Category: Development

António Guterres said heightened solidarity is needed if the world is to defeat the crisis, which he called the “gravest test since the founding of this Organization”, with Governments already struggling to address rising unemployment and economic downturn. “But the pandemic also poses a significant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security — potentially leading to an increase in… Read More

In its report, the UN-led Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development explores the steps that governments must take to avert debt overload and address the economic and financial havoc wrought by the pandemic.  “The global community was already falling behind in efforts to end poverty, take climate action and reduce inequalities”, said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. “We have… Read More

“We’re committed to doing everything we can to prevent that from happening”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.But the window for containing the new coronavirus is closing in many countries.  COVID-19 has already taken nearly 80,000 lives, and while infection numbers in Africa are still relatively small, they are growing fast.  The disease is estimated to be 10 times more lethal than… Read More

The dire warning from António Guterres is laid out in a policy brief which details how the new disease is deepening pre-existing inequalities which are in turn amplifying its impacts on the lives of women and girls. “I urge governments to put women and girls at the centre of their efforts to recover from COVID-19. That starts with women as… Read More

The development comes some two weeks after the UN Secretary-General issued a global appeal to all belligerents to down their weapons to help halt the spread of the new coronavirus. To date, the pandemic has not reached Yemen, but there have been confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia. In a statement released on Wednesday evening, Mr. Guterres responded positively to the… Read More

1) Helping countries to prepare and respond WHO has issued a COVID-19 Strategic Prearedness and Response Plan, which identifies the major actions countries need to take, and the resources needed to carry them out. The plan, which is updated as fresh information and data improve WHO’s understanding of the characteristics of the virus and how to respond, acts as a… Read More

Responding to criticism levelled on Tuesday at the agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, emphasizing that “my short message is, please quarantine politicizing COVID.” Said the WHO chief: “We should work across party lines, across religious lines. We shouldn’t waste time pointing fingers.” Describing the disease as “Public Enemy Number One”, he also underscored the need for global solidarity at this time.… Read More

“The Covid-19 pandemic is one of the most dangerous challenges this world has faced in our lifetime”, the UN chief said in a statement. “It is above all a human crisis with severe health and socio-economic consequences.  Mr. Guterres pointed out that thousands of WHO staff were in the field, fighting the virus on the front lines, supporting Member States… Read More

The warning comes almost three weeks after the International Labour Organization (ILO) predicted that 25 million jobs were threatened by the new coronavirus. According to the agency, the latest dire assessment reflects the full or partial lockdown measures affecting almost 2.7 billion workers – four in five of the world’s workforce. Global unemployment already at 190 million Speaking in Geneva… Read More

India’s numbers are still small compared to many other countries, and I think that’s largely due to the early actions taken to screen people coming into the country, to do extensive testing and contact tracing – surveying who may have been in touch with people infected – as well as social distancing and a number of other measures.  The country… Read More