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Prashant Yadav speaks to NPR about developing a COVID-19 vaccine. Excerpt from the transcript below: PRASHANT YADAV: Somewhere along the way, we backtracked on global collaboration, which may hurt us in some ways. MCEVERS: Prashant Yadav at the Center for Global Development studies medical supply chains. He told NPR it could be that multiple vaccines will emerge from different countries around the same time. That will make figuring out global manufacturing more challenging. The question is whether the U.S. is ready to cooperate with other countries. YADAV: So some things are moving well, especially when it comes to things that manufacturing scientists and clinical scientists control, things which are about making sure that our global diplomacy is working, things that are about making sure that we work with this in a multilateral, coordinated manner. Those are where I think we see some deficiencies. MCEVERS: Working with the rest of the world, especially the developing world, to produce and distribute a vaccine...

From the article: "...'My father complained [that] instead of me eating his food and occupying his space, I better get married,' Inna* told The New Humanitarian in April at her home near Ngaoundéré, in the Adamawa region. 'My father told me that marriage is my ticket to heaven – not education.' There are far-reaching consequences to the continuing practice of child marriage. Girls are often stripped of educational opportunities and subjugated to lives of chores, childbearing, and domestic violence, UNICEF says. The World Health Organisation also says the leading causes of death for girls ages 15 to 19 are complications from pregnancy or childbirth.  Aid groups warn that forced child marriages could be on the rise globally due to school closures, food insecurity, and economic uncertainty triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Ethiopia, more than 500 girls have been rescued from forced marriages since March, while anecdotal evidence suggests spikes in other countries such as Afghanistan, India, South Sudan, and Yemen. The United Nations Population Fund, or UNFPA, has predicted that the anticipated economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, along with disrupted efforts to end child marriage, could result in some 13 million more child marriages in the next decade.  Girls in developing countries are also at a substantial risk of gender-based violence, early pregnancy, and dropping out once schools re-open, according to a new survey from the Center for Global Development, a Washington D.C.-based think tank..."

Contact: Sean Bartlett Center for Global Development sbartlett@cgdev.org +1.202.821.2947 WASHINGTON – On behalf of the staff of the Center for Global Development (CGD), President Masood Ahmed released the following statement Thursday: “As a Washington, DC-based think tank, focused internationally to fulfill our global development mission, the incidents of the past weeks have compelled us to look locally. And we are saddened and angered by the individual injustices and institutionalized discrimination that we have seen, from the taking of George Floyd's, Breonna Taylor's, and other Black lives to violent reactions against peaceful protesters. We join our local community and communities across the country—as well as all over the world—in calling for justice, working to end institutionalized racism and violence, and affirming that Black lives matter. “Our mission at CGD is to conduct research and craft policy proposals to combat global poverty and promote global prosperity. Central to human development and prosperity is good governance grounded in fundamental human rights: civil, political, and judicial systems that advance equal rights, safety, and openness for everyone, especially the historically marginalized and victimized. It takes a concerted effort of conscientious people working together to undo the structural wrongs of the past and build a better future. This is just as true in low-income countries as it is in wealthy countries like the US. “We are also looking internally at our staff and culture, at the areas where we haven’t done enough to advance and promote diversity. We are committed to doing better.” ### About the Center for Global Development: The Center for Global Development is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to reduce global poverty and improve lives through innovative economic research that drives better policy and practice by the world's top decision makers. https://www.cgdev.org/page/about-cgd