The United Nations announced today it is increasing its appeal to fight the coronavirus pandemic in fragile and vulnerable countries from US$2 billion to US$6.7 billion. Since the original appeal on March 25, the United Nations said US$1 billion has been raised to support efforts across 37 fragile countries to tackle the virus. The updated appeal includes nine additional vulnerable countries: Benin, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Pakistan, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zimbabwe. U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi said the impact of the pandemic on people who fled wars and persecution "has been devastating.'' Lowcock, the humanitarian chief, said the virus pandemic "is unlike anything we have dealt with in our lifetime.''

Source: The Standard May 07, 2020 06:33 UTC