UN Secretary General Guterres highlights economic impact of Covid pandemic

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed the importance of additional economic assistance to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and help fend off "the largest economic contraction since the Second World War."

Guterres said the world faces a global recession "that could wipe out decades of development" and jeopardize the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals unless action is taken.

The U.N. leader said that while more than $1.5 trillion dollars has been collected to combat the virus, just 2.5% of that has gone to the poorest countries and he urged countries to mobilize resources to develop vaccines.

One of those resources is the Access to the COVID-19 Tools ACT Accelerator, a global collaboration by the World Health Organization, the European Commission and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to speed up development and distribution of a virus vaccine.

Guterres says the cooperative needs $35 billion dollars to ensure equitable access to a global vaccine.

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