As the world is struggling with the severe health, economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the developing countries are at greater risk from this global shock. With limited resources and weak capacity to carry out lockdown measures, support their economies and deal with external shocks, developing countries are in a particularly difficult position to respond and recover. The extreme economic, social and sustainable development consequences they are facing may reverse decades of development progress and further jeopardise efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is therefore crucial to support developing countries address their priorities and most urgent needs in the current crisis, through sub-regional, regional, and even inter-regional collaboration efforts.
To access the information on priorities directly from developing countries in Asia and the Pacific, the Regional Office of the Asia-Pacific of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) launched a survey that targets at 30 countries in the region. Seventeen (57%) responses were received between 17 August – 8 September 2020. The survey has questions on the countries’ priorities to recover from public health, economic and social impacts, as well as their prime concerns in responding to the pandemic. It also collected data on the assistance received and given by the countries through South-South cooperation. Click here to access the results of the survey which received feedback from over 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
