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UN Launches $2Bln Global Appeal to Support Poorest Countries Amid Pandemic - Guterres

© AP Photo / Themba Hadebe Train commuters hold on to the side of an overcrowded passenger train in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, March 16, 2020.
 Train commuters hold on to the side of an overcrowded passenger train in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, March 16, 2020. - Sputnik International
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UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The United Nations has launched a $2-billion plan to help the world's most vulnerable countries respond to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and advert humanitarian catastrophes, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Wednesday.
“Today, we are launching a $2 billion global humanitarian response plan to fund the fight against COVID-19 in the world’s poorest countries,” Guterres said. “If such funding is diverted, the consequences could be catastrophic: the further spread of cholera, measles and meningitis; greater levels of child malnutrition; and a blow to the ability of these countries to combat the virus.”

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on G20 leaders to cancel sanctions that prevent the delivery of medical aid amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

In a separate development, leaders of nine European Union states, including France, Spain and Italy have called in a letter for a common debt instrument to combat COVID-19. They urged the EU to consider a specific funding for the coronavirus-related spending in the EU budget for 2020-2021. The letter was also signed by the leaders of Portugal, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Belgium and Greece. 

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