The United Nations on Thursday launched an updated COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan that requires $6.7 billion to help fragile countries cope with the pandemic.
The fund requirement of the original response plan, which was launched on March 25, was $2 billion. The updated plan is adding nine countries – Benin, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Togo, Zimbabwe – bringing the total number to 63.
UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock, who launched the updated plan, said urgent action is needed to help the most vulnerable countries.
COVID-19 has now affected every country and almost every person on the planet. But the most devastating and destabilizing impacts will be felt in the world’s poorest countries, Lowcock told a virtual event for the launch of the new appeal.
Apart from the direct health impact, the global recession and the domestic measures taken to contain the virus will take a heavy toll on the poorest countries, he said. “We can see right now incomes plummeting and jobs disappearing, food supplies falling and prices soaring, children missing vaccinations, meals and school.”
