COVID-19 is a call to reverse inequality, a challenge to leave no one behind - CPDE

NEW YORK - May 6, 2020 - PRLog -- In the face of the continuing spread of COVID-19, the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness expresses solidarity with the peoples of the world, especially the poor and vulnerable communities in developed and developing countries. We also salute those in the frontlines, most of all the health workers who bravely continue to serve the people.

Beyond its tangible impacts on our health and lives, we believe that COVID-19 bares an underlying pandemic of inequality, which renders the majority and bottom rung of our society more vulnerable to health crises. We bear witness to the plight of our brothers and sisters who endure squalid conditions, in environments with poor access to nutrition, water, and sanitation, among other prerequisites for a healthy life. We are deeply concerned about the elderly, women and children, migrants and refugees, and persons with disability. It is they who bear the brunt of this crisis, and should be prioritised as we face this pandemic.

We call for concrete responses from our governments, the duty-bearers, to ensure that we will soldier through this together. More importantly, we urge them to rethink the way we run the world, to narrow the gap that led us here.

Today's inequality was built over decades of relentless pursuit of profit, supported by development policies not predicated on people's needs. Its impact now stares us in the face and teaches us important lessons about progress and humanity: what ails one ails us all, what elevates one, must elevate us all. And when we pursue growth at the expense of others, we suffer as a human race.

This pandemic reminds us, painfully, of the folly of turning our backs on society. Our interdependence as members of the human race demands that we look after each other, which we do through the good offices of the State. Thus, the State is responsible for pooled national resources: education and healthcare systems, mass transport, and utilities, among others.

But the last 50 years have been marked by dereliction of this responsibility. We see governments neglecting to invest in universal social protection, health, education, housing, and other public services. Instead, they are handing over their power and responsibilities to corporations, whose approaches are governed by the logic of capital.

To view the full statement, visit: https://bit.ly/CPDEonCOVID19