The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator of United Nation (UN) in Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon, said the Covid-19 Basket Fund for Nigeria, will enhance coordination, technical and financial support to the Presidential Task Force to prevent, prepare and respond to the Pandemic.
He made this statement during the launch in Abuja on Monday.
Kallon stated that shortly after the index case of 27 February, the UN system in Nigeria in accordance with the UN Reform adopted a ‘One UN Response’ to support the National Covid-19 Leadership to prevent, prepare and respond to the Covid 19 Pandemic.
He stressed that this is a trying moment for all of us as our shared humanity is under threat of the Covid 19 Pandemic.
“Societies around the globe are in turmoil and economies are in a nosedive. It is still unclear what the true magnitude of the spread and impact of the virus will look like in Nigeria. The available emerging evidence is s testing, isolation and contact tracing.”
He noted that the International Monetary Fund has reassessed the global prospect for growth for 2020 and 2021, declaring that we have entered a recession as bad as or worse than in 2009.
“We must respond decisively, innovatively and together to suppress the spread of the virus and address the socio-economic devastation that COVID-19 is causing in our world today.
He added that the magnitude of the response must match the scale of the crisis large scale, coordinated and comprehensive, with country and international responses being guided by the World Health Organization. And it must be multilateral, with countries showing solidarity to the most vulnerable communities and nations.
In his words, the United Nation Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “there is no other way to deal with global challenges than with global responses organized in a multilateral way.”
