UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for six measures to help countries recover from COVID-19 and keep them on track toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Financing for development in the context of COVID-19 means an unprecedented effort to mobilize resources and political will. Yet since the pandemic began one year ago, no element of multilateral response has gone as it should, he told the opening of the 2021 Economic and Social Council Forum on Financing for Development. More than 3 million people have lost their lives. Some 120 million people have fallen back into extreme poverty, while the equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs have been lost. The world has seen the worst recession in 90 years, said Guterres.
And the crisis is far from over. Indeed, the speed of infections is now even increasing, he warned. "We need to heed the lessons now if we are to reverse these dangerous trends, prevent successive waves of infection, avoid a lengthy global recession and get back on track to fulfill the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change." Guterres called for six measures to address the challenge. First, vaccines must be available to all countries in need, he said. "To end the pandemic for good, we need equitable access to vaccines for everyone, everywhere."
Second, there is a need to reverse the fall in concessional financing, including in middle-income countries. Development assistance is needed more than ever. Donors and international institutions must step up, he said. Third, there is a need to make sure funds go where they are needed most, he said.
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