United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underscored the necessity of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the COVID-19 crisis in the face of a threat by US President Donald Trump to withhold funds for the UN agency.
“The WHO, with thousands of its staff, is on the front lines, supporting member states and their societies, especially the most vulnerable among them, with guidance, training, equipment and concrete life-saving services as they fight the virus,” Guterres said in a statement on Wednesday, reported Xinhua news agency.
“It is my belief that the WHO must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against COVID-19,” he said.
Trump on Tuesday had criticised the WHO’s response to COVID-19 and threatened to freeze US funding for it.
Guterres said that once the current health crisis is over, there will be time to study how such a disease emerged and spread its devastation so quickly and to evaluate the performance of all involved.
But now is not that time. Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences, he said.
The situation on the ground seems to support Guterres’ appeal for support for the WHO.
The confirmed number of COVID-19 cases in Africa has risen to more than 10,000 with more than 500 recorded deaths, according to the WHO.
While the virus was slow to reach the continent compared with other parts of the world, infections have grown exponentially in recent weeks and are continuing to spread, it warned.
Africa’s first COVID-19 case was recorded in Egypt on February 14 and since then the number of African countries reporting cases has risen to 52 out of a total of 54.
The WHO said communities need to be empowered, and provincial and district levels of government need to ensure they have the resources and expertise to respond to the outbreaks locally.
The UN agency is working with governments across Africa to scale up their capacities in critical response areas such as coordination, surveillance, isolation, case management and contact tracing, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement.
The chief spokesman for the secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, said the United Nations is supporting the Nigerian government in efforts to curb the spread of the virus. Three ambulances were donated Wednesday to Lagos State, home to some 21 million people.
In Zimbabwe, he said a severe climate- and recession-induced hunger is deepening the COVID-19 crisis.
The World Food Programme said it is urgently calling for US $130 million through August to help millions of the most vulnerable people in the country.
A recent nationwide assessment found that the number of acutely food insecure Zimbabweans has risen to 4.3 million from 3.8 million at the end of last year, the spokesman said.
More than half, 7.7 million people, of the country’s population are regarded as food insecure.
In Venezuela, the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, Peter Grohmann, said the first shipment of 90 tons of UN life-saving supplies was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday to support the COVID-19 response. (IANS)
