Deputy Secretary-General, at Launch of COVID-19 Data and Innovation Centre, Highlights Civil Society’s Critical Role in Swift Response, Recovery
Following are UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery at the COVID‑19 Data and Innovation Centre launch, today:
I’m honoured to be with you to launch the COVID‑19 Data and Innovation Centre. With second and even third waves of the pandemic unfolding in countries around the world, it has never been more important to have accurate and inclusive information at our fingertips to inform our responses to this multifaceted crisis and to help shape our path to recovery.
Right now, the data tell a troubling story. Globally in the past week, cases of COVID‑19 have increased by 8 per cent compared to the previous week, resulting in more than 3.6 million new cases, while new deaths have increased by 21 per cent to over 54,000. This brings the cumulative numbers to over 49.7 million reported cases and over 1.2 million deaths globally since the start of the pandemic [to be updated prior to the event with updated numbers from the WHO Situation Report].
While these data provide a snapshot of the global health impacts, other data describe the impacts the pandemic is having on our social and economic well‑being. We are experiencing a development emergency of unprecedented scale. Global human development is on course to decline this year for the first time since the concept was first measured in 1990. Up to 115 million people are now at risk of falling back into extreme poverty. Health services unrelated to COVID‑19 have been under extreme pressure in many places. Livelihoods have been undermined. Education has been disrupted. Green investments have been postponed.
To recover swiftly and better, to get on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, every actor counts. Government, communities, businesses, civil society organizations and citizens have also mobilized a response to this historic crisis and this mobilization needs to be further supported, further accelerated.
Allow me to emphasize the particularly critical role played by civil society. Around the world, civil society organizations of all shapes and size are involved in every facet of the response. Complementing Government efforts, they are capturing and sharing the realities on the ground, with the type of data and analysis that support smart policy choices and good programming. They help monitor our collective responses, often acting as a courageous voice in highlighting gaps and shortcomings. And they cover the last mile of implementing capacity to reach the most vulnerable.
For example, in Timor‑Leste, civil society has helped monitor the Government cash distribution programme to vulnerable families. Their presence has made the process more efficient and beneficiary‑oriented. Civil society’s participation in this programme is generating additional data on how to improve similar programmes in the future.
It is essential for us at the United Nations to design, implement and monitor our socioeconomic support to Governments in close collaboration with civil society organizations. This support is articulated through the UN Socio‑Economic Response Plans (SERPs), which have now been developed in 120 countries, and are all publicly available. A majority of these SERPs (57 per cent) include civil society both as providers of data and analysis and as partners in the response. But much more needs to be done on our part.
This inclusion needs to be systematic and needs to be increased. We must ensure the inclusion of civil society, especially those organizations representing at‑risk populations, in the monitoring of the responses. In some countries, such as Kenya, the UN’s SERP has involved outreach to grassroots communities, to support inclusive dialogue between the Government and civil society to enhance participation, inclusion and transparency.
These types of partnerships between government and civil society are essential if we are to successfully tackle this protracted sustainable development crisis. COVID‑19 threatens global progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, putting the World We Want further out of reach, especially for vulnerable groups of people already at risk of being left behind.
While the race for a vaccine and more effective treatments brings hope that this health crisis could end in 2021, we know now that its social and economic impacts will be felt for years to come. With the promise of the 2030 Agenda at stake, along with our commitment to leaving no one behind, we must pay close attention to what is happening globally, nationally, and locally if we are to help people individually. Data must drive this understanding, and the data the Cepei [Centro de Pensamiento Estratégico Internacional] Data and Innovation Centre will generate will help us to continuously monitor and update our Socio‑Economic Response Plans.
Ultimately, data can help us identify what it is needed to correct our course. Often it will entail addressing many of the problems that caused this situation in the first place — inequality, poverty, lack of access to health care, and environmental destruction, among them.
The COVID‑19 Data and Innovation Centre has a central role to play as we respond to and recover from this crisis. We need more evidence and more knowledge, and we need it coming from all stakeholders — those making policy and those who are living it. The COVID‑19 Data and Innovation Centre is designed to feed accessible, up‑to‑date information to our efforts. It will serve as an online data‑driven dialogue between the United Nations system and an almost indefinite number of data producers and consumers around the world. It will do so at the local, national, regional and global levels.
The Centre’s data will help tell the story of what is happening across geographies, including the Global South, economic sectors, and diverse groups of people. It is my hope that the COVID‑19 Data and Innovation Centre will thus enhance the openness, the transparency and the quality of what we do across analysis, programming, and results monitoring. And in doing so, it will shed light on new paths forward and ways to tailor our assistance to help those falling behind.
As an open platform, its value increases through the well‑known network effect. In other words, the more data contributors and consumers the Centre has, the greater the benefit to us all. I therefore encourage you, Excellencies, to actively engage with the Centre, and in doing so, help us reach those most in need, in the most effective ways possible.
In closing, I would like to thank Cepei for their contribution to the global response. I look forward to continuing our collaboration for an evidence‑based response to overcome this crisis.