UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations called on governments, companies and billionaires Thursday to contribute to a $6.7-billion fund for immediate needs in fighting the coronavirus pandemic in vulnerable countries, warning that a failure to help could lead to a “hunger pandemic,” famine, riots and more conflict.
Lowcock said in a video briefing launching the new appeal that the poorest countries face “a double whammy” — the health impact of Covid-19 and “the impact of the global recession and the domestic measures taken to contain the virus.” The UN appeals to wealthy nations for funding all the time, he said, but the pandemic is “a one-time phenomena, a catastrophe we’re hitting,” so it’s not unreasonable to ask the wealthiest people and the wealthiest companies to give.
As an example, Beasley said that if young people in urban areas in Africa lose their jobs as a result of the economic impact of the pandemic, they don’t have bank accounts to fall back on. “And if they don’t have food, you’re going to have protests, riots, unrest and destabilization. It’s going to cost the world a hundredfold more to react after the fact,” he warned."We’re facing famine of biblical proportions," he said. “We can avert famine if we act and we act now.
Lowcock also urged international financial institutions and governments to help fragile countries deal with the pandemic and reiterated that $90 billion could provide income support, food and a health response to Covid-19 for 700 million of the world’s most vulnerable people.