As Global Poverty Rises, USAID Plans for Covid-Altered World

Those who were at the cusp of a better life are confronting an extraordinary reversal of fortune.
Until this year, extreme poverty had been steadily falling across the globe since at least the 1980s. At the same time, hundreds of millions of people had gained access to proper water and sanitation services.
The spread of the new coronavirus has upended those trajectories. The World Bank estimates that an additional 88 million to 115 million people will enter extreme poverty in 2020 because of the pandemic. It’s the first time in two decades that progress has reversed.
For advocates of water, sanitation, and hygiene, there is fear that an increase in poverty will undo recent gains in access to those life-changing services as well.

As Great Lakes Pummel Michigan, Beach Towns Rush to Set Development Rules

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
In many communities on Michigan’s coasts, a longstanding laissez faire approach to coastal land use policy has allowed residents to build homes precariously close to the shoreline, with devastating consequences when Great Lakes water levels inevitably rise.
But the ongoing high water crisis is leading some communities to rethink the policies that put them here.
This story made is available from our partners through the Great Lakes News Collaborative. The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Hotspots H2O:
Months of Flooding and Violence Force South Sudanese from Their Homes

Nearly a half million people have been displaced due to abnormally heavy rainfall and flooding in South Sudan this year. For the past five months, overflowing rivers have caused massive amounts of property and agricultural damage to eight of the 10 South Sudanese states, forcing people from their homes and impairing their livelihoods.

‘This Is the Time to Act Collectively’: Anticipating Coronavirus Spread, Groups Seek to Scale Up Handwashing and Hygiene Efforts

In tweets and business tweaks, the world is relearning that clean hands are a first line of defense against disease and infection.
Amid the global coronavirus pandemic, handwashing and hygiene are swelling in urgency and support, even though the message being delivered is not new.
“It’s a known solution,” said Lindsay Denny, health adviser to Global Water 2020, a water, sanitation, and hygiene advocacy group. Denny was referring to hygienic practices being a safeguard against disease transmission. “We’ve known the solution for 150 years. It absolutely could be scaled and should be scaled up.”

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