Covid-19: UN Chief Warns Pandemic may Push Millions in Africa into Abject Poverty

The UN Secretary-General called for “global solidarity” with the continent.

Covid-19: UN Chief Warns Pandemic may Push Millions in Africa into Abject Poverty

Millions of people in Africa may go into extreme poverty due to the coronavirus pandemic, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned.

The UN Secretary-General called for “global solidarity” with the continent to avoid a possible economic catastrophe.

“The pandemic threatens African progress. It will aggravate long-standing inequalities and heighten hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability to disease,” Guterres said in a statement accompanying a UN study with recommendations for the African continent.

Guterres noted that, though "as of now, reported cases [in Africa] are lower than feared,...African countries should also have quick, equal and affordable access to any eventual vaccine and treatment, that must be considered global public goods," to prevent the situation from escalating.

 

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Among his recommendations, Guterres urged "international action to strengthen Africa's health systems, maintain food supplies, avoid a financial crisis."

He added that, it is also necessary to "support education, protect jobs, keep households and businesses afloat, and cushion the continent against lost income and export earnings."

Guterres called for "more than $200 billion as additional support from the international community" to help Africa recover from the pandemic.

He also advocated for "a comprehensive debt framework – starting with an across-the-board debt standstill for countries unable to service their debt.”