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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Next year is going to be a humanitarian catastrophe and rich countries must not trample poor countries. « Rush for vaccines » to fight the coronavirus pandemic, top U. . N. . Officials told the 193-strong U. . N. . General Assembly on Friday.
David Beasley, head of the World Food Program (WFP), and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), spoke during a special meeting on COVID-19 that took place in China late last year and has infected 65 million people worldwide to date.
The pandemic, the measures taken by countries to contain its spread and the economic impact have led to a 40% increase in the number of people in need of humanitarian aid, the United Nations said earlier this week. It has asked for $ 35 billion in aid.
« 2021 is going to be literally catastrophic based on what we see at this stage of the game, » said Beasley, adding that famine is « knocking on the door » for a dozen countries. «
He said 2021 is likely to be « the worst year of humanitarian crisis since the United Nations began » 75 years ago and « we won’t be able to fund it all. » . . . So, like I said, we need to prioritize the icebergs over the Titanic. «
U. . N. . Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his top officials have also called for COVID-19 vaccines to be made available to all and rich countries to help developing countries fight and recover from the pandemic.
« We simply cannot accept a world in which the poor and marginalized are trampled on by the rich and powerful in the rush for vaccines, » Tedros told the General Assembly. « This is a global crisis and the solutions must be shared fairly as global public goods. «
United Nations, Humanitarian Crisis, David Beasley, Humanitarian Aid, World Food Program, 2021
World News – AU – U. . N. . warns of a humanitarian catastrophe in 2021
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