TANZANIA Top U.N. officials warned Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated discrimination and other human rights violations that can fuel conflict, and its indirect consequences are dwarfing the impact of the virus itself in the worlds most fragile countries.
But the full extent isnt known because testing in these fragile countries is very low and in some places many people are reluctant to seek help, perhaps fearing being quarantined or fearing they wont get useful medical treatment, he said.
The better news is that it seems possible that the fatality rate from COVID-19 may be lower in these fragile countries than initially feared, he said, but the indirect impact is greater.
However, many expired without extensions, resulting in little improvement on the ground, the undersecretary-general for political and peace-building affairs said.
Still, U.N. envoys are pursuing Guterres call for peace negotiations and cease-fires in conflict-torn Yemen, Libya, Syria and elsewhere, DiCarlo said.