WB PUTS EMPHASIS ON HUMAN CAPITAL

The World Bank has emphasized the need for protecting human capital in this COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, the WB said in a report it prepared for countries in responding to the crisis that aside from the  loss of life and income, the pandemic poses has resulted in  disruptions in access to essential services, a rise in food prices and breakdowns in supply chains.

Households are seeing a rise in poverty, stress, malnutrition and infectious diseases, affecting development outcomes including child and maternal mortality. Altogether the crisis threatens to pose a huge set back to hard-won gains in human capital without rapid, decisive, and coordinated action.

For example, the WB said a reduction of essential health services of around 45% over 6 months could result in over one million child deaths and over 50,000 additional maternal deaths in low- and middle-income countries.

This grim picture is emerging for learning loss, and ultimately future productivity loss, from the crisis. For women and girls, who bear the brunt of care work, the pandemic may exacerbate gender-based violence as well as the prevalence of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy.

These profound impacts of the crisis underscore the urgency of achieving universal health coverage, establishing robust educational systems, and ensuring the availability of strong and adaptable programs and policies, so that countries can quickly and effectively mitigate the effects of the shock and lay the groundwork for future resilience, the World Bank said.

What the WB has recommended is for countries and their governments  facing a host of problems related to Covid 19 pandemic to have an effective policy response that should be focusing on the pillars of pandemic containment, saving lives and livelihoods, and preparing for a recovery.

The report, Protecting People and Economies provides a three-part series of recommendations:

1. Containing the Pandemic: Disease containment as a first-order concern to combat the pandemic, combining measures such as testing and tracing, isolation and quarantine, and treatment of the infected

2. Saving Lives and Livelihoods: A parallel and simultaneous effort to save jobs, protect income, and ensure access to services for vulnerable populations; and

3. Rebooting and Preparing for a Recovery: A longer-term perspective to maintain macro-economic stability, continue to build trust, communicate clearly to avoid deeper downturns and social unrest, and use the opportunity presented by the crisis to rethink policy to build back with stronger systems for people and economies.