COVID-19: Right decisions now will secure a life of dignity for all

 

Critical decisions made now to address the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to a life of dignity for all people, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on December 4, addressing the second and final day of the General Assembly’s special session devoted to the crisis.

 

Heads of UN agencies, along with scientists and other stakeholders, are holding interactive dialogues focused on the health and humanitarian response, the road to vaccines, and addressing the socio-economic impacts of the crisis.

 

Ms. Mohammed outlined UN support to countries going forward, including mobilizing the $28 billion needed to secure vaccines for all, regardless of wealth or location, and assisting authorities everywhere to operationalize inclusive recovery plans.

 

“This session comes at a critical moment. If we make the right decisions now, we can meet the humanitarian needs, reset the development pathways, accelerate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and secure a life of dignity and opportunity for all on a safe and a healthy planet”, she said.

 

“We cannot neglect our duties to the people we serve at this time of crisis, when it is even more important,” Assembly President Volkan Bozkir said in his opening address.

 

COVID-19 has affected the entire planet and, by extension, every area of the UN’s work. Although the pandemic is a global health crisis, impacts have varied across countries, as has response.

 

As the UN Secretary-General has remarked, the pandemic has been the greatest challenge to the global community since the Organization was founded 75 years ago. But it has also sparked international action that includes recovery plans and economic stimulus packages, according to David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP).

 

However, he warned that next year “is literally going to be catastrophic”, as humanitarian needs double, with famine “already knocking on the door” of some 12 nations. As war drives hunger, fighting also must cease, he added.

 

“If we’re strategic, and put the funds to these particular icebergs before us, I believe that we can get through 2021, while we work with the vaccines and rebuild the economies so that we can have a better world and achieve Zero-Hunger by 2030.”

 

SDGs still relevant

The Zero-Hunger target is among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which all 193 UN Member States adopted five years ago. The SDGs provide a blueprint for ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring all people live in peace and prosperity.

 

The goals remain “absolutely relevant” because “they are our compass for getting out of this crisis”, said Achim Steiner, Administrator at the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

 

 

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Source: United Nations (www.un.org)

 

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