Severe impacts on fragile groups in Middle-East, warns Arab League's Assistant Secretary-General

The Arab League expressed concern over the sharp increase in unemployment and poverty in the region due to the preventive measures imposed during the Covid19 pandemic. The Assistant Secretary-General and Head of Social Affairs Sector of the Arab League Haifa Abu Ghazaleh's statement came during her speech delivered at the 59th session of the Commission for Social Development.

The session will be held until next Wednesday (17 February) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Abu Ghazala reviewed the efforts of the Arab League to support its member states to cope with various repercussions caused by the pandemic. She also called on the United Nations to continue strengthening the regional efforts to implement the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan and ensure that the Arabs collectively live with security and harmony.

Over the last seven days, the number of new daily cases detected in the ME has increased slightly to an average of 25,114 cases per day, an increase of three per cent compared to the previous week.

A total of 100,000 people in the Middle East have died of Covid 19 since the beginning of the epidemic in December 2019, according to an AFP tally on Thursday, with 4,991,770 people in the region infected with the virus. In terms of mortality, the ME region is the fifth most affected in the world.