COVID 19 & Fragile States - UN Chief

The United Nations of Earth reporting on this issue: "COVID 19 & Fragile States - UN Chief"
The topics: Opening remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on COVID-19 and Fragile States: Promoting Resilient Recovery for the Most Vulnerable Communities. Our world continues to face very serious challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the climate crisis and growing inequality and divisions. The pandemic has forced more than one hundred million people into poverty.More than four billion people have little or no social support; no healthcare; no income protection when they so urgently need it. The Sustainable Development Goals are at a real risk of failure. Solidarity is missing in action and a sense of injustice is spreading – creating a breeding ground for violence and conflict. People living in fragile and conflict-affected states are suffering most of all. We must fulfil the commitments we have made to change course. I welcome the International Monetary Fund’s Strategy for Fragile and Conflict Affected States. This is a critical step to applying a crisis prevention lens to the complex and multidimensional risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery, particularly for countries emerging from crisis and conflict. Fragility and conflict can only be addressed by macroeconomic policies that promote inclusive growth and resilience, centred on a transition to stability and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We need financing instruments that are tailored to the unique policy space of fragile states. The right macroeconomic policies can ensure that countries generate enough fiscal space to maintain and eventually expand social spending, and to invest in prevention and peacebuilding. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Vaccine inequality is a moral outrage that is condemning the world to millions more deaths, and prolonging an economic slowdown that could cost trillions of dollars, hitting the poorest countries hardest of all. We need a bold collective push to end the pandemic, and deliver a sustainable and inclusive global recovery. I have long been pushing for a global vaccination plan to reach everyone, everywhere. I was pleased to join the World Health Organization last week to launch their Global COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy. This costed, coordinated and credible plan is designed to get vaccines into the arms of 40 percent of people in all countries by the end of this year, and 70 percent by the middle of 2022. I urge all countries to marshal behind it. In countries affected by crisis and conflict, vaccination will require targeted investment in local delivery mechanisms and capacities. This will not only guarantee that vaccines are delivered quickly and fairly; it will strengthen local and national health systems and help prevent future pandemics. [Exceprt - António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations] Full remarks [as delivered]: https://www.un.org/sg/en/node/260030


Click here for more information, to subscribe to the channel of United Nations or to watch the video on YouTube.