Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Question Of
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23rd Annual Session of the Seoul Model United Nations Forum: Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Question of: Developing strategies for rebuilding the economics of less economically developed countries (LEDC) after the Covid-19 pandemic Student Officer: Andrew Choi, Deputy Assistant Chair Introduction The current COVID-19 pandemic, more commonly known as the coronavirus pandemic, is considered a global epidemic that is deemed to be severe, leaving a lasting impact on personal health and livelihoods.As the virus is becoming increasingly stringent, on January 30th of 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has avowed that the current issue is considered a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.1 Additionally, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at the John Hopkins University (JHU), there are 12million confirmed cases and about five hundred thousand deaths globally as of July 10th.2 This virus has caused consequences to reach further than the spread of the disease itself. Since the condition limits all forms of interaction between individuals, companies, and even between countries, economic growth is hindered. With more than a third of the global population experiencing a lockdown, it is evident that the virus is causing permanent changes in the global economy.3 The pandemic was first introduced in Wuhan, China, in December of 2019.4 With the virus being extremely contagious, it can be spread in numerous ways: close contact between 1 Statement on the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), 2020, January 30,https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/30-01-2020-statement-on-the-second-meeting-of-the-internation al-health-regulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-outbreak-of-novel-coronavirus-(2019-nc ov) 2 COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU),2020, July 10,https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html 3 Juliana Kaplan, Lauren Frias. “Our Ongoing List of How Countries Are Reopening, and Which Ones Remain under Lockdown.” Business Insider Australia, Business Insider Australia, 13 Mar. 2020, www.businessinsider.com.au/countries-on-lockdown-coronavirus-italy-2020-3. 4 “Novel Coronavirus – China.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 13 Jan. 2020, www.who.int/csr/don/12-january-2020-novel-coronavirus-china/en/. SEOMUN XXIII Research Report • 1 23rd Annual Session of the Seoul Model United Nations individuals, small droplets from coughing, sneezing, or even during conversations, and physical contact with a contaminated surface.5 Because of the high transmission of the disease,, global scale communication or work within countries is reduced and even prohibited. With physical labor acquiring most of the LEDC's economy,6 the most vulnerable stakeholders those countries whose labor force production has been halted. Dealing with health issues are considered to spur particular problems in the highly populated urban areas in various developing countries or LEDCs due to the difficulty of social distancing.7 Oksana Abbouda, the head of an organization that is representative of street vendors worldwide, has stated in the BBC's Business Daily radio program that there is rising difficulty among the proposed solutions for issuing the pandemic's economic effects: "[w]e have to make this horrible choice, either to put ourselves at risk [from infection] and continue our informal job or put our families at risk because they will be starving." 8 On a global scale, an example of the economic turmoil associated with a pandemic is its severe effects on the financial markets. One of the most noticeable results is the Russa-Saudi Arabia oil price war, which has spurred after the failure of reaching a compromise within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that resulted in an economic downfall on the oil prices and stock market in March of 2020. This failure of the agreement, the amount of oil experienced the most extensive single week decline since 2008.9 Besides, the crisis caused international attention and demands towards transport fuels to reduce: approximately 5 “Q&A On Coronaviruses (COVID-19).” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 17 Apr. 2020, www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-cor onaviruses. 6 “The LeasT DeveLopeD CounTries ReporT 2013 Growth with Employment for Inclusive and Sustainable Development.” United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations, 2013, unctad.org/en/PublicationChapters/ldcr2013_ch3_en.pdf. 7 Walker, Andrew. “Developing World Economies Hit Hard by Coronavirus.” BBC News, BBC, 23 Apr. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/business-52352395. 8 “Business Daily - Can Africa's Informal Economies Survive Lockdown? - BBC Sounds.” BBC News, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csz7j4. 9 “Oil Posts Biggest Weekly Loss since 2008.” CNBC, CNBC, 13 Mar. 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/03/13/oil-markets-coronavirus-brent-crude-futures-in-focus.html. SEOMUN XXIII Research Report • 2 23rd Annual Session of the Seoul Model United Nations ninety percent of which are from crude oil.10 Also, there has been an extraordinary situation where some oil prices were below zero.11 The global spread of the virus has caused a detriment in the financial market, but the rise of the pandemic also caused an increase in issues regarding food security in various developing countries in Africa. With weak healthcare systems in the region, lockdowns in those countries are producing the economies to fall in severe damage. Besides, these countries receive potentially less public attention, contributing to the risk of lives and livelihoods. More specifically, countries in Africa will experience severe food crises if the food system cannot cope. Several LEDCs in Africa are experiencing food prices spike initially due to panic buying, transport restrictions, and rising food imports. Specifically, in Zimbabwe, South Sudan, and Sudan, prices increase rapidly due to tight food supplies. The cause of such impact also includes the disruptions to trade flows and market functions related to COVID-19.12 According to the World Bank, the primary reason for such a consequence is that the coronavirus impacted both demand and the supply of commodities, directly correlated with the shutdowns of "supply chains, indirect effects as economic growth stalls." Effects have already been dramatic, particularly for products related to transportation.13 On the note of countries that rely on farming, COVID-19-related transport restrictions have made it unusually challenging to farmers who need seeds, fertilizers, crop protection products, equipment, and animal feed to rural farmers in time for planting season. The lack of such material provided by suppliers would disrupt the production of crops and staples. Restrictions on international trades also triggered additional higher post-harvest losses, as unsold and rotting food accumulated on the farm. 10 Walker, Andrew. “Developing World Economies Hit Hard by Coronavirus.” BBC News, BBC, 23 Apr. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/business-52352395. 11 “Coronavirus: Oil Plunges for a Second Day on Gloomy Outlook.” BBC News, BBC, 22 Apr. 2020, www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52367052. 12 Blanke, Jennifer. “Economic Impact of COVID-19: Protecting Africa's Food Systems from Farm to Fork.” Brookings, Brookings, 24 June 2020, www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2020/06/19/economic-impact-of-covid-19-protecting-africas-food- systems-from-farm-to-fork/. 13 “A Shock Like No Other: Coronavirus Rattles Commodity Markets.” World Bank, www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/04/23/coronavirus-shakes-commodity-markets. SEOMUN XXIII Research Report • 3 23rd Annual Session of the Seoul Model United Nations The pandemic also raises another issue: foreign debt. This issue is most problematic to developing nations since they are more dependent on foreign exchange to enable these countries to pay for imports.14 Especially since currently most developing nations are under high pressure to deal with a health crisis and reassuring its economic consequences, if the government budget was used to focus on debt payments, the country would experience a severe scarcity of resources. Additionally, many national governments cannot adequately fulfill their citizens' needs with an unprecedented global emergency like the coronavirus. As a reaction from the global community, international support is currently lacking when it is most needed.15 There are no signs of assistance from the most economically powerful nations, especially the United States. Many countries in Europe are already preoccupied with spending expenses towards their own medical and economic emergencies. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) shows a high correlation with the improvements in economies in LEDCs. Specifically, SDG 8, "decent work and economic growth," acts on a goal for promoting 'inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work for all.' In regard to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations had previously acclaimed that their focus would primarily be on the economic shocks and that resulted from the virus (such as financial crises and rising insecurity) and the hindering economic growth.16 The COVID-19 pandemic is the source of various impacts that would not