As the COVID-19 pandemic carves its dark entry into the history of humankind, causing serious illness and death, and upending daily life as we know it, UN DESA is supporting the world to contain the calamity and emerge from it more resilient and united. As the pandemic challenges national health systems, shutters businesses large and small, and confines millions to their homes, it leaves the society¡¯s most vulnerable groups exposed to its most destructive effects. UN DESA experts continue to closely monitor the economic, financial and social impacts of the crisis and is prepared to advise the UN Secretary-General and help Member States navigate the policy choices ahead in a way that leaves no one behind.
Statements
The world after COVID-19
Responding to COVID-19 and Recovering Better is a compilation volume of UN DESA¡¯s special policy brief series on the economic and social impact of COVID-19, which aims to complement and support the Secretary-General¡¯s initiatives in response to COVID-19. It presents detailed analysis and solid evidence needed for effective decision-making on a number of critical social and economic issues - including designing inclusive stimulus packages; preventing a global debt crisis; supporting countries in special situations; protecting the most vulnerable groups of people; strengthening the role of science, technology and institutions for an effective response; and working together to build back better and achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Changes to calendar due to COVID-19
As a preventive measure amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some of the high-level meetings organized by UN DESA worldwide have been postponed or cancelled. Others are still being reviewed. Click below to find the latest information on the affected events and check back regularly for updates.
UN DESA Calendar
Online Events
Join UN DESA¡¯s Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, Fabrizio Hochschild-Drummond, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Preparations for the Commemoration of the 51³Ô¹Ï 75th Anniversary, and UN DESA experts for the second UN DESA Webinar on COVID-19: Strengthening Science and Technology and Addressing Inequalities on 6 May 2020, from 10 am to 12 noon EDT. You can watch a recording of this event on Facebook, at: Access the presentation here.
UN Chief Economist Elliott Harris and other experts from UN DESA have shared the main findings of three new briefing papers on the social, economic and financial impacts of COVID-19, as well as public policy recommendations. The online webinar took place on Thursday, 9 April 2020. You can watch a recording of this event on Facebook, at: Access the presentation here.