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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres'

UN plan to tackle socio-economic impact of corona

 Rohit Shishodia
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’  announced on March 31, 2020, in New York that the UN is establishing a new multi-partner Trust Fund for COVID-19 Response and Recovery to support low- and middle-income countries to respond to the emergency and recover from the socioeconomic shock.

He further said that that the world is facing an unprecedented test. And, this is the moment of truth. Hundreds of thousands of people are falling seriously ill from COVID-19, and the disease is spreading exponentially in many places.  Societies are in turmoil and economies are in a nose-dive.

Mr Guterres’ said, “We must respond decisively, innovatively and together to suppress the spread of the virus and address the socioeconomic devastation that COVID-19 is causing in all regions. The magnitude of the response must match the scale of the crisis -- large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive, with country and international responses being guided by the World Health Organization,” explained Guterres’.

“The message of the report we are issuing today is clear. It is shared responsibility and global solidarity in response to the impacts of COVID-19.  It is a call to action. First, for an immediate coordinated health response to suppress transmission and end the pandemic,” added Guterres’.

Mr Guterres’ advised that developed countries should immediately assist less developed ones to bolster their health systems and their response capacity to stop transmission.  Otherwise, we face the nightmare of the disease spreading like wildfire in the global South, with millions of deaths and the prospect of the disease re-emerging where it was previously suppressed,” explained the UN Secretary General.

 “Second, we must tackle the devastating social and economic dimensions of this crisis, with a focus on those most affected including women, older persons, youth, low-wage workers, small and medium-sized enterprises, the informal sector and vulnerable groups, especially those in humanitarian and conflict settings,” added Mr Guterres’.

Mr Guterres’ pointed out “We must see countries not only united to beat the virus, but also to tackle its profound consequences.  That means designing fiscal and monetary policies able to support the direct provision of resources to support workers and households, the provision of health and unemployment insurance, scaled-up social protection and support to businesses to prevent bankruptcies and massive job losses.”

“What is needed is a large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive multilateral response amounting to at least 10 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP).  Developed countries can do it by themselves, and some are indeed doing so,” he added.

“But, we must massively increase the resources available to the developing world by expanding the capacity of the IMF -- namely through the issuance of special drawing rights -- and the other international financial institutions to rapidly inject resources into the countries that need them. Coordinated swaps among central banks can also bring liquidity to emerging economies.  Debt alleviation must be a priority, including immediate waivers on interest payments for 2020,” explained Mr Guterres’  .


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