Need to prioritise on food security and humanitarian needs, experts tell UN

In a special session on COVID-19 pandemic, experts advised UN General Assembly to prioritise on food security and humanitarian needs. The session on COVID-19 discussed the possibility of catastrophic global femine along with evaluating the response of the United Nations towards the pandemic, development in the process of vaccine and the path to ensure resilient recovery.

Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, emphasised on the 40 per cent increase in poverty with a fall in life expectancy despite huge spending in social protection and humanitarian response plans. However, so far achieved development in the vaccine making acknowledged as an achievement. "It is a record, it is absolutely unbelievable that within about 320 days, from the genetic sequence of the new virus, a vaccine is being made public," Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Executive Director and Chief Scientist stressed, pointing to the Chinese vaccine with an emergency use authorization.

A reminder to gather special focus on the vulnerability of internal displacement and 80 million refugees ignited in the session. Increasing poverty and humanitarian crisis leading widening of inequality and violence against women and girl children, MR. Lowcock added. The condition of a broken global food system demanding an alternative with a high yield of food with lower costs devoid of any environmental damage. Reversal of so far achieved progress in poverty eradication, hunger and gains in food security due to COVID-19 pandemic has discussed in the meeting.