The Covid-19 pandemic is the worst global crisis since the Second World War, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, expressing his fears of seeing more conflicts in the world.
Asked during an exchange with the media on what motivated this qualification of "worst world crisis since the UN was founded" seventy-five years ago, he replied that it was "the combination of a a threatening disease for everyone and an economic impact leading to an unprecedented recession in the recent past. ” "The combination of these two factors and the risk of increased instability, increased violence, increased conflict" make this crisis "the greatest challenge for us since the Second World War," he said.
It is also the crisis "which requires the strongest and most effective response", which can only go "through solidarity and the bringing together of all by abandoning political games and understanding that humanity is at stake" added Antonio Guterres.
Back in “boomerang” in rich countries from poor countries
According to him, the international community is still far from the point as for this solidarity because the mobilizations are mainly the fact so far of the developed countries to support their economies. "We are far from having a global system to help developing countries eliminate the disease while managing the dramatic consequences in their populations, in terms of job losses, the disappearance of small businesses and the end of informal trade" .
"We are slowly moving in the right direction but we need to speed up and do more if we are to overcome the disease and support people in need," said the secretary general. The United Nations created a new fund on Tuesday for developing countries after last week appealing for donations for poor and conflict-affected countries.
Beyond traditional aid from rich countries to the poor, "we have to find innovative financial instruments" that will "create mechanisms so that developing countries can respond to the crisis," said Antonio Guterres. Otherwise, the pandemic could return to a “boomerang” in rich countries from poor countries, notably via Africa, he estimated, reaffirming that the disease could cause “millions” of deaths.
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