As the world continues its battle to contain the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, the Philippines and the United Nations have called on member states to work in solidarity to ensure that no one is left behind.
This developed as the UN announced on Wednesday that it has so far mobilized some P1.4 billion assistance to the Philippines related to its COVID-19 response consisting of in-kind support as well as technical assistance in health, education, social protection, sustainable livelihood, and employment generation, food security, habitat, and environment.
In a statement, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Manila Gustavo Gonzales said the UN has moved swiftly to support the Philippine government-led effort to contain COVID-19 and limit its socio-economic impact.
“Our support combines the reorientation of existing interventions to cope with the crisis, the implementation of timely impact assessments as well as technical assistance and in-kind support to national, regional, and community partners,” Gonzales said.
The UN said around 20 percent of its total disbursed funds for the Philippines’ COVID-19 response were allocated in projects focused on the Bangsamoro region in Mindanao.
In last week’s 75th UN anniversary celebration in Manila, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. called on the UN to “stand in the breach made by disunity” as nations compete against each other for the COVID-19 cure.
“Nations break ranks in the race for the first COVID-19 vaccine; the UN must stand in the breach made by disunity to ensure that the less powerful, the less rich, those who cannot be heard are reached and saved,” Locsin said in his speech during the virtual celebration.