"The recovery from the COVID-19
crisis must lead to a different economy"
António Guterres
António
Guterres is the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, who took office
on 1st January 2017.
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.
The
International Monetary Fund has reassessed the prospect for growth for 2020 and
2021, declaring that we have entered a recession – as bad as or worse than in
2009.
We
must respond decisively, innovatively and together to suppress the spread of
the virus and address the socio-economic 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.
And
it must be multilateral, with countries showing solidarity to the most
vulnerable communities and nations.
The
message of the report we are issuing today is clear: shared responsibility and
global solidarity in response to the impacts of COVID-19.
It
is a call to action.
We must see countries not only
united to beat the virus but also to tackle its profound consequences.
First,
for an immediate coordinated health response to suppress transmission and end
the pandemic.
A
response that scales up health capacity for testing, tracing, quarantine and
treatment, while keeping first responders safe, combined with measures to restrict
movement and contact.
A
response that delivers universal access to treatment and vaccines, when they
are ready.
It
is essential that developed countries immediately assist those less developed
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.
Let
us remember that we are only as strong as the weakest health system in our
interconnected world.
I
am particularly concerned with the African continent, and I strongly encourage
the G20 to move ahead with a G20 Africa initiative as proposed at the Summit.
Second,
we must tackle the devastating social and economic dimensions of this crisis,
with a focus on the most affected: women, older persons, youth, low-wage
workers, small and medium enterprises, the informal sector and vulnerable
groups, especially those in humanitarian and conflict settings.
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 GDP.
Developed
countries can do it by themselves, and some are indeed doing so.
But
we must massively increase the resources available to the developing world by
expanding the capacity of the International Monetary Fund, 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.
The
United Nations system is fully mobilized, providing guidance for global
efforts, supporting country responses and placing our supply chains at the
world’s disposal.
And
to support our efforts, the United Nations is establishing a new multi-partner
Trust Fund for COVID19 Response and Recovery to support low- and middle-income
countries to respond to the emergency and recover from the socio-economic
shock.
UN
Resident Coordinators worldwide will be the drivers of the UN response on the
ground, ensuring that the wide and diverse expertise and assets of the United
Nations system are used in the most efficient and effective way to support
countries.
Finally,
when we get past this crisis -- which we will -- we will face a choice.
We
can go back to the world as it was before or deal decisively with those issues
that make us all unnecessarily vulnerable to crises.
Our
roadmap is the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
The
recovery from the COVID-19 crisis must lead to a different economy.
Everything
we do during and after this crisis must be with a strong focus on building more
equal, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies that are more
resilient in the face of pandemics, climate change, and the many other global
challenges we face.
What
the world needs now is solidarity.
With
solidarity we can defeat the virus and build a better world.
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