COVID-19: Top UN official calls for 'new dynamic' to deal with negative impacts of crisis

Amid the unprecedented outbreak of deadly coronavirus and its drastic repercussions on the world, United Nation’s top official has noted that COVID-19 pandemic has revealed ‘weaknesses in systems and societies’ and warned that a “new dynamic’ is required to rectify the negative impacts of the global health crisis. Mona Juul, president of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said while opening the meeting of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) that even though the coronavirus contagion started as the health crisis it has now become the “worst human and economic crisis in decades”. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic, while primarily a health crisis, also quickly became the worst human and economic crisis in decades”, Mona Juul.

“It has exacerbated the already difficult situation for millions of people living in poverty”, she added.

The HLPF on sustainable development will run from July 7 to July 16 and according to the UN, it aims to lay down a clearer path for the nations to kickstart the recovery processes as the global infections of the novel coronavirus surpass 11.8 million. The auspices of ECOSOC, the HLPF will also enable countries to share their experiences while also fending off challenges in the pursuit of global goals and meeting their commitments by 2030. 

The president of ECOSOC also reiterated the “urgent” need for achieving Sustainable Development Goals and urged that the meeting should be a “springboard for greater solidarity and cooperation”. Juul has also motivated the participants of the forum to show the entire world that they can rebuild while also inspiring others to improve their lives. She then added, “We need all hands on deck to get this work done”. 

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'Not even close to being over'

The inaugural meeting of HLPF where Juul called for a fresh dynamic came just over a week after the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief has warned on June 29 that “we’re in this for the long haul”. The coronavirus contagion has now infected over 11.8 million people across the globe and has caused over half a million deaths but WHO Secretary-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that it is “not even close to getting over”. Nearly six months after the first coronavirus clusters were reported in China, the WHO chief noted that “the virus still has a lot of room to move”. 

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Image: AP