COVID-19 pandemic

NEWS

SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT

CORE FUNDING

COVID-19 MAP

The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is the defining global health crisis of our time and the greatest challenge we have faced since World War Two. Since its emergence in Asia late last year, the virus has spread to every continent except Antarctica.

But the pandemic is much more than a health crisis, it's also an unprecedent socio-economic crisis. Stressing every one of the countries it touches, it has the potential to create devastating social, economic and political effects that will leave deep and longstanding scars. UNDP is the technical lead in the UN’s socio-economic recovery, alongside the health response, led by WHO, and the Global Humanitarian Response Plan, and working under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinators.

Every day, people are losing jobs and income, with no way of knowing when normality will return. Small island nations, heavily dependent on tourism, have empty hotels and deserted beaches. The International Labour Organization estimates that 195 million jobs could be lost.

The World Bank projects a US$110 billion decline in remittances this year, which could mean 800 million people will not be able to meet their basic needs.

UNDP response

Every country needs to act immediately to prepare, respond, and recover. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has launched a US$2 billion global humanitarian response plan in the most vulnerable. Developing countries could lose at least US$220 billion in income, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has called for US$2.5 trillion to support them.

Drawing on our experience with other outbreaks such as Ebola, HIV, SARS, TB and malaria, as well as our long history of working with the private and public sector, UNDP will help countries to urgently and effectively respond to COVID-19 as part of its mission to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and build resilience to crises and shocks.

The next phase of UNDP’s COVID-19 crisis response is designed to help decision-makers look beyond recovery, towards 2030, making choices and managing complexity and uncertainty in four main areas: governance, social protection, green economy, and digital disruption. It encompasses our role in technically leading the UN’s socio-economic response.

Click here to read more about UNDP's response.

“We are already hard at work, together with our UN family and other partners, on three immediate priorities: supporting the health response including the procurement and supply of essential health products, under WHO’s leadership, strengthening crisis management and response, and addressing critical social and economic impacts.” UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner

We have been supporting countries since the very early stages of this crisis, donating essential protective medical equipment. As the response evolves, and after assessing the immediate, medium and long term needs, we are moving into the socio-economic response.

We are supporting small businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina, after an assessment report estimates half could close in the next few months.

In Ecuador our Accelerator Lab is using crowdsourcing to connect the most vulnerable with food, goods and services.

Afghanistan’s fragile economy and peace process are both threatened by the pandemic and UNDP is supporting expanded social protection for poor and vulnerable Afghans, such as pensions for the elderly and public works.

UNDP recognizes the vital importance of small, family owned businesses, and those who depend on them, so we are working with policymakers to establish business continuity insurance for hard times.

In the Asia Pacific region, which enjoys a high population of young people, we are harnessing the creativity and vision of young startups so that the can both weather these hard times and come up with creative ways to solve the new problems we face.

And we continue to lobby business and political leaders to establish a universal basic income and to encourage and extend the flow of remittances, so vital to the global economy and GDPs of many lower income countries.

In Nigeria, the UN has launched the COVID-19 Basket Fund to boost efforts to support the country’s national pandemic response, which includes cash transfers and food distribution to vulnerable groups.

In the Arab states we are working with governments and citizens to deliver essential services, and fight misinformation.

It will require all of society to limit the spread of COVID-19 and to cushion the potentially devastating impact it may have on vulnerable people and economies.

We must rebuild trust and cooperation, within and among nations, and between people and their governments.

UNDP’s support will also help ensure that the responses of individual countries are comprehensive as well as equitable and inclusive, so that no one is left out and countries can continue to make progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.