WEB DESK
The United Nations has announced today that it is increasing its appeal to fight the corona virus pandemic in fragile and vulnerable countries from 2 billion US Dollars support to 6.7 billion US Dollars.
U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock has reiterated that the peak of the pandemic is not expected to hit the world’s poorest countries for three to six months.
But he said there is already evidence of incomes plummeting and jobs disappearing, food supplies falling and prices soaring, and children missing vaccinations and meals.
Earlier, in its original appeal on March 25, the United Nations has raised 1 billion US Dollars support efforts across 37 fragile countries to tackle COVID-19.
The d appeal launched today includes nine additional vulnerable countries: Benin, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zimbabwe.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said the caseload in most of the developing countries targeted for assistance in the U.N. appeal may seem small, but we know that the surveillance, laboratory testing and health systems’ capacity in these countries are weak and it is therefore likely that there is undetected community transmission happening.