In the recent weeks, the lives of millions of people across the world have suddenly changed. For some, remaining at home has been an opportunity to reflect, to withdraw from the frantic pace of life to stay with loved ones and enjoy their company. For many, though, this is a time of worry about an uncertain future, jobs that are at risk and other consequences of the current crisis. However, whether millions live or die entirely depends on the decisions the world leaders will take in the coming days and weeks.
The COVID-19 pandemic is threatening lives and livelihoods across the world. The world’s largest intergovernmental organization, the United Nations (UN) led by the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres is required to uphold the values of the UN even at the risk of challenging 193 member states. In the worst-hit regions, hospitals are overwhelmed with the sick and dying, while the poor and vulnerable are facing severe food shortage and starvation. The UN is calling the coronavirus the world’s “most challenging crisis.”
The UN declared: First, health is the top priority. Countries must ramp-up testing as much as possible and put isolation measures in place in order to slow the spread. Second, countries should meet the needs of the most vulnerable people, as the measures to contain the pandemic cripple the economy. Third, countries must keep the food supply flowing by prioritizing the health of the workers in the sector and their output.
The dramatic spread of the coronavirus, from a single case first detected in the city of Wuhan in China in late 2019 to a global pandemic in a few months, has forced governments to take drastic measures. The virus, is spreading rapidly in many countries and the death toll climbing. More than 4.5 billion people – half the world’s population – are estimated to be now living under social distancing measures.
Major outbreaks like the coronavirus are unpredictable, dangerous and disruptive. While priority has to be on public health, it is not too early to begin thinking about ways to mitigate such disruptions going forward. In fact, in exceptional times like this, regular dialogue, cooperation and trusted relationships grow in value. We might get used to physical distancing and lose the social or humanitarian reason for it. We should be cautious that the lockdown, quarantine and distancing does not develop into a culture of isolation, indifference and prejudice.
WHO’s 24/7 Response
The coronavirus now has a foothold in 213 countries, areas or territories with 2,675,876 cases and 187,450 deaths. A pneumonia of unknown cause was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office in China on December 31, 2019. Ever since WHO, headed by the Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom is working 24/7 to analyze data, provide advice, coordinate with partners, help countries prepare, increase supplies and manage expert networks. The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020.
According to WHO, across the world, clinical trials evaluating potential treatments are progressing but to date there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alchohol based rub frequently and not touching your face. The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practise respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow).
Sri Lanka’s Response
The world is facing an unprecedented test. The single most important lesson from the 2019 pandemic is “to tell the truth”. On March 17, 2020, as infections began to spike, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addressing the nation, explained the steps taken by the government to save lives and urged to respect the restrictions. He elaborated on the vital importance of curbing the spread of coronavirus and touched upon the steps taken to ensure all important community life. The President’s timely approach, “points the way forward to the unified, decisive response that is necessary and how democracies can best deliver it.”
President Rajapaksa has already won plaudits for an aggressive campaign mobilizing the whole-of-government in the fight against COVID-19 that kept the number of infections in the country very low. South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in, New Zeland’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele are also receiving praise for similar decisive and transparent action. The core issues that need addressing include sharing of best practices on isolation, dealing with lower–income communities, and procurement and distribution of medical equipment.
Dignified Life and Harmony
The world religious leaders have urged political leaders to work actively for the common good and to provide the means and resources needed to enable everyone to lead a dignified life. The lockdown compelled 1.2 billion Catholics to follow online for the first time religious services throughout the Holy Week and Easter Sunday. His Holiness Pope Francis, the Vicar of the Christ touched the hearts and minds of people around the globe with inspirational services, sermons and messages via social media from the Vatican.
The Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and President of Caritas Internationalis, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, living the lockdown shared, “Ironically,” measures to contain the coronavirus have “made the air purer, the skies bluer, our hands cleaner, our streets and homes ‘safer.’ A deadly virus has made us behave more responsibly toward ourselves, family, community and creation. The world has truly sensed the magical difference and many now wonder whether, “when the virus is gone, our good habits would continue.”
United Nations’ Response
The international community has asked for US$ 675 million from the UN to help protect states with weaker health systems as part of its Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. Over a hundred Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) and focal points worldwide are working closely with the EMT Secretariat, and are continuously engaging in monitoring, guiding, and facilitating national and international COVID-19 response operations. A weekly Global Coordination Call is held, providing the network with updates on current operations, technical guidance, and sharing of current experiences and practices from various EMT responses to COVID-19.
Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) of WHO continues to facilitate direct and remote technical assistance to countries through GOARN regional and global network of networks to support health operation. UNICEF, IFRC, US CDC, and OCHA are embedded in the global COVID-19 incident management team in Geneva; and are supporting all pillars of response. Work is ongoing to launch public information hub on GOARN Knowledge Platform for COVID-19 to share resources from partners and other stakeholders.
The apprise sets out the shift required in the international system to support countries to plan, finance and implement their response to COVID-19. Through these challenging times, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is determined that its crucial life-saving work is sustained. The OCHA’s top priority is to ensure to ensure providing life-saving help for those people, while supporting the wider system’s response to COVID-19. More than 100 million people already rely on support from the UN humanitarian agencies.
The vulnerable and charity
The whole world is suffering and needs to be united in facing the pandemic. The poor, those living on the peripheries, the refugees and the homeless are the most vulnerable people living in the cities and peripheries of every part of the world, should not be abandoned. It is the foremost moral responsibility of the political leaders to ensure that they do not lack basic necessities such as medicine and especially the possibility of adequate healthcare.
Pope Francis on the Easter Sunday stressed that in the light of the present circumstances, international sanctions could be relaxed, since these make it difficult for countries on which they have been imposed to provide adequate support to their citizens, and all nations should rally round and unite to create a position to meet the greatest needs of the moment through the reduction, if not the forgiveness, of the debt burdening the balance sheets of the poorest nations.
His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, admired for his pivotal role during the 21/4 Easter Sunday Tragedy in 2019 requested Sri Lankans of all faiths to understand the gravity of the pandemic situation that has surrounded the whole world and requested to respect and adhere to the untiring efforts of the government. He urged the faithful to journey towards reaching the fullness of life through obedience to the Lord explaining that human manipulations to the extent of dreaming a world without a God and crimes committed involving humanity.
Recession and the Economy
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by the Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva has declared that the global economy faces the worst recession since the Great Depression of 1930s. The fact is that with such a huge interruption of the global economy, “new forms of poverty will emerge. We should prepare now to assist the new poor in order to avoid forms of exploitation and violence. The outpouring of compassion that we have seen so far needs to be encouraged into the post-pandemic future.”
Countries have shut down the economy. Supermarket shelves remain stocked for now. But a protracted pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains, a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultural inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more. The shipping industry is already reporting slowdowns because of port closures, and logistics hurdles could disrupt the supply chains in coming weeks. In order to avoid food shortages, it is imperative that countries keep the food supply chains going.
Unlike the 2007-2008 global food crisis, scarcity is not an issue this time. The supply of staple commodities is functioning well, and the crops need to be transported to where they are needed most. Restricting trade is not only unnecessary, it would hurt producers and consumers and even create panic in the markets. For high-value commodities that require workers for production, countries must strike a balance between the need to keep production going and the need to protect the workers.
Hunger and Humanitarian Crisis
The pandemic could almost double the number of people suffering acute hunger, the UN World Food Programme (UNWFP) has warned. The Global Health Cluster (GHC) has confirmed that all 29 countries with IASC activated Health Clusters are reporting confirmed COVID-19 cases. The 900 national and international health cluster partners are urgently responding to COVID-19 specific needs whilst maintaining essential health services for 65 million people affected by humanitarian crises.
Pope Francis said we have all gone ahead “at breakneck speed”, ignoring the wars, injustice, cries of the poor and our ailing planet. “We carried on regardless, thinking we would stay healthy in a world that was sick.” The crisis we are facing should not make us forget the many other crises that bring suffering to so many people, especially the people of Asia and Africa who are experiencing grave humanitarian crises, as in the Province of Cabo Delgado in the north of Mozambique.
The hearts of the many refugees displaced because of wars, drought and famine need to be warmed. Protection to be granted to migrants and refugees, many of them children, who are living in unbearable conditions, especially in Libya and on the border between Greece and Turkey as well as the island of Lesvos. In Venezuela, concrete and immediate solutions to be reached to enable access for international assistance to a population suffering from the grave political, socio-economic and health situation.
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
The world’s greatest sporting extravaganza – the Summer Olympic Games scheduled to commence on July 24, 2020 in Tokyo’s rebuilt National Olympic Stadium is now postponed. Japan Olympics organizers are still only starting to come to terms with the massive task of rebuilding the Tokyo Games over the next 16 months from the debris of postponement. The International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Japanese government moved at speed, after months of stonewalling, to pick virtually the same July/August time slot next year.
The Games have been cancelled three times in the past because of war but never postponed. That meant a total rethink in terms of the Olympic village, 41 core venues, convention centers, 40,000-plus hotel rooms, 2,000 buses and thousands of contracts for goods and services. Recalibrating in the face of worldwide coronavirus restrictions has exacerbated the most massive organizational challenge the IOC and one of its host cities have ever shared.
Spirit of Solidarity and Hope
COVID-19 is a truly global crisis, and the only way to overcome it is together in global solidarity. The challenge we are facing is shared by all, without distinguishing between persons. The Pope invited all who have responsibility in conflicts, that they may have the courage to support for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world. This is not a time to manufacture and deal in arms, spending vast amounts of money that ought to be used to care for others and save lives. He demanded to end the war that has caused great bloodshed in Syria, the conflict in Yemen and the hostilities in Iraq and in Lebanon. Also, he urged Israelis and Palestinians to resume dialogue for a stable and lasting solution. He prayed for the people who live in the eastern regions of Ukraine and an end to the terrorist attacks carried out against innocent people in African countries.
Evangelization and Charity
Cardinal Tagle, shared, “that Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based umbrella organization for national Catholic charities is serving around the worldwith a vibrant missionary presence.”He continued, “We should not forget that in many parts of the world, especially among non-Christian communities, the humanitarian service of charity done by Caritas is often the first encounter of people with the person of Jesus, the Gospel and the church.” He concluded stating that, “Evangelization and charity come together.”
Conclusion
Cardinal Tagle shared, “We have experienced powerful forms of connectivity through the internet. School instruction, conferences, board meetings, scientific exchange, emotional first aid, humor, artistic renditions, prayer etc. have been sustained by new and creative forms of human connectivity. We can continue reaping and developing their humanizing fruits for the common good.”
With the churches closed, many people are realizing just how important faith and prayer are in their lives. “A virus mirrored to us our fragility, limitations and insufficiency. This is quite humiliating for a people gone mad with pride and self-adulation. But the memory of the virus must be kept alive to keep us humble and hopeful.”
Faced with these difficult times, Cardinal Tagle encourages everyone to pray “for the serenity” to accept what we cannot change, “the courage” to change what we can, and “the wisdom” to know the difference. “Let us pray to find the deeper meaning of this challenge…which is calling us to faith and to resurrection.”
(The author possesses a PhD, MPhil and double MSc; his research interests encompasses variety of subjects; recipient of National and Presidential Accolades for Academic and Sports pursuits; his byline appears in journals and publications regularly; his first article was carried in Sunday Observer in 1988)