A Case for Transformation? The Longer-Term Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 was a year unlike any other. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the most severe global crisis since World War II, upending the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of people.1 The virus exposed and exacerbated long-standing fragility, vulnerability, and inequality. It tested the limits of communal solidarity and discipline, national preparedness and response capacities, and international cooperation. Countries and communities were thrust into a recession of historic proportions, which threatens to undermine economic growth, social cohesion and political stability. This downturn is hindering progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), potentially stifling aid budgets, and expanding national and personal debt, poverty and the need for basic services and commodities.2 The pandemic’s profound health and economic effects are compounded by the equally colossal challenges of climate change and inequality, increasing geopolitical tensions, political upheaval, violent conflict, and a growing urgency to address social and racial injustices.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Foundation (UNF) virtually convened the forum on 9 and 10 December 2020 under the theme, ‘A Case for Transformation? The Longer-term Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic’. Representatives from humanitarian and development organizations, governments, the private sector, civil society and academia discussed the political, socio-economic, and security implications of the pandemic and how they might transform humanitarian action.