United Nations (NVI): UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said that coronavirus is a global health crisis unlike any other, in 75 years history of the United Nations.
Addressing his first virtual press conference yesterday, Guterres said, ”Unlike any global health crisis in the 75-year history of the United Nations, the coronavirus pandemic is “spreading human suffering, infecting the global economy and upending people’s lives.”
Calling for global solidarity, he said, “Our human family is stressed, and the social fabric is being torn. People are suffering, sick and scared.”
As public fear and uncertainty grow around the COVID-19 pandemic, “more than ever before, we need solidarity, hope and the political will to see this crisis through together,” he said.
“Coordinated, decisive and innovative policy action” is needed from the world’s leading economies, he said adding that he looks forward to participating in the G20 leaders’ emergency summit next week to respond to the pandemic’s “epic challenge”.
“My central message is clear”, he spelled out: “We are in an unprecedented situation and the normal rules no longer apply”.
Indicating that “we are at war with a virus”, the UN chief stressed that creative responses “must match the unique nature of the crisis–and the magnitude of the response must match its scale”.
He cited a new International Labour Organization (ILO) report stating that workers could lose some $3.4 trillion in income by year’s end. But the world is not experiencing an ordinary shock in supply and demand, “it is a shock to society as a whole”, he said.
Appealing for a global financial commitment, he noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and other international financial institutions would play a key role. He encouraged dismantling trade barriers and re-establishing supply chains.
He also spoke of the pandemic’s impact on women, stating that they are “disproportionally carrying the burden at home and in the wider economy” and on children, noting that more than 800 million are currently not in class, “many of whom rely on school to provide their only meal”.
Against this backdrop, Guterres final point was that we have a responsibility to “recover better”. ”We must ensure that lessons are learned and that this crisis provides a watershed moment for health emergency preparedness and for investment in critical 21st century public services and the effective delivery of global public goods”, he said.
Pointing to the 2030 agend of Sustainable Development and the Paris agreement on Climate Change, he said, ”We must keep our promises for people and planet.”
