COVID-19 UNDP’s Integrated Response
2020 marked the beginning of a Decade of Action towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But with the COVID-19 pandemic, the global context for development has fundamentally changed. The world faces the greatest socio-economic shock in a generation, coming at a time of acute inequality, ecological fragility and growing distrust within and amongst societies. This pandemic is a health crisis. But not just a health crisis. Tackling COVID-19 is also a humanitarian and development crisis that is threatening to leave deep social, economic and political scars for years to come, particularly in countries already weighed down by fragility, poverty and conflict. The solidarity that brought the global community together to create the Global Goals is needed more than ever. From building strong institutions to creating jobs to ensuring education and healthcare for all, the SDGs and the pledge to leave no one behind work best when tackled in an integrated manner. That is how the world must work, together, to defeat COVID-19. Working at the heart of the United Nations family and in close coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is responding to a growing volume of requests from countries to help them prepare for, respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing particularly on the most vulnerable.
