UN Calls on Business to Help Poor Countries

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged business leaders to support developing countries with access to covid-19 vaccines, help combat the climate crisis and reform the global financial system. Guterres said there is "a global inability to support developing countries when they need them" and warned that without urgent action, inequalities and poverty will deepen, leading to more social unrest and more violence. Guterres, who began his second five-year term as UN Secretary-General on January 1, said, "We cannot afford such instability." For a long time, the covid-19 vaccine has been pushing for more global action to address inequality and climate change and reform the global financial system. Guterres said, "We need a resilient global financial system. That means urgent debt restructuring and reforms in the long-term debt architecture." Last year, the World Health Organization targeted that 40% of people in all countries would be vaccinated against covid-19 by the end of 2021, and 70% by the middle of this year. Antonio Guterres said, "We are nowhere near these targets. Vaccination rates in high-income countries are seven times higher than in African countries. We need vaccine equality now. Record levels of inflation, shrinking fiscal space, high interest rates, and rising energy and food prices are hitting every corner of the world. “This is hindering recovery, particularly in low- and some middle-income countries.”