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Around 25 million children around the world missed out on routine vaccinations last year that protect against life-threatening diseases, as the knock-on effects of the pandemic continue to disrupt health care globally, Reuters reported.

That is two million more children than in 2020, when COVID-19 caused lockdowns around the world, and six million more than pre-pandemic in 2019, according to new figures released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

UNICEF described the drop in vaccination coverage as the largest sustained backslide in childhood vaccination in a generation, taking coverage rates back to levels not seen since the early 2000s.

Many had hoped that 2021 would see some ground recovered after the first year of the pandemic, but the situation actually worsened, raising questions over catch-up efforts.

"I want to get across the urgency," UNICEF's senior immunisation specialist, Niklas Danielsson told Reuters. "This is a child health crisis."

The agency said that a focus on COVID-19 immunisation campaigns in 2021, as well as the economic slowdown and strain on healthcare systems, had stymied a quicker recovery for routine vaccinations.

Coverage dropped in every region, the figures showed, which are estimated using data on the take-up of the three-dose diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) jab and include both children who get no jabs at all and those who miss on any of the three doses necessary for protection. Globally, coverage fell by 5% to 81% last year, according to Reuters.

The number of "zero-dose" children, who did not receive any vaccinations, rose by 37% between 2019 and 2021, from 13 to 18 million children mostly in low and middle-income countries, the data showed.

For many diseases, more than 90% of children need to be vaccinated in order to prevent outbreaks. There have already been reports of rising cases of vaccine-preventable diseases in recent months, including a 400% rise in measles cases in Africa in 2022.

"If we don't catch up on vaccinations quickly and urgently, we will inevitably witness more outbreaks," said UNICEF's Ephrem Tekle Lemango, saying Yemen and Afghanistan were among countries with large and disruptive measles outbreaks in recent months.

In 2021, 24.7 million children missed their first dose of measles vaccine, and a further 14.7 million did not get the essential second dose, the data showed. Coverage was 81%, the lowest since 2008, Reuters reported.

The numbers are worked out using data from national health systems in 177 countries.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a $100 million development policy credit (DPC) to help improve the enabling environment for Nepal’s green, climate-resilient, and inclusive development pathway.

This is the first in a programmatic series of three DPCs on Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID).

“In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank has pivoted its program in Nepal to focus support to the Government to pursue a greener, more inclusive, and more resilient development path, said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, read a statement issued on Friday.

"Through this operation, we are supporting the Government’s key policy actions across sectors including water, land use, agriculture, forest, urban, waste, and pollution,” he further said.

This first operation supports strategic GRID transitions that help build and maintain prosperity for all. This includes the sustainable and productive use of natural capital; strengthening the resilience of urban and rural infrastructure, human capital, and livelihoods to climate and environmental risks; and promoting more efficient and cleaner production, consumption, and mobility.

The operation also supports reforms for strengthening inclusion in development decision-making and access to assets and services; and encourages private sector investment in greening Nepal’s economy and creating jobs and livelihoods related to such areas as community forestry, agriculture, clean air, and solid waste management.

“Nepal’s shift to the GRID approach is a strategic move during a challenging era that is full of opportunity. This shift will help the country continue to make progress on expanding and protecting prosperity while reducing poverty in the face of compounding challenges that affect Nepal’s development, including COVID, disaster, climate and environmental risks,” said Steve Danyo, Sector Leader for Sustainable Development for Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and the Task Team Leader for the operation. “The GRID DPC supports Nepal’s shift to a more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive economy.”

Nepal reported 229 new Covid-19 cases on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 644 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 161 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 074 people underwent antigen tests, of which 68 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 48 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 1,284 active cases in the country.

Pushpa Bhusal has been elected as the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.

A common candidate of the ruling coalition, Bhusal defeated Bidhya Bhattarai of the CPN-UML to become the deputy speaker of the Parliament. Bhusal is the whip of Nepali Congress.

Sher garnered 148 votes while her nearest rival Bhattarai secured 93 votes. One lawmaker stayed neutral.

Also a member of the Constituent Assembly, Bhusal had played an important role in formulating the constitution.

The post of deputy speaker had been lying vacant after the then deputy speaker Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe resigned from her post on January 20, 2020.

There are 271 lawmakers in the House of Representatives.

One has to obtain 136 votes to be elected as the deputy speaker of the Parliament.

The ruling coalition has 154 lawmakers while the main opposition CPN-UML has 98 lawmakers. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), which has one lawmaker, supported the UML. 

The Supreme Court scrapped the writ petition filed against the appointment of Inspector General of Nepal Police. 

A joint bench of acting Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Karki and Justice Kumar Chudal on Friday quashed the writ petition filed by AIG Bishwa Raj Pokharel, giving validation to the appointment of Dhiraj Pratap Singh. 

Earlier on May 2, Pokharel had filed the petition arguing that the government appointed Singh as the IG of Nepal Police flouting the seniority basis. 

With the annulment of the writ, the deck has been cleared for Singh to complete his term.

Similarly, the apex court also quashed the writ petition filed by Ishwor Babu Karki, Ghanshyam Aryal and Praksh Jung Karki. 

The trio had filed the petition on March 31 expressing dissatisfaction over the appointment of AIG.

The government has extended the tenure of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission for Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) by three months.

A Cabinet meeting held on Friday decided to extend the tenure of these two commissions, a minister said.

The government had formed these two commissions in 2014 to understand the situation of conflict victims.

These commissions have been investigating the conflict era cases on the basis of the complaints filed by the conflict victims.

Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic crisis has spiraled into a full-scale political upheaval. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s house was stormed and the president chased away while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence was also set on fire. As Sri Lanka stares at an uncertain future, anxiety has also shifted to other South Asian countries like Nepal. Kamal Dev Bhattarai of ApEx speaks to Nisha Arunatilake, senior economist and director of research at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka.  

What in your view is the root cause of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis? 

It’s difficult to put a finger on the root cause. This crisis manifested through many irregularities in the system. Most importantly, extreme politicization of institutions resulted in improper appointments in leadership positions, improper overall recruitment of people, mismanagement, corruption, lack of transparency and accountability. 

All of these resulted in unsustainable budget deficits and weak institutions, unplanned development projects with low returns, and insufficient investments in sustainable development projects. Constant changes to the organization of the institutions and reorganization of ministries, and changing the number of ministries to suit individuals reduced the efficiency of government processes. Such a weak system could not withstand the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is said populist and hasty decisions of political leadership led to the crisis. Is it true? 

Yes, very true. Take Sri Lanka’s public service. Successive governments have recruited people to the public sector without adhering to proper procedures. In the estimated budget for 2022, the government needed more than 40 percent of government revenues just to pay the wages and salaries of public workers. This was unsustainable, especially as the government also had to foot about 50 percent of the revenue for interest payments. This left very little funds for social spending and development. 

Another example was development planning. This was not done according to the needs of the country, but based on individual needs of political leaders. Many such projects have resulted in increasing government debt without contributing much to development or job-creation. One such example is the Hambantota port, which costs a lot to operate but has very little return. 

What are the takeaways from this economic crisis? Are Chinese loans responsible? 

The constitution of Sri Lanka has undergone many changes in recent times. Not all those changes were done in the country’s best interest. These need to be rectified. 

The main lesson from the crisis is the importance of strengthening public institutions and ensuring that qualified and experienced individuals are chosen to run them. Also, it is important to implement procedures to ensure the transparency and accountability of institutions. 

I wouldn’t say Chinese loans are directly responsible for this crisis. The main problem is that those loans were invested in projects that were unsustainable. There should have been systems in place to make sure that the returns from the investments made using the loans were higher than the costs of the loans. This was not the case for many of the loans. 

How long will it take for Sri Lanka to recover from this crisis?

This is not an easy question to answer. My guess is it will take several years. The country needs to first bring in macro-stability. For that, we need to improve tax collections and widen the tax-base. Given the current economic conditions, this cannot be done in a hurry. 

We also need to reduce public spending. We have too large a public service and it is not possible to reduce its size overnight and without triggering social unrest. This needs to be done gradually. Also, changing the system requires improving the capacity of public servants. Many are used to operating in a different system and in a different culture. It will take time to bring in changes. 

Additionally, Sri Lanka must increase and diversify the sources of foreign exchange earnings. We will need to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). This is also not easy given the current uncertain political and economic environment. 

What are the lessons for other South Asian countries here?

The main lesson is not to wait until you are in a crisis to fight for change. The costs of bringing about change will be much more if you wait too late to demand change. Any course correction needs to happen early, to minimize the economic and social costs of change. 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s interim president Friday until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after mass protests over the country’s economic collapse forced him from office, Associated Press reported.

The speaker of Sri Lanka’s Parliament said Rajapaksa resigned as president effective Thursday and lawmakers will convene Saturday to choose a new leader. Their choice would serve out the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term ending in 2024, said Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana. He expects the process to be done in seven days.

That person could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament. With Rajapaksa done, pressure on Wickremesinghe was rising.

Wickremesinghe in a televised statement said that in his short term, he will initiate steps to change the constitution to clip presidential powers and strengthen Parliament. He also said he will restore law and order and take legal action against “insurgents.”

Referring to clashes near Parliament on Wednesday night when many soldiers were reportedly injured, Wickremesinghe said true protesters will not get involved in such actions.

“There is a big difference between protesters and insurgents. We will take legal action against insurgents,” he said.

Opponents had viewed Wickremesinghe’s appointment as prime minister in May as alleviating pressure on Rajapaksa to resign. He became the acting president when Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday, according to Associated Press.

Rajapaksa arrived in Singapore on Thursday and his resignation became official on that date. The prime minister’s office said Wickremesinghe was sworn in Friday as interim president before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.

Sri Lanka has run short of money to pay for imports of basic necessities such as food, fertilizer, medicine and fuel, to the despair of its 22 million people. Its rapid economic decline has been all the more shocking because, before this crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class.

Protesters cooked and distributed milk rice — a food Sri Lankans enjoy to celebrate victories — after Rajapaksa’s resignation. At the main protest site in front of the president’s office in Colombo, people welcomed his resignation but insisted Wickremesinghe also should step aside.

“I am happy that Gotabaya has finally left. He should have resigned earlier, without causing much problems,” Velayuthan Pillai, 73, a retired bank employee, said as patriotic songs were blaring from loudspeakers.

But he added that “Ranil is a supporter of Gotabaya and other Rajapaksas. He was helping them. He also must go.”

Protesters who had occupied government buildings retreated Thursday, restoring a tenuous calm in the capital, Colombo. But with the political opposition in Parliament fractured, a solution to Sri Lanka’s many woes seemed no closer, Associated Press reported.

The nation is seeking help from the International Monetary Fund and other creditors, but its finances are so poor that even obtaining a bailout has proven difficult, Wickremesinghe recently said.

The country remains a powder keg, and the military warned Thursday that it had powers to respond in case of chaos — a message some found concerning.

Abeywardana promised a swift and transparent process for electing a new president.

“I request the honorable and loving citizens of this country to create a peaceful atmosphere in order to implement the proper Parliamentary democratic process and enable all members of Parliament to participate in the meetings and function freely and conscientiously,” he said Friday.

The protesters accuse Rajapaksa and his powerful political family of siphoning money from government coffers for years and of hastening the country’s collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged that some of his policies contributed to Sri Lanka’s meltdown.

Maduka Iroshan, 26, a university student and protester, said he was “thrilled” that Rajapaksa had quit, because he “ruined the dreams of the young generation.”

Months of protests reached a frenzied peak over the weekend when demonstrators stormed the president’s home and office and Wickremesinghe’s official residence. On Wednesday, they seized his office.

Images of protesters inside the buildings — lounging on elegant sofas and beds, posing at officials’ desks and touring the opulent settings — captured the world’s attention.

The demonstrators initially vowed to stay until a new government was in place, but they shifted tactics Thursday, apparently concerned that an escalation in violence could undermine their message following clashes outside the Parliament that left dozens injured, according to Associated Press.

“The fear was that there could be a crack in the trust they held for the struggle,” said Nuzly, a protest leader who goes by one name. “We’ve shown what power of the people can do, but it doesn’t mean we have to occupy these places.”