The United Nations (UN) has released a roadmap to support economic and social recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has pushed the global economy into recession and resulted in more than 200,000 deaths worldwide.
The UN called for an extraordinary scale-up of international support and political commitment to ensure that people everywhere have access to essential services and social protection.
The ‘United Nations Framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19: Shared responsibility, global solidarity and urgent action for people in need’ called for protecting jobs, businesses, and livelihoods to set in motion a safe recovery of societies and economies as soon as possible for a more sustainable, gender-equal, and carbon-neutral path.
In a statement, the UN said, “Decisions made in the next few months will be crucial for the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
In response to the pandemic, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier launched the UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to help support developing and underdeveloped countries to overcome the health and development crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and support people most vulnerable to economic hardship and social disruption.
Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed the world will witness its worst recession since the Great Depression of 1929.
The fund further revealed that around 170 countries will see their gross domestic product (GDP) fall this year due to the novel coronavirus’ impact on the economy.
The Covid-19 virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year, has spread to over 180 countries since then. To curb the spread of the virus, many countries have sealed their borders. Almost all airlines in the affected countries have cancelled operations and grounded their flights.