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Virus claims 1 million lives, infects over 32 million people; world looks at current pandemic impacts and beyond

New York September 29 – Government leaders and international organizations joined the United Nations to seek solutions for the current virus-inflicted devastation and plan for the post-pandemic era.

One million people have died from the coronavirus and over 32 million have been infected, a situation the UN said has surpassed a health and humanitarian crisis to become an unprecedented global development emergency.

It said the pandemic is expected to push some 100 million people into extreme poverty and an estimated additional 265 million people could face acute food shortages by the end of 2020, including over 17 million people in South America suffering severe food insecurity, a jump from 4.5 million just months ago.

The International Labor Organization estimated that the equivalent of 500 million jobs have been lost so far this year, a situation that will spread economic inequalities, disproportionately impacting developing countries and vulnerable groups.

Governments around the world have so far spent $11 trillion in response to the financial impacts caused by the pandemic and high-income economies were responsible for 88 per cent of the total amount, the UN said. Emerging and developing countries were responsible for 2.8 per cent of the amount.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres hosted the virtual high-level meeting on Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond with the participation of Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness as co-sponsors to find solutions to the global financial crisis and to maintain current efforts to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Guterres said the pandemic has caused the largest economic contraction since World War II with global income from work declining by more than 10 per cent so far this year with the massive job losses and government expenditures have skyrocketed while tax revenues plummeted.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is a catastrophe,” Guterres said. “But it is a generational opportunity to shape our future for the better. I have spoken of the need of a New Global Deal.”

The UN leader said a global economic recovery and an end to the pandemic would be possible only if the world can mobilize resources for diagnostics, treatment and vaccines.

He said the WHO’s program known as ACT-Accelerator requires a total resources of $38 billion to deliver over 2 billion vaccine doses, 245 million treatments and 500 million tests.

“We cannot reopen the global economy fully until we stop this virus in its tracks,” he said.

“At this moment, we have the opportunity to re-imagine our economic systems, reaffirm our common understanding of a more sustainable and inclusive recovery and re-establish momentum toward achieving the SDGs to build back better,” Trudeau said. “Only together can we lay the foundations of a better world.”

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The “strangest” ever UN General Assembly session in 75 years; warnings of a new Cold War

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New York, September 25 – The hall of the United Nations General Assembly was nearly empty when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the annual session and called for unity to defeat the pandemic. Minutes later the presidents of the United States and China took turn to appear on TV screens which played their pre-recorded speeches filled with accusations.

The September-October session each year had been a signature event for the UN for over seven decades, which had seen thousands of diplomats from presidents, prime ministers and royalties to diplomats representing the 193 UN member states dutifully attending the event.

The pandemic suddenly changed all the planned events and travels. World leaders stayed home and sent pre-recorded speeches to be broadcast to the assembly where just 193 diplomats occupied the seats reserved for their respective countries compared with the nearly 2,000 people that came every year before.

“In a world turned upside down, this General Assembly hall is among the strangest sights of all,” Guterres said. “The Covid-19 pandemic changed our annual meeting beyond recognition. But it has made it more important than ever.”

The US-China verbal fight brought back Cold War memories even though both sides denied they had any intention of reviving the divisive and threatening period that divide East and West. But President Donald Trump used the opportunity to blast Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We have waged a fierce battle against the invisible enemy – the China virus – which had claimed countless lives in 188 countries,” Trump said and demanded that the UN hold China accountable for the pandemic. He also criticized China for a host of environmental problems.

Xi defended his country’s achievements in controlling Covid-19 and offered financial support to UN-related programs fighting the pandemic.

Close to 200 governments and organizations registered to speak virtually to the assembly session September 23-19 under the theme “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism – confronting COVID-19 through effective multilateral action”.

More speakers took part in so-called high-level meetings on women, the pandemic, biodiversity for sustainable development and other UN programs.

The streets and areas surrounding the UN headquarters in mid-town Manhattan were mostly silent of presidential motorcades and police sirens. Traffic jams, closure of streets and protests were things of previous years. The UN headquarters have exercised utmost health restraints imposed by New York State under Covid-19, including social distancing, wearing of facial masks and keeping the staff at 20 per cent of capacity.

UN 75^th anniversary

The United Nations was established in June 1945 during the last months of World War II after its Charter, or constitution, was adopted by some 50 countries led mostly by World War II victors who met in San Francisco beginning in March to lay out the foundation of a new international organization to promote peace, fundamental human rights and justice. The Charter came into effect on October 24, 1945.

The 75^th anniversary was celebrated on September 21 just before the start of the UN General Assembly. The pandemic and strict health regulations to fight infections have canceled or postponed most meetings at UN headquarters except for those of the UN Security Council.

“Today we face our own 1945 moment,” Guterres told the assembly session referring to the pandemic’s severe damage and high number of deaths. “This pandemic is a crisis unlike any we have seen. But it is also this kind of crisis that we will see in different forms again and again.”

He called for united global efforts to fight the pandemic and to continue to implement UN programs around the world.

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Corruption in global finance robs funds for development in poor countries, UN says

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New York September 24 – The United Nations plans to strengthen rules aimed at curbing corruption in the global finance which has drained hundreds of billions of dollars a year from funds that should have gone to humanitarian programs to assist poor countries.

Volkan Bozkir, president of the UN General Assembly, said a special conference on corruption will be held next year to strengthen rules aimed at demanding transparency and integrity in global finance. He said funds are needed to implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which include ending poverty and boosting development and education in developing countries.

“We must begin these conversations now,” Bozkir said as a panel unveiled an interim report on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (FACTI Panel). The panel is composed of former heads of state and government, past central bank governors, business and civil society leaders and prominent academics.

“The poorest and most vulnerable need all actors – governments, the public sector, business, and fellow citizens – to live up to their commitments and to contribute to achievement of our global goal,” Bozkir said. He provided support to promote the use of emerging technologies and data for result-oriented action.

“The use of technologies will be critical to make our global financial system and digital economy work for sustainable development. This will help strengthen both trust and transparency in finance for development.”

The interim report said tax abuse, money laundering and corruption plague global finance and it called on governments to take urgent reforms to tackle the widespread problems. But it said also that governments have failed to agree on the issue of corruption and measures to fight it.

The interim report estimated $500 billion losses to governments each year from profit-shifting enterprises and $7 trillion in private wealth hidden in haven countries, with 10% of world GDP held offshore. It estimated money laundering of around $1.6 trillion per year, or 2.7% of global GDP.

“Corruption and tax avoidance are rampant,” said Dr. Dalia Grybauskaitė, FACTI co-chair and former president of Lithuania. “Too many banks are in cahoots and too many governments are stuck in the past. We’re all being robbed, especially the world’s poor.”

“Trust in the finance system is essential to tackle big issues like poverty, climate change and COVID-19. Instead we get dithering and delay bordering on complicity.”

The panel said criminals have taken advantage of the Covid pandemic as governments focused on fighting the virus and relaxed controls over corruption.

“Our weakness in tackling corruption and financial crime has been further exposed by the COVID-19,” said Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, FACTI co-chair and ex-prime minister of Niger. “Resources to stop the spread, keep people alive and put food on tables are instead lost to corruption and abuse.”

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UN urges united global efforts to defeat pandemic despite US-China dispute

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New York, September 22 – The United Nations urged its member states to show unity and solidarity in order to defeat the virus as it opened the 75^th General Assembly session. But the call by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was met by the ongoing fight between the United States and China over the handling of the pandemic that has infected over 27 million people and killed over 900,000 this year.

“We must be united,” Guterres said in an address to the 193-nation assembly which has to hold the week-long session virtually because of the deadly virus. Government leaders sent pre-recorded speeches to be broadcast to an assembly hall nearly deserted as each country was represented by just one diplomat.

Guterres said, “As we have seen, when countries go on their own direction, the virus goes in every direction. We must act in solidarity. Far too little assistance has been extended to countries with the fewest capacities to face the challenges.”

He said governments that have used populism and nationalism to fight the virus have

failed and have made the health crisis worse.
“Too often, there has been a disconnect between leadership and power,” he said. “And power is not always associated with the necessary leadership.”

The UN celebrated this year the 75^th anniversary of its establishment. But the pandemic has mostly closed its headquarters and canceled its meetings.

US President Donald Trump asked the international organization to hold the Chinese government “accountable for their actions” and for spreading false information through the World Health Organization.

“Seventy-five years after the end of World War II and the founding of the United Nations, we are once again engaged in a great global struggle,” Trump said.

Politico reported that Trump invoked the “fierce battle” the United States waged against the “invisible enemy, the China Virus.”

“The United Nations must hold China accountable for their actions,” he added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the world should expect a repeat of the global health crisis and therefore should join hands in fighting the current pandemic, the Xinhua news agency said.

“COVID-19 reminds us that we are living in an interconnected global village with a common stake,” Xi said in his virtual address to the assembly as reported by Xinhua.

“No country can gain from others’ difficulties or maintain stability by taking advantage of others’ troubles.”

“To pursue a beggar-thy-neighbor policy or just watch from a safe distance when others are in danger will eventually land one in the same trouble faced by others.”

“This is why we should embrace the vision of a community with a shared future in which everyone is bound together.”

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UN: Rich countries secure $10 trillion to fight the virus while fragile, poor countries are struggling with much less resources

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New York, September 9 – Rich countries have adopted economic stimulus packages worth more than $10 trillion to protect their own populations from the coronavirus while the weakest and poorest countries in the world with much less financial resources are those that will be the worst affected by the virus, a United Nations official warned the UN Security Council in a meeting to review the global efforts against the pandemic.

“The G20 and OECD countries have, rightly, adopted domestic economic stimulus measures amounting to more than $10 trillion to protect their own populations from the worst effects of the pandemic and lockdown. That amounts to more than 10 per cent of global income,” said Mark Lowcock, the undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator. He referred to the world’s 20 largest economies and banking institutions and high-income countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“Low income and fragile countries do not have the resources, capacity or access to markets to do the same thing. So they are reliant on support from elsewhere, especially the international financial institutions.”

Lowcock said of the $143 billion promised by the international financial institutions only 7 per cent so far have been committed to low income countries, representing little more than 2 per cent of their combined GDPs.

“To speak plainly, woefully inadequate economic and political action (to support poor countries) will lead to greater instability and conflicts in the coming years. More crises will be on this Security Council’s agenda,” Lowcock said. “The burden of my advice to you today is that while we may have been surprised by the virus, we cannot say the same of the security and humanitarian crises that most certainly lay ahead if we don’t change course.”

Lowcock began his briefing to the 15-nation council by saying that there are now growing reasons to believe that in the medium and longer term the “weakest, most fragile and conflict-affected countries will be those worst affected by COVID-19.”

“The virus is everywhere,” he said, pointing out that there are now more than 26 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and more than 860,000 deaths with roughly a third of the cases and deaths are in countries affected by humanitarian or refugee crisis or those with high levels of vulnerability.

The full extent of the pandemic remains unknown while testing levels are very low and those infected by the virus may be reluctant to seek help to avoid being quarantined or they do not trust the medical services offered to them, he said.

The UN has raised around $2.4 billion since March when its first launched an appeal for funds to fight the coronavirus from generous donors and is now seeking $10 billion to cover activities in the coming six months to support 250 million people in 63 countries, Lowcock said.

He said the money already received was meant to assist poor countries as well as to provide personal protective equipment, including masks, gloves and gowns to 730,000 health workers; information on the virus and how to protect yourself from it to more than a billion people in nearly 60 countries; to reach nearly 100 million children with distance learning and provide tens of millions of people with soap, detergent and other improvements to water and sanitation systems.

Lowcock said the indirect effects of Covid-19 are mostly on the global economy but the most fragile economies are hit harder by weakened commodity prices, declining remittances and trade disruptions. Covid-19 also hurt public services, especially health and education across the world but the impacts are harder for poor countries. He said any reduction in the availability of basic health services would hurt poor countries more, citing immunization and food security as two obvious examples.

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UPDATE: UN denounces use of pandemic for unilateral gains and to weaken global response to health crisis

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New York, September 15 – The new leader of the United Nations General Assembly strongly warned that no country can fight the pandemic alone and it is the responsibility of the UN to strengthen the multilateral system to fight the virus that has claimed over 900,000 lives and infected over 27 million people worldwide in less than eight months.

“The pandemic has been used to justify unilateral steps and weaken the rules-based international system” said Volkan Bozkir as he opened the assembly session as its president. “International organizations have been reproached and the need for international cooperation has been questioned. These criticisms are not baseless. But their conclusions are misguided”.

“Make no mistake: No state can combat this pandemic alone. Social distancing will not help at the international level. Unilateralism will only strengthen the pandemic. It will move us further away from our shared goal. At this time of crisis, it is our responsibility to strengthen people’s faith in multilateral cooperation and international institutions, with the UN at their center.”

For the first time since the UN was established at the end of World War II, the meetings of the UN General Assembly will be held virtually. Presidents, prime ministers and diplomats of the 193 countries that are UN members will send pre-recorded speeches that will be broadcast to the mostly empty assembly hall which is under strict health measures to prevent infection.

“Covid-19 has become an overwhelming priority and focus right now,” said Volkan Bozkir, the president of the UN General Assembly president. He urged the assembly to confront Covid-19 through effective multilateral action because it is “testing our institutions like never before. We have a duty to take effective action at the global level to overcome this virus, and the havoc it is wreaking on our economies and societies.”

(UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir, left, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, right)

The UN celebrates this year its 75^th anniversary under the theme: “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism.”

Bozkir, a Turkish diplomat, said fighting the pandemic is an “overarching priority” and he plans to hold in-person meetings as long as the health conditions would permit because diplomacy requires face-to-face business.

The World Health Organization has asked the assembly and world leaders to give priority to fighting the pandemic and supporting a program named Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT)-Accelerator, which calls for “a unique international collaboration to fast-track the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines globally, while strengthening health systems.”

It said the ACT-Accelerator needs $35 billion to fast-track the development, procurement and distribution of 2 billion vaccine doses, 245 million treatments and 500 million tests over the next year.

It called also for maintaining the momentum in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals because the pandemic is unravelling decades of progress made to reach the goals, and to prepare for next pandemic “together, now.”

The streets and areas surrounding the UN headquarters in mid-town Manhattan will be mostly silent of presidential motorcades and police sirens. There won’t be the expected traffic jams, closure of streets and protests like in previous falls. The UN headquarters have exercised utmost health restraints imposed by New York State under Covid-19, including social distancing, wearing of facial masks and keeping the staff at 20 per cent of capacity.

The main piece of the annual session known as General Debate will take place September 22-29 during which 196 speakers have registered, most of them presidents and prime ministers, and their pre-recorded speeches will be aired to the empty hall.

The speakers on September 22 will the presidents of Brazil, the United States, Turkey, China, Russia, South Korea, Qatar, the Philippines, Morocco, Iran, France and South Africa.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who will address the 75^th session, viewed it as an extended “people’s debate” which “promises to be the largest and furthest-reaching global conversation ever on building the future we want.”

Despite the pandemic threats and difficulties to perform regularly its annual functions, the UN will hold virtually a number of special high-level meetings during the General Assembly session to discuss topics close to all countries, which include a review of progress to implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the unprecedented loss of biodiversity, gender equality and women’s rights and the deadly impacts of coronavirus across the world.

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NEW UPDATE: $35 billion more needed to accelerate treatments, vaccines; end 5,000 daily virus deaths; U.S. not joining vaccine pool

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New York, September 10 – The United Nations and scores of governments called for a “quantum leap in funding” in the amount of $35 billion in order to accelerate the development of tests, treatments and vaccines that would prevent the current 5,000 Covid-19 daily deaths around the world.

The UN, the World Health Organization and more than 30 presidents and government ministers called for funding the ACT-Accelerator, a program that aims at speeding up efforts to end the pandemic through development, delivery of tests, treatments and equitable allocation of vaccines and foster the quick return of societies and economies. The program was launched in April by the WHO, the European Union, France and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and it has already delivered substantial work to fight the pandemic.

“We now need $35 billion more to go from set-up to scale and impact,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. “There is a real urgency in these numbers. Without an infusion of US$15 billion over the next 3 months, beginning immediately, we will lose the window of opportunity”.

He was joined by Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa and Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, who co-chair the ACT-Acceleration Facilitation Council

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said: “Nearly 5,000 lives are lost each day due to COVID-19 and the global economy is expected to contract by trillions of dollars this year. The case for investing to end the pandemic has never been stronger.”

WHO said the ACT-Accelerator ensures equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics but it at present is facing a financing gap of $35 billion. “Fully financing the ACT-Accelerator would shorten the pandemic and pay back this investment rapidly as the global economy recovers,” it said.

The United States has decided not to join a WHO-led global program that will allow countries to have equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, raising the prospect that rich countries may acquire large doses of the shots for their own people at the expense of developing and poor countries.

A total of 172 countries are now engaged in discussion with COVAX, a global initiative that works with vaccine manufacturers to provide equitable access to safe and effective vaccines once they are licensed and approved to all countries that have signed up with the partnership, the World Health Organization said in late August.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, vaccine and therapeutic research, development, and trials have advanced at unprecedented speed to deliver groundbreaking, effective medicines driven by data and safety and not held back by government red tape,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said on September 1.

“The United States will continue to engage our international partners to ensure we defeat this virus, but we will not be constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China.”

“This President will spare no expense to ensure that any new vaccine maintains our own FDA’s gold standard for safety and efficacy, is thoroughly tested, and saves lives,” Deere said.

The US has decided to leave the World Health Organization, which will become effective next July.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States, the European Union, Japan and the United Kingdom have agreed to purchase at least 3.7 billion doses from Western companies developing Covid-19 vaccines apparently for their own uses.

China and India, the world’s most populous nations which also have their own giant vaccine-making industries, are expected to reserve the vaccines for their own people.

Public health experts warned the US decision may harm global efforts to control the pandemic.

“Equal access to a COVID-19 vaccine is the key to beating the virus and paving the way for recovery from the pandemic,” said Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven when COVAX was launched. “This cannot be a race with a few winners, and the COVAX Facility is an important part of the solution – making sure all countries can benefit from access to the world’s largest portfolio of candidates and fair and equitable distribution of vaccine doses.”

WHO said COVAX has the world’s largest and most diverse COVID-19 vaccine portfolio – including nine candidate vaccines, with a further nine under evaluation and conversations underway with other major producers. Its success depends on countries signing up to the COVAX Facility as well as filling key funding gaps for both COVAX R&D work and a mechanism to support participation of lower-income economies in the COVAX Facility.

“COVID-19 is an unprecedented global health challenge that can only be met with unprecedented cooperation between governments, researchers, manufacturers and multilateral partners,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “By pooling resources and acting in solidarity through the ACT Accelerator and the COVAX Facility, we can ensure that once a vaccine is available for COVID-19, it’s available equitably to all countries.”

Of the 172 governments that have signed up with the partnership, 80 have higher-income economies and will finance the vaccines using their own public finance budgets and have so far submitted Expressions of Interests in the partnership and the other 92 are low- and middle-income countries. Together the group of 172 countries represents more than 70 per cent of the world’s population from all five continents and more than half of the world’s G20 economies.

WHO said COVAX’s goal is to deliver by the end of 2021 two billion doses of safe, effective vaccines that have passed regulatory approval and/or WHO prequalification.

“These vaccines will be offered equally to all participating countries, proportional to their populations, initially prioritising healthcare workers then expanding to cover vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions,” WHO said. “Further doses will then be made available based on country need, vulnerability and COVID-19 threat. The COVAX Facility will also maintain a buffer of doses for emergency and humanitarian use, including dealing with severe outbreaks before they spiral out of control.”

The list of nine candidate vaccines is as follows:

· Inovio, USA (Phase I/II)

· Moderna, USA (Phase III)

· CureVac, Germany (Phase I)

· Institut Pasteur/Merck/Themis, France/USA/Austria (Preclinical)

· AstraZeneca/University of Oxford, UK (Phase III)

· University of Hong Kong, China (Preclinical)

· Novavax, USA (Phase I/II)

· Clover Biopharmaceuticals, China (Phase I)

· University of Queensland/CSL, Australia (Phase I)

WHO provided the list of countries that have joined or engaged in talks to join COVAX:

The 80 countries that have submitted expressions of interest to the Gavi-coordinated COVAX Facility include 43 that have agreed to be publicly named: Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Venezuela.

In July the Gavi Board agreed on the 92 economies that will be supported the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC). The full list is as follows:

· Low income: Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Dem. Rep., Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, The Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Korea, Dem. People’s Rep., Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Yemen, Rep.,

· Lower-middle income: Angola, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Rep. Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Arab Rep., El Salvador, Eswatini, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyz Republic Lao PDR, Lesotho, Mauritania, Micronesia, Fed. Sts., Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza, Zambia, Zimbabwe

· Additional IDA eligible: Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Kosovo, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Samoa, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tonga, Tuvalu.

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NEW UPDATE: $35 billion more needed to accelerate treatments, vaccines; end 5,000 daily virus deaths; U.S. not joining vaccine pool Read More »

UN: Women deserve equal status in society as they battle Covid-19 at the frontlines

UN: Virus clobbers global tourism, millions of jobs at risk, Asia-Pacific hit hard

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New York, August 25 – Lockdowns and border closures across the world to contain the spread of coronavirus had resulted in the loss of 300 million tourist arrivals and $320 billion in receipts in the first five months of 2020 and the economic losses for the whole year could surpass $1 trillion unless governments reopen their borders, the UN World Tourism Organization said in a survey on the Covid-19 impacts on one of the world’s most lucrative industries.

While it is calling for the return of tourism in an effort to revive local economies, particularly in the least developed countries that depend much on international tourism for their development, the WTO said such a decision should be taken only if Covid-19 cases and deaths are declining.

“The crisis is an opportunity to rethink how tourism interacts with our societies, other economic sectors and our natural resources; to measure and manage it better; to ensure a fair distribution of its benefits and to advance the transition towards a carbon neutral and resilient tourism economy,” said a policy brief issued by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The UN chief joined WTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili in reviewing the state of global tourism under the pandemic.

Surveys made by WTO showed that lockdowns imposed in response to the pandemic resulted in a 97-per cent fall of international tourist arrivals by May 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019.

From January to May 2020, the surveys said Asia-Pacific suffered a 60-percent fall in tourist arrivals; 58 percent in Europe; 52 percent in the Middle East; 47 percent in the Americas and 47 percent in Africa.

The policy brief provided scenarios on the pandemic’s economic impacts painting a grim picture of tourism in 2020. It said international tourist numbers could decline by 58 per cent to 78 per cent in 2020, which could translate into a sharp drop in visitor spending from $1.5 trillion in 2019 to between $310 billion and $570 billion in 2020.

It said as many as 100 million direct tourism jobs are at risk because of the sharp decline in global tourism. In addition, global tourism’s labor-intensive hotels and food services employ some 144 million people, who will be also affected by the decline. Women make up about 54 percent of the total workers in tourism.

Tourism represented 20 percent of gross domestic products (GDP) in some developing countries. But for Small Island Development States (SIDS), tourism accounted for up to 80 percent of incomes.

The policy brief said the fall of international tourism and related revenues have cut off funding for biodiversity conservation, including wildlife, resulting in a rise in poaching, looting and consumption of bushmeat. Other programs that depended on tourism like cultural activities, festivals and handicraft products and goods are also affected.

“As countries gradually lift travel restrictions and tourism slowly restarts in many parts of the world, health continues to be a priority and coordinated health protocols that protect workers, communities and travellers, while supporting companies and workers, must be firmly in place,” the brief said.

Pololikashvili said before the policy brief was launched that it is important to restart tourism “as soon as it is safe to do so.”

“The dramatic fall in international tourism places many millions of livelihoods at risk, including in developing countries. Governments in every world region have a dual responsibility: to prioritize public health while also protecting jobs and businesses. They also need to maintain the spirit of cooperation and solidarity that has defined our response to this shared challenge and refrain from making unilateral decisions that may undermine the trust and confidence we have been working so hard to build.”

Responsible restart is possible

“The restart of tourism can be undertaken responsibly and in a way that safeguards public health while also supporting businesses and livelihoods,” Pololikashvili said.

“As destinations continue to ease restrictions on travel, international cooperation is of paramount importance. This way, global tourism can gain people’s trust and confidence, essential foundations as we work together to adapt to the new reality we now face.”

Tourism is slowly returning, more than 80 destinations lifted travel bans, but confidence is low

WTO noted, however, that there have been attempts to revive tourism in many countries but they have been gradual and cautious, particularly in the Schengen Zone of the European Union starting in July. By the end of July more than 80 destinations, including 20 small islands, have eased travel restrictions and it can be confirmed that the reopening is slow but in a continuous adaptation and responsible manner.

WTO warned that confidence in the tourist revival has dropped to record lows because of the ongoing pandemic when it evaluated tourism during the period of January-May 2020 and prospects for the May-August this year.

“Most members of the UNWTO Panel of Tourism Experts expect international tourism to recover by the second half of 2021, followed by those who expect a rebound in the first part of next year,” WTO said. adding that the experts

It said the group of global experts reminded that a series of downside risks still remain in place such as travel restrictions and border shutdowns in most destinations. It said travels between many countries are still clamped down, including between the United States and China, and by other reasons like safety concerns, the resurgence of Covid-19 and risks of new lockdowns.

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Coronavirus pandemic locks over 1 billion students out of schools in 160 countries, UN chief says

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New York, August 4 – The unrelenting deadly impacts of the pandemic has closed schools in more than 160 countries, affecting over 1 billion students and has led to the “largest disruption of education ever,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a new policy brief as governments around the world have been struggling to set the schedule for reopening schools.

“We are at a defining moment for the world’s children and young people,” Guterres said. “We already faced a learning crisis before the pandemic. More than 250 million school-age children were out of school and only a quarter of secondary school children in developing countries were leaving school with basic skills.”

“Now we face a generational catastrophe that could waste untold human potential, undermine decades of progress, and exacerbate entrenched inequalities,” he said.

The UN chief called for (1) reopening schools “once local transmissions of the virus known as Covid-19 is under control”; (2) prioritizing education in financing decisions; (3) targeting the hardest to reach and (4) the future of education is here.

“It will be essential to balance health risks against risks to children’s education and protection, and to factor in the impact on women’s labour force participation,” he said. “Consultation with parents, careers, teachers and young people is fundamental.”

Guterres said the policy brief on Education during Covid-19 and Beyond was launched together with a new campaign with education partners and United Nations agencies called ‘Save our Future’.

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