|
 World Food Programme (WFP) chief David Beasley and World Health
Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke during a
special meeting on COVID-19, which emerged in China late last year
and has so far infected 65 million globally.
The pandemic, measures taken by countries to try to stop its spread
and the economic impact have fueled a 40% increase in the number of
people needing humanitarian help, the United Nations said earlier
this week. It has appealed for $35 billion in aid funding.
"2021 is literally going to be catastrophic based on what we're
seeing at this stage of the game," said Beasley, adding that for a
dozen countries, famine is "knocking on the door."
He said 2021 was likely to be "the worst humanitarian crisis year
since the beginning of the United Nations" 75 years ago and "we're
not going to be able to fund everything ... so we have to
prioritize, as I say, the icebergs in front of the Titanic."
[to top of second column] |
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his top officials have also called
for COVID-19 vaccines to be made available to all and for rich countries to help
developing countries combat and recover from the pandemic.
Tedros appealed for an immediate injection of $4.3 billion into a world
vaccine-sharing program.
"We simply cannot accept a world in which the poor and marginalized are trampled
by the rich and powerful in the stampede for vaccines," Tedros told the General
Assembly. "This is a global crisis and the solutions must be shared equitably as
global public goods."
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Dan Grebler)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
