2020 will be remembered as an unpredictable year when we remade how we structure our lives and interact with each other. We’re being called on to think about what changes we need to make in our personal lives, businesses and communities. We have witnessed the deep pain caused by the loss of lives due to COVID-19 and the personal investment people have in the calls for social justice. The countries struggling, and so are we. This year, the world faced unprecedented time, and it’s hard to conceptualize what life will look like a in the next year. 2020 has presented some unforeseen challenges, but it has also given people all over the world a tremendous opportunity to slow down, pause, and do some deep thinking around. Due to COVID 19, more than 75 million have been infected all over the world as on 19 December 2020 and more than 1.6 million people lost their lives because of this pandemic.
Economic Recession:
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Trade and Development: Transitioning to a New Normal, provides a comprehensive assessment of the economic knock-ons, projecting that the global economy will contract by a staggering 4.3% in 2020 and warning that the crisis could send an additional 130 million people into extreme poverty. The COVID-19 pandemic has gravely wounded the world economy with serious consequences for everyone. Moving rapidly across borders, along the principal arteries of the global economy, the spread of the virus has benefited from the underlying interconnectedness – and frailties – of globalization, catapulting a global health crisis into a global economic shock that has hit the most vulnerable the hardest. The report finds the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 will be derailed unless immediate policy actions are taken, especially in favour of the poorest. A better recovery must centre on renewed trade policy that tackles the twin challenges of market concentration and environmental impact, the report says. It also notes there is a pressing need to reshape global production networks to be more green, inclusive, and sustainable while simultaneously resetting the multilateral system to support the most vulnerable and deliver on climate action.
A crisis of uneven impacts…
In the report, UNCTAD tracks the deepening impact of the virus on all areas of the world economy and maps how the crisis has affected global trade, investment, production, employment and, ultimately, individual livelihoods. It finds that the pandemic’s impact has been asymmetric and tilted towards the most vulnerable, both within and across countries, affecting disproportionately low-income households, migrants, informal workers and women, the report says. Global poverty is on the rise for the first time since the 1998 Asian financial crisis. In 1990, the global poverty rate was 35.9%. By 2018 it had been curtailed to 8.6% but has already inched up to 8.8% this year and will likely rise throughout 2021. Additionally, COVID-19 has had an excessive effect on two sectors – tourism and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises – which employ many vulnerable groups. For example, while older men may have suffered more from the health emergency, females and young people are most affected by the economic crisis. Across the 32 countries for which gender-disaggregated data are available, the countries with higher COVID-19 incidence have seen greater increases in female unemployment than male. These and other setbacks, such as school closures that threaten 20 years of progress in expanding access to education, especially for girls, will have strong negative impacts on the productive capacity of countries well into the future, the report finds.
…and uneven responses
The disparities caused by the COVID-19 crisis are glaring, and vaccine production and delivery will likely underscore the limited capacity of most developing and least developed countries (LDCs) to respond to the crisis. For example, the report highlights that the median additional spending per capita on fiscal stimulus or foregone revenues in developed countries and economies in transition has been $1,365 since the outbreak, compared to just $18 in least developed countries and $76 in other developing nations.
Urgent health challenges for the next decade:
As a new year and a new decade is about to kick off, WHO is releasing a list of urgent, global health challenges. This list, developed with input from our experts around the world, reflects a deep concern that leaders are failing to invest enough resources in core health priorities and systems. This puts lives, livelihoods and economies in jeopardy. None of these issues are simple to address, but they are within reach. Public health is ultimately a political choice. We need to realize that health is an investment in the future. Countries invest heavily in amassing of deadly weapons, but not against the attack of a virus, which was far more deadly and far more damaging economically and socially. A pandemic brought economies and nations to their knees, that is why health security cannot be a matter for ministries of health alone. All the challenges in this list demand a response from more than just the health sector. We face shared threats and we have a shared responsibility to act. This means advocating for national funding to address gaps in health systems and health infrastructure, as well as providing support to the most vulnerable countries. Investing now will save lives – and money – later. The cost of doing nothing is one we cannot afford. Governments, communities, and international agencies must work together to achieve these critical goals. There are no shortcuts to a healthier world. 2030 is fast approaching, and we must hold our leaders accountable for their commitments.
What Next?……………….Time to think and Introspect.
It is time to rethink .The situation demands that all nations of the world must now realize that huge bombs and tanks have proven nothing before a small microscopic virus. The virus has forced the heads of all these nations to go for lockdown to save the lives of citizens. The life all over the world has come to standstill and is on the verge of destruction. So instead of spending our money on the weapons of mass destruction, it is time to change this policy from now .It is time to focus on Healthcare and Education systems and work for the welfare of the humanity rather than its destruction. It is time to shun violence and remove walls of hatred. Otherwise more is in waiting…………It is now or never.
(The author is a teacher at the department of School Education J&K Government presently posted at Govt High School Brakpora Anantnag. Views are his own) [email protected]
