Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres
GENEVA,
Switzerland
United Nations
Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on Wednesday called for international
action to help Africa deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These
are still early days for the pandemic in Africa, and disruption could escalate
quickly. Global solidarity with Africa is an imperative — now and for
recovering better,” said Guterres in a video message for the launch of a policy
brief on the impact of COVID-19 on Africa.
Ending
the pandemic in Africa is essential for ending it across the world, he said.
“We are calling for international
action to strengthen Africa’s health systems, maintain food supplies, avoid a
financial crisis, support education, protect jobs, keep households and
businesses afloat, and cushion the continent against lost income and export
earnings,” said Guterres.
African
countries should also have quick, equal and affordable access to any eventual vaccine
and treatment, that must be considered global public goods, he added.
He
repeated his call for a global response package amounting to at least 10
percent of the world’s gross domestic product. For Africa, that means more than
200 billion US dollars as additional support from the international community,
he said.
Guterres
reiterated his call for a comprehensive debt framework, starting with an
across-the-board debt standstill for countries unable to service their debt,
followed by targeted debt relief and a comprehensive approach to structural
issues in the international debt architecture to prevent defaults.
African
countries should work to silence the guns and address violent extremism.
Political processes and elections in the coming months offer potential
milestones for stability and peace. Women and youth must be empowered, said the
UN chief.
He
warned that the pandemic threatens African progress. “It will aggravate
long-standing inequalities and heighten hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability
to disease. Already, demand for Africa’s commodities, tourism and remittances
are declining. The opening of the trade zone has been pushed back, and millions
could be pushed into extreme poverty.”
The virus has taken more than 2,500 African lives. Vigilance and preparedness are critical, he said.
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