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MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HEALTH

Coronavirus worst crisis since World War II and 25 million people may lose their jobs, says UN chief

The world will lose $860 billion to $3.4 trillion in labor income, says a UN report
UPDATED APR 1, 2020
(AP Photo/Muchlis Akbar)
(AP Photo/Muchlis Akbar)

The coronavirus pandemic is the most challenging crisis that the world has faced since the Second World War, warned UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He said it is a crisis that needs a stronger and more effective response that is only possible if everybody comes together and if countries “forget political games and understand that it is humankind that is at stake.”

Guterres, who was speaking at the launch of a UN report on responding to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, said the COVID-19 pandemic could bring a recession unparalleled in the recent past.

“It is a combination, on one hand, of a disease that represents a threat to everybody in the world and, second, because it has an economic impact that will bring a recession that probably has no parallel in the recent past. The combination of the two facts and the risk that it contributes to enhanced instability, enhanced unrest, and enhanced conflict are things that make us believe that this is, indeed, the most challenging crisis we have faced since the Second World War,” he said.

According to Johns Hopkins University, over 859,556 cases of coronavirus have been reported globally, and 42,332 have died. Guterres warned that a coordinated action of all countries to suppress the virus under the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO) is still lacking. “Guidelines from the WHO were not respected in many countries of the world, and there was a tendency for each one to go its own way. We absolutely need an articulated action,” he said. 

The UN chief said that the new coronavirus disease is attacking societies at their core, claiming lives and people’s livelihoods, pointing out that the potential longer-term effects on the global economy and individual countries are “dire”.

“The world is facing an unprecedented test.  And this is the moment of truth. 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,” he said.

People prepare places to sleep in area marked by painted boxes on the ground of a parking lot at a makeshift camp for the homeless in Las Vegas (AP Photo/John Locher)

Guterres called for an immediate coordinated health response to suppress transmission and end the pandemic, steps that can scale up health capacity for testing, tracing, quarantine and treatment, while keeping first responders safe, combined with measures to restrict movement and contact.

He underscored that developed countries must assist those less developed, or potentially “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,” he added.

The UN is also creating 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 socio-economic shock. 

He said countries 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.

Grim socio-economic estimates

The UN report includes estimates from a host of UN agencies. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), five to 25 million jobs will be eradicated, and the world will lose $860 billion to $3.4 trillion in labor income. Further, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) projected a 30% to 40% downward pressure on global foreign direct investment flows, while the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) saw a 20-30% decline in international arrivals. 

Among other estimates, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) anticipates that 3.6 billion people will be offline and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) forecast that 1.5 billion students will be out of school.

Neighbors line up for free food staples outside Santa Ana primary school in Asuncion, Paraguay. It is part of an already existing food program through the Education Ministry, as people stay home from work amid the pandemic (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

The report calls for a largescale, coordinated, comprehensive multilateral response that amounts to at least 10% of the global gross domestic product and warns that there is no time to lose in mounting the most robust, cooperative health response the world has ever seen.

“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,” he said. 

Guterres emphasized that this is not a financial crisis, but a human crisis. “This is not a question of just bringing liquidity to the financial systems, which, of course, is necessary. We need to support directly those that lose their jobs, those that lose their salaries, the small companies that cannot operate anymore, all those that are the fabrics of our societies. We need to make sure that we keep thousands afloat, we keep small companies afloat, we keep all societies afloat,” he said.

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