UN calls for $6.7 billion to fight coronavirus in poor countries

The United Nations launches an update of its humanitarian response plan to COVID-19 and calls on the international funding community for $6.7 billion to protect millions of lives and stop the spread of the coronavirus in some of the most vulnerable nations. Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock launched the new plan, which seeks to assist 63 countries*, although there is an additional group of nations under surveillance, and is the international community's primary fundraising vehicle for responding to the humanitarian problems caused by the virus in low- and middle-income countries and supporting their efforts to combat it.

The programme provides assistance and protection to the most vulnerable, such as the elderly, persons with disabilities and women and girls, as pandemics tend to exacerbate existing levels of discrimination, inequality and gender-based violence. It also includes programmes to respond to increased food insecurity. The plan matches the appeals of the World Health Organization and other United Nations humanitarian agencies.

"Some people may be sceptical about the possibility of generating additional resources of this magnitude under current circumstances. That is not our experience. Following the 2008-2009 financial crisis, fundraising for United Nations coordinated humanitarian appeals increased by more than 40 per cent in 2010. That was the result of human generosity and empathy, but it was also a calculation of national interest in donor countries. Therefore, I urge donors to act with empathy and in their own interest today," Lowcock said.

Protection is not as expensive as it seems

The analysis by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs highlights that the cost of protecting the world's most vulnerable 10 per cent of people from the worst impacts is approximately $90 billion, or the equivalent of 1 per cent of the current stimulus package established by the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the G20.

It is estimated that two thirds of those costs could be borne by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund if they receive the support necessary to modify the conditions for aid to the most vulnerable countries. The rest would have to come from an increase in official development assistance over the next 12 months.

First impacts on poor nations

Although the peak of the disease is expected to reach the world's poorest countries sometime in the next three to six months, there is already evidence of collapsing incomes and disappearing jobs, a decline in food supplies, soaring prices and children being deprived of vaccinations and meals, Lowcock said.

To date, since the U.N. Secretary-General launched the plan on March 25, $1 billion has been raised. Among them, $166 million comes from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' pooled funds in support of programmes in 37 countries, $95 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund and $71 million from 12 national joint funds.That money has been raised:

• The construction of hand-washing facilities in highly vulnerable areas such as refugee camps; and the distribution of gloves, surgical masks, (ventilators) N95 respirators, gowns and goggles and testing kits to help vulnerable countries respond to the pandemic
• The creation of new transport centres from which supplies can be transported by air
• Training through the World Health Organization's COVID-19 online portal of more than 1.7 million people worldwide, including health professionals, to identify the virus and take the necessary protective measures

The event also included the participation of prominent members of the Organization's agencies and programs such as the Executive Director of Health Emergencies of the World Health Organization, Mike Ryan, who explained that people not only die from direct causes related to the coronavirus, but also indirect ones such as mental illness due to lack of access to health services.

"Evidence from conflict indicates that one in five people already have a mental health-related illness and the pandemic is likely to exacerbate their conditions and induce risk factors for the development of new conditions. It will also limit the access of those with pre-existing problems to the already scarce mental health services they had," he said.

Ryan said the plan includes treatment of such conditions for all affected populations, as well as access to diagnostic tests, personal protective equipment and other essential medical supplies.

For his part, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, explained that 1.5 billion of the 6.7 billion dollars in the plan will be devoted to situations with large numbers of refugees. He noted that in addition to health, a livelihood crisis is emerging affecting refugees, displaced persons and migrants who depend on precarious income "who are the first to disappear in situations of confinement.

Among the multiple risks for this group of people. Grandi warned that there is the risk of increased trafficking. "Many of the countries where deprivation is generated by COVID-19 are countries of vulnerable and dangerous migrant groups. And we know the elements that cause these movements. They are caused by conflict and poverty and often in combination. COVID-19 adds to these difficulties and adds motivation and scope for more population movements that we need to pay attention to.

• The scale of the problem has increased
• The International Labour Organization expects the global workforce to be affected by the equivalent loss of more than 300 million jobs
• Poverty could increase by 500 million people, the first increase in three decades
• United Nations agencies are warning of the risk of increased food insecurity. The World Food Programme predicts that due to the impact of the pandemic 130 million more people could suffer extreme hunger by 2020
• Millions of civilians living in conflict-affected countries, including many women and children, risk finding themselves on the brink of starvation, according to the World Food Programme
• The world will overcome this crisis, but only if we act together in solidarity
• A substantial, immediate and sustained global response is crucial

• No one is safe until everyone is safe. The virus knows no borders. We are only as strong as the weakest health system
• Countries must look beyond their own borders
• The virus is reaching places where people live in war zones, do not have easy access to clean water and soap, and cannot get a hospital bed if they become seriously ill
• If rich countries with strong health systems collapse under pressure from outbreaks of COVID-19, imagine what will happen in countries immersed in deep humanitarian crises caused by war, natural disasters and climate change
• If we allow the coronavirus to spread unchecked in these places, millions of lives are at risk, entire regions could fall into chaos and the virus will have a chance to travel around the world
• Countries fighting the pandemic locally rightly prioritise people living in their communities, but they will not be able to protect their own populations if they do not act to help poorer countries protect themselves against COVID-19.

• Rising food prices (up to 50%) in parts of Mali, Niger, Syria and Venezuela
• The suspension of United Nations Humanitarian Air Service internal passenger flights in Sudan
• An average of 75% decline in household income in Bangladesh. And 40% of the population with food at home for three days or less
• At least 100,000 children did not receive TB vaccine in India and 200,000 did not receive pentavalent
• In Kenya 80% of respondents said they had lost part or all of their income

We are witnessing the greatest economic slowdown of our lives. According to the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, world growth will fall to -3% in 2020. There is extreme uncertainty surrounding the global economy.

Risks for even more severe outcomes are considerable and depend on factors that interact in ways that are difficult to predict, such as the trajectory of the pandemic, the effectiveness of containment efforts, the extent of supply disruptions and commodity prices, among others. The economic impacts analysed and anticipated vary by region, country, and economic structure. These impacts are serious and can be long-lasting:

• Oil prices: Low oil prices affect countries such as Nigeria, which depends on oil for 90% of its exports and where approximately half of the population is below the poverty line, and other countries such as Angola, Iraq, Libya, Congo and Southern Sudan
• Tourism: the mainstay of small island states and a major source of foreign exchange earnings for other countries - tourism accounted for more than 25% of exports in 2017 in Ethiopia, Nepal, Rwanda and Tanzania
• Remittances: The World Bank estimates that global remittances could decline by about 20%, the steepest decline in recent history. Remittances account for more than 25% of GDP for Tonga, South Sudan, Kyrgyzstan, Haiti, Tajikistan and Nepal
• Labour: Serious reductions in employment and income are expected. The International Labour Organization projects 200 million jobs at risk
• Poverty: According to research from King's College London and the Australian National University, global poverty could increase for the first time since 1990. In some regions, the impacts could lead to poverty levels similar to those recorded 30 years ago. In the most extreme scenario with a 20% contraction of income or consumption, the number of people living in poverty could increase by 420-580 million, relative to 2018
• Other combined risks: Experts predict an La Niña phenomenon, an unusual Atlantic hurricane season and possibly a monsoon season under the same circumstances. Add to this the desert locust crisis in East Africa and its possible extension to other parts of the world.

The 54 countries that were part of the Humanitarian Response Plan on 25 March were Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Aruba, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mexico, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, the occupied Palestinian territories, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen and Zambia.The 9 countries added to the Plan are: Benin, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Pakistan, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zimbabwe.