United Nations response to the COVID-19 pandemic

The United Nations response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been led by its Secretary-General and can be divided into formal resolutions at the General Assembly and at the Security Council (UNSC), and operations via its specialized agencies and chiefly the World Health Organization in the initial stages, but involving more humanitarian-oriented agencies as the humanitarian impact became clearer, and then economic organizations, like the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the International Labour Organization, and the World Bank, as the socioeconomic implications worsened.

In June 2020, the Secretary-General launched the 'UN Comprehensive Response to COVID-19'; the UN has also launched a global vaccination initiative. Given the impact on the global economy, funding has been an especial problem, as it has for ongoing operations, and the 'UN Comprehensive Response to COVID-19' has a dedicated funding package attached. The UNSC has been criticized for a slow coordinated response, especially regarding the global ceasefire, which aims to open up humanitarian access to the world's most vulnerable in conflict zones.

Office of the Secretary-General

United Nations Comprehensive Response to COVID-19 The 'UN Comprehensive Response to COVID-19' is a policy document issued by the United Nations Secretary-General on 25 June 2020, which aims to coordinate the United Nations System to "save lives, protect societies, recover better". The policy document sets out what must be done to deliver a global response "that leaves no-one behind", reduces global vulnerability to future pandemics, builds resilience to future shocks, especially climate change, and addresses "the severe and systemic inequalities exposed by the pandemic". The document focuses on three main operational approaches, namely delivering a large coordinated and comprehensive response on health; adopting policies to address the adverse human rights, humanitarian, and socioeconomic, humanitarian effects; and creating a recovery process that "builds back better".

As part of the United Nations' response, the UN Secretary-General has been prominent in ensuring the maintenance of normal UN operations, in launching events, and making in appeals on behalf of the United Nations System, including for the world's first global ceasefire and for billions of dollars in funding. He has also defended the WHO's response to the crisis and fought back against COVID-19 misinformation. As the UN's response became more systematized, he been issuing policy briefs, by theme, population, and region, to aid governments in how to address the consequences of the pandemic. The below account, while indicative, is not complete, and it does not include links to the transcripts of appeals and speeches, which can be found on multiple United Nations websites.

Timeline

March On 13 March 2020, in a video message, the UN Secretary-General assured the world that the COVID-19 virus would peak, and that the global economy would recover but, until then, "we must act together to slow the spread of the virus and look after each other". On 15 March, he announced that the UN was putting in places measures to protect staff while affirming that it would continue normal operations. On 19 March, the Secretary-General held his first virtual press conference, stating, "more than ever before, we need solidarity, hope and the political will to see this crisis through together". On 23 March, the Secretary-General called for the world's first global ceasefire to support the bigger battle against COVID-19, a "common enemy that is now threatening all of humankind". On 24 March, the Secretary-General welcomed the Group of 20 industrialized powers (G20) decision to convene an emergency virtual summit on the pandemic and recommended three areas for discussion. On 25 March, the UN launched a major humanitarian appeal and $2 billion coordinated global humanitarian response plan to aid the most affected and most vulnerable countries and prevent COVID-19 from "circling back around the globe". Echoing his 23 March appeal to warring parties across the globe for an immediate global ceasefire, he called on those fighting in Yemen to cease hostilities and increase efforts to counter a potential COVID-19 outbreak. On 26 March, the Secretary-General emphasized at the G20 virtual summit that a sustainable global economy must arise once the COVID-19 pandemic is reversed, as the G20 committed to inject over $5 trillion into the global economy to counteract the effects of the pandemic. On 29 March, the UN in New York donated 250,000 face masks to New York City health workers, with the Secretary-General making the handover. On 31 March, he launched a comprehensive socioeconomic plan, Shared Responsibility, Global Solidarity: Responding to the Socio-economic Impacts of COVID-19, to "defeat the virus and build a better world".

April On 2 April 2020, on World Autism Awareness Day, the UN Secretary-General appealed for the rights of persons with autism to be taken into account in efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. On 3 April, the Secretary-General warned of a surge in domestic violence due to lockdowns. The same day, the Secretary-General reiterated his call for a global ceasefire and urged unity in mobilizing "every ounce of energy" to defeat the coronavirus pandemic. On 8 April, in response to criticism of the WHO, the Secretary-General urged global support for the agency, which has led the multilateral response since the beginning, describing it as "absolutely critical" in overcoming COVID-19. On 9 April, the Secretary-General welcomed a ceasefire declaration by Saudi Arabia in Yemen as a way to contribute towards his global ceasefire call, promote peace and slow the advance of COVID-19. On the same day, the Secretary-General launched a new policy brief on women and equality and issues a dire warning that the pandemic could reverse gains in equality over previous years. On 11 April, the Secretary-General called on religious leaders of all faiths to join forces and work for global peace and focus on the common battle to defeat COVID-19. On 14 April, he warned of "a dangerous epidemic of misinformation" during "the most challenging crisis we have faced since the Second World War", leaving millions scared and seeking clear advice. The UN Secretary-General urges unity and calls for countries not to cut the resources of the WHO, as US President Trump halts funding. On 15 April, the Secretary-General pledged that the UN would stand in solidarity with Africa in the face of the unprecedented economic, social and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, from procuring test kits to promoting debt relief.

In the second half of April 2020, on 16 April, the Secretary-General launched a new UN report noting that the looming global recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic could cause hundreds of thousands of additional child deaths in 2020, reversing recent gains in reducing global infant mortality. On 19 April, the Secretary-General sent a video message in support of the UN-supported 'One World: Together At Home' event. On 21 April, he pledged the UN's continued support to the Alliance of Small Island States on climate change and the socioeconomic effects of COVID-19. 22 April: On International Mother Earth Day, the UN Secretary flags the COVID-19 pandemic as "an unprecedented wake-up call" and offers six ways to help the climate. On 23 April, the Secretary-General released a new policy brief on shaping an effective, inclusive response to the COVID-19 pandemic, echoed his February 'Call to Action' to put human dignity and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the core of the UN's work, and warning that the coronavirus pandemic was "fast becoming a human rights crisis". On 28 April, he addressed the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, part of the COP26 process, stating that the parallel threats of COVID-19 and climate change require "brave, visionary and collaborative leadership" and noting that the Sustainable Development Goals are under threat.

May On 1 May 2020, the UN Secretary-General warned the COVID-19 fatality rate for people over 80-years-old was five times the global average, as he launched a new policy initiative tor challenges faced by the elderly as a result of "the biggest public health crisis to hit the world in a century". On 5 May, he launched a new report showing that the COVID-19 pandemic was intensifying inequalities experienced by the world's one billion people with disabilities, calling for an inclusive recovery and response. On 8 May, the Secretary General made a global appeal calling for concerted global action to quash the "tsunami" of hate speech accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic. On 12 May, in an online meeting with religious leaders via the UN Alliance of Civilizations, he noted the coronavirus pandemic had revealed "our common humanity", stressing the important role that religious leaders could play in limiting the damage caused by COVID-19. On 13 May, the Secretary-General highlighted that in its World Economic Situation and Prospect report update, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs reported that as of mid-2020, the GDP in developed countries would fall to −5.0 per cent, while the output of developing countries would shrink by 0.7 per cent, causing some $8.5 trillion in overall losses and eroding nearly four years of output gains. On 14 May, the Secretary-General launched the 'COVID-19 And The Need for Action On Mental Health' UN policy brief, urging the international community to do more to protect those facing increasing mental pressures.

On 20 May 2020, at the launch of a UN briefing paper focusing on the impact of COVID-19 across Africa, the Secretary-General called for solidarity to preserve Africa's hard-won progress. On 21 May, he launched Verified, led by the UN's Department of Global Communications, to create a cadre of "digital first responders" to increase the volume and reach of trusted, accurate information on the COVID-19 crisis. On 22 May, on International Day for Biological Diversity, he called for the world to build back better and preserve biodiversity after the COVID-19 pandemic. On 28 May, the Secretary General called for greater "unity and solidarity" at a high-level funding meeting as he warned of 60 million pushed into extreme poverty; coming famines of "historic proportions"; approximately 1.6 billion people unemployed; and a 'Great Depression'-like loss of $8.5 trillion in global output.

June