COVID-19 left scars to the world

COVID-19 left scars to the world
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Fecha de publicación: 
20 July 2022
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It is not telling a story from the past. Right now, and across the world, the impacts caused by the pandemic remain visible on the planet.

And we are talking about risks in human terms, such as unhealed wounds, which must be reasons to be alert, specially most vulnerable individuals.

The UN has recently addressed it in a report where it is stated that, more than referring to a catalog of misfortunes such as unemployment, debts, civil and domestic violence, breakdown in education, and greater impoverishment of the already marginalized individuals; it certainly brings light to the challenge faced by mankind on “how to understand and manage better the cascading effects of system risks resulting from COVID-19 while the pandemic often spread across borders.”

The title of the aforementioned text is Reconsidering the risks in times of COVID-19, which is based on five field investigations —carried out last year by the UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)— and highlights the domino effect that has taken place worldwide, multiplying the problems beyond the borders where they originated.

“The cases clearly illustrate that our world is interconnected through systems that come with associated and volatile risks, which have revealed, and reinforced, vulnerabilities throughout society,” states the document.

One of the conclusions of these studies is that COVID-19 forced a broader perspective of systemic risks and, as a result of a positive sign, broadened the understanding of these risks and the way to address them.

Among the new suggestions to improve risk management, the report contemplates the need to understand the interconnection of systems and phenomena in the world, which was proven in the cascading effects derived from the global health crisis.

By referring to the closure of schools, travel and work, they invite us to consider in the future the possible unexpected repercussions of certain decisions, which may even aggravate existing vulnerabilities.

As a third measure or suggestion, they propose to focus on recovery processes without leaving anyone behind, which can mean positive turning points.

“The current interconnected world is a system in evolution, and disasters are usually the result of failures of that system,” points out the text. Hence risk management must also be interconnected in order to achieve more resilient, equitable communities and societies.

It is an indisputable statement. The difficult thing, but not impossible, is to implement it among so many inequities and while unreason occupies the first row in the window of this world.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff

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