UN needs $2bn to help poorer countries fight Coronavirus

UN emergency aid coordinator Mark Lowcock says poorer countries need two billion dollars of international humanitarian aid to tackle the coronavirus (COVID 19)

Mr Lowcock said this as the UN launched a major donation appeal in New York on Wednesday.

“Even though developed countries are taking expensive measures to protect their own economies from the pandemic, they will also benefit if they help less developed countries,” he said.

Mr Lowcock warned, while the aid plan was being presented in New York, that the virus would continue to pose a threat to the entire world if it were not fought everywhere.

“Nobody is safe until everybody is safe,’’ he said.

He also warned that the virus had the potential to destabilise countries, which could in turn boost migration.

“There is a risk of the effects of this virus tipping regions into chaos,’’ Mr Lowcock said.

(dpa/NAN)