The unprecedented health and economic crisis developing countries are facing will aggravate existing development challenges. While governments have started to respond, their capacity is tightly constrained. OECD governments and the broader international community need to unlock ambitious support, to prevent the loss of lives, contain the risk of aftershocks, and invest in sustainable recovery. The international response to the COVID-19 should be unprecedented in terms of resources mobilised, scopeand ambition. It should lead to a new development model that is conducive to resilience and sustainability.Developing countries and development co-operation:What is at stake?
Developing countries will be hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. They are facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis, with potentially extreme economic, social and sustainable development consequences that may reverse decades of development progressand further jeopardise efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.A significant increase in infections could rapidly overwhelm already weak health systems.In many developing countries, the pandemic comes in addition to pre-existing food or security crises.Socio-economic impacts are already being felt and will have long-lasting consequences, possibly reversing decades of progressin poverty eradication: exports in developing Asia are falling, growth in Africa could be halved, and an extra 30 million people in Latin America could fall into poverty. Containment measures in developing countries will further affect businessesand households, and could disrupt supply chains, engender a food security crisis, and result in increased incidence of gender based violence.
Read the full report here