COVID-19 Pandemic will leave deep, deep scars - UNDP

The United Nations Development Programme says income losses are expected to exceed $220 billion in developing countries and nearly half of all jobs in Africa could be lost.

It says with an estimated 55 percent of the global population having no access to social protection, these losses will reverberate across societies, impacting education, human rights and, in the most severe cases, basic food security and nutrition.

UNDP says under-resourced hospitals and fragile health systems are likely to be overwhelmed.

This may be further exacerbated by a spike in cases, as up to 75 percent of people in the least developed countries lack access to soap and water.

It says additional social conditions, such as poor urban planning and overpopulation in some cities, weak waste disposal services, and even traffic congestion impeding access to healthcare facilities, may all add to the caseload.

The administrator of the United Nations Development Programme Achim Steiner says this pandemic is a health crisis but not just a health crisis.

He says for vast swathes of the globe, the pandemic will leave deep, deep scars.

Steiner further says without support from the international community, we risk a massive reversal of gains made over the last two decades, and an entire generation lost, if not in lives then in rights, opportunities, and dignity.

UNDP is already working to support health systems in countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Djibouti, El Salvador, Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Nigeria, Paraguay, Panama, Serbia, Ukraine and Vietnam.

A UNDP-led COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility has already been launched, funded by existing resources and capitalized with an initial US$20 million.

This facility is disbursing through a fast-track mechanism enabling UNDP teams to offer immediate assistance to countries for their national response.

UNDP anticipates a minimum of $500 million need to support 100 countries.

UNDP has also made a call to action to the international community to think beyond the immediate impact of COVID-19.

The organisation has emphasised the need for three priority actions: resources to help stop the spread of the virus, support to respond during the outbreak itself, and resources to prevent the economic collapse of developing countries.

As an immediate response, UNDP is building on the support it has been providing to China and other Asian countries to help strengthen their health systems.

This includes helping them procure much-needed medical supplies, leverage digital technologies and ensuring health workers are paid.

At the same time, UNDP will support countries to slow the spread of the virus and to provide social protection for vulnerable populations, promoting a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response to complement efforts in the health sector.

In the longer term, UNDP will work with countries to assess the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 and take urgent recovery measures to minimize long-term impact, particularly for vulnerable and marginalized groups, and to help societies to recover better.

UNDP says tackling COVID-19 and its impacts will require partners who can work across systems and sectors and in contexts that are both complex and uncertain.