Guterres: COVID-19 Opportunity to Build Back Better

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his participation in the African Union summit on February 8, 2020 (AFP)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his participation in the African Union summit on February 8, 2020 (AFP)
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Guterres: COVID-19 Opportunity to Build Back Better

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his participation in the African Union summit on February 8, 2020 (AFP)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his participation in the African Union summit on February 8, 2020 (AFP)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could exacerbate various difficulties, economic shocks, and long-standing conflicts in the Arab region.

He, however, stressed that the region is blessed with tremendous diversity and potential that can be invested as an opportunity to build back better.

In his recently released policy brief on COVID-19 and Arab Region, Guterres outlined four sets of priorities to help these countries build back better and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline.

First, “slow the spread of the disease, end the conflict and attend to the most vulnerable.”

Second, “build back better by bolstering the capacity of vulnerable groups and deepening social protection reforms for greater equality and inclusion.”

Third, “boost economic recovery through more diversified and green economic models.”

Finally, “prioritize human rights, ensure a vibrant civil society and free media, and create more accountable institutions that will increase citizen trust and strengthen the social contract.”

He further expected the region’s economy to contract by 5.7 percent in 2020.

“With millions more pushed down the economic ladder, fully one-quarter of the Arab population may live in poverty,” he noted, warning that “in a region already rife with tensions and inequalities, this will have profound consequences on political and social stability.”

“Some communities are especially hard hit, including women, migrants — who represent 40 percent of the workforce — and the 55 million people who already rely on life-saving humanitarian assistance.”

He said those caught in armed conflict face particular challenges, especially the 26 million refugees and internally displaced persons, who are among the most exposed to the virus.

The regional economy has suffered multiple shocks — from the virus, as well as the sharp drop in oil prices, remittances, and tourism, he added.

High dependence on oil resources, tourism, and remittances – sectors that are negatively impacted by the pandemic, in addition to protracted conflict, further aggravate the impact of COVID-19 on the Arab region, the brief read.

“Arab countries whose economies are already vulnerable, were made even more so by the COVID-19 crisis.”

Guterres stressed that vulnerable groups, including refugees, migrants, displaced persons, women, young people, the unemployed, those living in slums, and workers in the informal sector, are at risk of becoming even poorer in the absence of universal social protection floors.

About 17 million jobs have been lost, he noted, to be added to the 14.3 million unemployed in the region pre-COVID-19.



Doctor Cites the Pope's 'Surprising Improvement' after Surviving Life-Threatening Crises

 Pope Francis appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he has been treated for bronchitis and bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. (AP)
Pope Francis appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he has been treated for bronchitis and bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. (AP)
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Doctor Cites the Pope's 'Surprising Improvement' after Surviving Life-Threatening Crises

 Pope Francis appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he has been treated for bronchitis and bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. (AP)
Pope Francis appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he has been treated for bronchitis and bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. (AP)

Pope Francis has shown ''a truly surprising improvement'' since returning to the Vatican to convalesce after surviving a life-threatening bout with double-pneumonia, the doctor who coordinated the pontiff's five-week hospitalization said Saturday.

“I find him very lively,” Dr. Sergio Alfieri said, after visiting the pope at his apartment in the Santa Marta Domus on Wednesday, three days after his release from Rome's Gemelli hospital. “I believe that he will return if not to 100%, 90% of where he was before.”

Francis appeared frail and weak as he greeted a crowd of well-wishers from a hospital balcony on Sunday. His voice was waning as he praised a woman in the crowd for bringing yellow flowers. He was able to only partially lift his arm to bless the people and he gasped for air as he was wheeled back inside.

Alfieri said the pope's voice was regaining strength, and that his reliance on supplemental oxygen has decreased. The limited mobility of his arm was due to an unspecified trauma he sustained before being hospitalized, and that will take time to heal, Alfieri said.

The 88-year-old pope was hospitalized on Feb. 14 after a long bout with bronchitis that left him breathless at times, and which quickly developed into double pneumonia and revealed a polymicrobial (viral, bacterial and fungal) respiratory infection. Throughout the ordeal, doctors emphasized the complexity of his condition, given his age, lack of mobility requiring a wheelchair, and the removal of part of a lung as a young man.

Alfieri repeated that he didn't think the pope would make it after a severe respiratory crisis a week after being hospitalized, and he informed the pope that a “decisive” treatment necessary to save him would put his organs at risk.

“He gave his consent, and then he looked at Massimiliano Streppetti, whom he named his personal health assistant who assumed the responsibility, to say, 'We approve everything,' also at the price of coming out with damaged kidneys or bone marrow that produces damaging red blood cells,” said Alfieri.

Alfieri preferred to describe the treatment as “decisive,” and not aggressive, and emphasized that no extraordinary, life-extending measures were ever taken. The Feb. 22 incident was one of several critical moments when the pope's life hung in the balance, the doctor said.

While Francis beat the double pneumonia in the hospital, Alfieri said he is continuing to treat the fungal infection, which he said will take months to resolve. The pope is also receiving physical, respiratory and speech therapy.

Alfieri continues to consult the pope's personal medical team daily, and will visit Francis in the Vatican every week.

The pope demonstrated his trademark humor in this week's visit, responding to a comment by Alfieri that the 88-year-old pontiff had the mentality of a 50- or 60-year-old. “As I leaned in, he said, 'Not 50, 40,'” Alfieri recalled. “So his good sense of humor is back.”

Doctors have ordered the pope to rest for at least two months and to avoid crowds. But after seeing the pope's improvements and knowing his work ethic, Alfieri warned that “if he recovers so quickly, they will have to put on the brakes.”