The COVID-19 pandemic is leading to ¡°an even more unequal world¡±, the Deputy UN chief said on Thursday, speaking at the closing session of the Financing for Development (FfD) Forum, with many lower-income countries now seeing development gains reversed.
Deliberations throughout the four-day long forum highlighted the ¡°full scope¡± of the COVID impact, said UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed.
¡°The worst health and economic downturn in our lifetime has laid bare and exacerbated the vulnerabilities in our economies and societies, leading some to describe COVID-19 as the inequality virus¡±, she added.
Alarming problems
Developing countries have faced ¡°ballooning debt burdens¡± and constrained fiscal budget, and high borrowing costs, with a limited ability to respond to the pandemic, Ms. Mohammed explained.
¡°The diverging world that we are hurtling towards is a catastrophe for all of us¡±, she spelled out. ¡°It is both morally right and economically rational to help developing countries overcome this crisis¡±.
To prevent the risk of a ¡°lost decade for development¡±, she upheld that extraordinary levels of public spending ¡°continue to be critical to keep vulnerable economies afloat¡±, as do structural transformations for protecting the global economy against future crises.
¡®Moral blight¡¯
Rapid access to vaccines for all citizens of the world is a top priority, she said, noting that the average number of people inoculated in Africa remains under one per cent.
¡°This is a moral blight on the international community¡±, she said, calling on governments, development partners and private sector actors to ¡°finance equitable vaccination for all, as a matter of utmost urgency¡±.
It is also crucial to alleviate debt and liquidity pressures by continuing and expanding the to include vulnerable middle-income countries and small island developing States.
¡°Eligibility for debt relief must be based on actual need rather than GDP, especially as the world hurdles towards a climate catastrophe¡±, she said, adding that governments should not be forced to service debt ¡°at the expense of responding to their own populations¡±.&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;
Promoting investment
Moreover, the pandemic has underscored the importance of front-loading investments in social protection measures, to protect against future shocks.
¡°Governments need to prioritize the wellbeing of their populations, including by heavily investing in free education, universal healthcare and strong healthcare systems¡±, said Ms. Mohammed, also underscoring the importance of ¡°decoupling livelihoods from the volatility of the global economy¡± and securing a guaranteed income.
Meeting the goals
To achieve these objectives, the world needs to redirect finance to where it is most needed, ¡°with a strategic eye¡± to preventing future shocks from mutating into a disasters on the level of COVID-19, warned the deputy UN chief.
¡°Governments must strengthen the planning of sustainable investment¡and we must address the incentives and bottlenecks to unlock private capital to invest in sustainable development¡±, she added.
Getting back on track
The senior UN official acknowledged that today¡¯s challenges go beyond COVID-19 and include the climate crisis, drought, hunger and heightened insecurity, ¡°all of which are being exacerbated by the long-term economic effects of the inequality virus¡±.&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;
Recovery efforts must tackle all these challenges ¡°head-on¡±, said Ms. Mohammed, urging all participants to take ¡°immediate action for a timely and adequate global response that would put us back on track for a prosperous, sustainable and equal world and the implementation of ¡±.&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;
The sixth FfD Forum was convened between 12 to 15 April 2021 in a hybrid (virtual and in-person) format at UN Headquarters in New York.
Source: UN News
