The UN humanitarian chief on Monday said that US$90 billion could provide income support, food and a health response to the COVID-19 pandemic for 700 million of the world’s most vulnerable people — a price tag just 1 percent of the US$8 trillion stimulus package the 20 richest countries put in place to safeguard the global economy.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock told a video briefing most experts agree that the pandemic has not reached its peak in the poorest parts of the world, but might peak in the next three to six months.
About 700 million people — or 10 percent of the world’s population — are most vulnerable and concentrated in about 30 to 40 countries, which already receive humanitarian assistance and would see a big drop in incomes as the virus spreads and governments impose restrictive measures and lockdowns, he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“If you wanted to protect them against that drop in income, then probably for about US$60 billion you could do that,” he said.
Moreover, for about US$30 billion, people facing the threat of starvation can get food and the health response to COVID-19 can be financed, he added.
About two-thirds of the US$90 billion could come from global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF, he said.
“They would need to change the terms on which they provide assistance to some people,” he said.
“So, for example, they would need to reduce interest rates and provide some debt relief. But they have the firepower if they were given a bit more subsidy to probably meet about two-thirds of the costs,” Lowcock said.
The remaining one-third could be financed by a one-time increase in government development assistance, he said.
He said the argument he is making is that a one-off 20 percent increase “will save you having to deal with a 10-year problem.”
“US$90 billion is a lot of money, but it is an affordable sum of money,” he said.
The UN is not going to appeal for US$90 billion, Lowcock said, but “what I am suggesting is a lot of the suffering and loss of life can be contained within sums of money which are imaginable.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres did launch a US$2 billion appeal on March 25 to help vulnerable and conflict-torn countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America tackle the pandemic.
Lowcock said he is encouraged the appeal has received a little more than US$1 billion in one month, including 300 million euros (US$326 million) from Germany announced on Monday evening.
A revised appeal is to be launched on Thursday next week, seeking additional resources because the pandemic is growing and new countries need help, he said.
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