Countries participating in the COVAX Facility

Map of the Month 09/2020

To ensure a fair and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to all countries, over 170 countries have joined forces since June 2020 to form the so-called “COVAX Facility”. The goal is to procure around two billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2021. COVAX is co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). COVAX is the first procurement programme for COVID-19 vaccines that is open to all countries. The initiative allows 92 low-income countries access to vaccines funded by development aid. Other participating countries are so-called self-financing countries of higher-income countries, which support the mechanism with additional funds. Germany joined the COVAX – initiative via the EU. The following map depicts the countries that joined the initiative so far (as of September 28).

The Humanitarian Response to COVID-19

Map of the Month 08/2020

Even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was already being regarded as the year of the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. Millions of people are now in danger of losing their livelihoods and of falling into poverty. The Global Humanitarian Response Plan COVID-19 (GHRP) provides an overview of the additional humanitarian requirements of all UN agencies in the context of the pandemic. Since the publication of its first edition at the end of March that asked for $2 billion for 54 countries, the requirements were strongly revised upwards within a couple of weeks. Currently, the total requirements for a total of 63 countries stand at $10.31 billion until the end of the year. So far (as of August 18) only $ 2.19 billion have been received. Experts warn that development gains of several decades are at stake if not more than the 20% that have been made available until now are provided soon. So far the US is the largest donor (with more than 100 times the amount provided by China), followed by Japan and Germany.

Criticism and support for China in the Human Rights Council

Map of the Month 07/2020

In the framework of the 44th Human Rights Council in Geneva, 27 countries supported a UK-led joint statement which heavily criticized China's actions in Xinjiang and the controversial national security law for Hongkong. However, a statement by 46 countries, led by Belarus, dismissed criticism towards China regarding Xinjiang. Another statement, presented by Cuba and backed by 53 countries defended the national security law for Hongkong. The following map illustrates which countries supported the respective statements.

Map of the Month 06/2020

Forced displacement remains a crucial global challenge. On 18 June 2020, the UNHCR published its new Global Trends Report. The following maps illustrate some of its key elements.