as the virus spreads rapidly across the African continent. On 13 Aug 2024, Africa CDC declared the ongoing mpox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS), marking the first such declaration by the agency since its inception in 2017.7 This declaration empowered the Africa CDC to lead and coordinate responses to the mpox outbreak across affected African countries. On August 14, 2024, the WHO declared the resurgence of mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) emphasizing the need for coordinated international response. As of August 2024, Mpox has expanded beyond its traditional endemic regions, with new cases reported in countries including Sweden, Thailand, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Sweden has confirmed its first case of Clade 1 variant, which has been rapidly spreading in Africa, particularly in DRC. The emergence of this new variant raises concerns about its potential for higher lethality and transmission rates outside Africa. more