The Secretary-General of United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has warned that millions of people could be dragged into extreme poverty in Africa owing to the coronavirus pandemic and stressed the need for “global solidarity” with Africa.
In a statement accompanying a recent UN study with recommendations for Africa as a continent, Guterres said: “The pandemic threatens African progress. It will aggravate long-standing inequalities and heighten hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability to disease.”
While congratulating Africa for its swift response to the pandemic, he noted that “as of now, reported cases are lower than feared.”
He said: “African countries should also have quick, equal and affordable access to any eventual vaccine and treatment, that must be considered global public goods.”
He stressed that “disruption could escalate quickly” since the pandemic is still in its “early days” in Africa.
He said: “Global solidarity with Africa is an imperative – now and for recovering better.”
As part of his recommendations, he urged “international action to strengthen Africa’s health systems, maintain food supplies, avoid a financial crisis.”
He added that it is also important to “support education, protect jobs, keep households and businesses afloat, and cushion the continent against lost income and export earnings.”
He called for “more than $200 billion as additional support from the international community” to help Africa in recovering from the pandemic.
Guterres said he was also pleading for “a comprehensive debt framework – starting with an across-the-board debt standstill for countries unable to service their debt.”
