The highly uneven response to the pandemic has “widened the already yawning disparities and inequities within and between countries and peoples”, according to the 60 international agencies that authored the report. 

And while an historic $16 trillion in stimulus and recovery funds released by governments worldwide have helped to stave off the worst effects, less than 20 per cent of it was spent in developing countries. 

By January, all but nine of the 38 States rolling out vaccines were developed countries.

Before COVID-19, around half of least developed and other low-income countries were under threat of, or already experiencing, debt distress. Coupled with falling tax revenues, that has subsequently sent debt levels soaring.      

In the world’s poorest countries, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could be pushed back another 10 years, warns the report.  

The report says that immediate action is needed to address widening inequalities, rebuild better, and prevent the development reversal.   

“What this pandemic has proven beyond all doubt is that we ignore global interdependence at our peril. Disasters do not respect national boundaries”, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said.  

The article's full-text is available here.

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