UN Secretary-General: We Face the Severest Crisis Since World War II

The UN Secretary-General says the outbreak of the coronavirus, which is a threat to all, and its economic consequences and the recession that will likely be unprecedented have “led us to the belief that we are facing the severest crisis since World War II”.

António Guterres warned on April 1st among journalists that the consequences of the crisis resulting from the global spread of the new coronavirus could lead to conflict and instability.

“A disease that is itself a threat to everyone and to the world, and the economic consequences arising from it that could bring an unprecedented recession in recent years; the combination of these two realities and the dangers arising from igniting instability, igniting conflict, igniting clashes, has led us to the belief that we are facing the severest crisis since World War II”.

The UN Secretary-General said in his initial remarks to journalists that the world’s economic growth in 2020 and 2021 is expected to enter a recession “as bad as 2009 or even worse”.

Mr. Guterres’s reference is to the financial and economic crisis that gripped the world from 2007 to 2009, which some describe as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

These statements complement the recent forecast of the International Monetary Fund, which said the world has entered an economic recession and exiting this situation requires allocating budgets and broad measures.

The UN Secretary-General has called for global solidarity not only to combat the spread of the virus but to address its “social and economic devastation”.

“We must not only witness the solidarity of countries in the world to overcome the virus, but we must witness this solidarity to confront its profound consequences…; a stronger and more effective response is only possible with solidarity. If we all stand together and if we forget political games and understand that at present all of humanity is facing danger”.

Mr. Guterres meanwhile continued to criticize the lack of an aid package for developing countries and warned that focus should be placed on those who will suffer the most damage: “women, the elderly, young people and low-income workers, small and medium businesses, volunteers, especially those engaged in humanitarian crises and amid conflicts”.

Source: Radio Farda