ECOSOC Informal Virtual Meeting - Financing Sustainable Development in Context of COVID-19

Secretary-General António Guterres issues a three-point global “Call to Action” to cushion the colossal fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, pressing Governments to unify around a defining moment in history, at the new session of the UN’s Financing for Development Forum.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Economic and Social Council
• Video Length: 00:55:40
• Production Date: 23 April 2020
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: ANTONIO GUTERRES; MONA JUUL; TIJJANI MUHAMMAD-BANDE
• Corporate Name: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO
• Subject Topical: ECONOMIC RECESSION; EPIDEMICS; FINANCING; MULTILATERALISM; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• MAMS Id: 2543654
• Parent Id: 2543654

Description

Convened by webcast under the theme “Financing Sustainable Development in the Context of COVID-19”, the event brought together the Presidents of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), among other high-level officials.

The epic nature of the threat demands a globally coordinated health response, led by the World Health Organization (WHO). “Developing countries need massive and urgent support,” Mr. Guterres said. “Now is the time to stand by our commitment to leave no one behind.”

He called for the pooling of efforts to assist countries at risk, strengthen and expand their health systems and stop transmission through a combination of testing, contact-tracing and quarantine, associated with appropriate restrictions on movement and contact.

ECOSOC President, Mona Juul, agreed that financing for sustainable development must be at the centre of preparedness and resilience. The critical issues of resource mobilization, illicit finance, debt and women’s empowerment are more important than ever in a vastly different landscape, she said.

She drew particular attention to the different ways in which COVID-19 is affecting women and men. Women disproportionately carry the burden of unpaid care work, and are overrepresented as frontline health workers, making the integration of a gender perspective into social and economic responses all the more essential, she said.

Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Liu Zhenmin, said the world is set to face the deepest recession in generations, as growth will fall significantly below the decade-low 2.3 per cent growth attained through 2019. “The shocks to demand and supply - amplified through linkages in trade and finance - are hitting the global economy hard,” he wrote ahead of the meeting.

COVID-19 presents the greatest test of this generation’s commitment to multilateralism, global citizenship and solidarity, President of the General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande said.

“We will be defined by our action.”

Efforts must be directed towards all seven action areas of the Addis Agenda to realize sustainable development. “We must move swiftly on debt and concessional finance to support the most vulnerable people we serve,” he emphasized.

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