This Is the Moment to Step up for the Vulnerable
此时此刻，须为脆弱者加紧努力
By António Guterres
联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯
23 March 2020
2020年3月23日
The world faces an unprecedented threat.
世界正面临着前所未有的威胁。
The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly covered the globe. It has spread suffering, disrupted billions of lives and endangered the global economy.
2019冠状病毒病这一大流行病已迅速在全球传播。它传播了苦难，扰乱了数以十亿计的人的生活，并危及全球经济。
COVID-19 is menacing the whole of humanity – and so the whole of humanity must fight back. Individual country responses are not going to be enough.
2019冠状病毒病正在威胁着全人类，因此全人类必须共同进行反击。靠单个国家采取应对措施是不够的。
Wealthy countries with strong health systems are buckling under the pressure.
压力之下，一些拥有强大卫生系统的富裕国家也正开始出现问题。
Now, the virus is arriving in countries already in the midst of humanitarian crises caused by conflicts, natural disasters and climate change.
现在，病毒正在传播到本已处于冲突、自然灾害和气候变化造成的人道主义危机之中的国家。
These are places where people who have been forced to flee their homes because of bombs, violence or floods are living under plastic sheets in fields, or crammed into refugee camps or informal settlements.
在这些地方，那些为躲避炸弹、暴力或洪水而被迫逃离家园的人栖身于田野里的塑料布下，或者挤在难民营或非正式安置点之中。
They do not have homes in which to socially distance or self-isolate.
他们没有可以让他们进行社交疏远或自我隔离的家。
They lack clean water and soap with which to do that most basic act of self-protection against the virus – washing their hands.
他们缺乏最基本自我保护行动——洗手——所需的干净的水和肥皂。
And should they become critically ill, they have no way of accessing a healthcare system that can provide a hospital bed and a ventilator.
如果他们出现严重病情，他们也无法进入能够提供病床和呼吸机的医疗系统治疗。
We must come to the aid of the ultra-vulnerable – millions upon millions of people who are least able to protect themselves.
我们必须帮助那些极度脆弱的人——数以百万计最没有能力保护自己的人。
This is a matter of basic human solidarity.
这是一个涉及基本人类团结的问题。
It is also crucial for combatting the virus.
对抗击这一病毒也至关重要。
The world is only as strong as our weakest health system. If we do not take decisive action now, I fear the virus will establish a foothold in the most fragile countries, leaving the whole world vulnerable as it continues to circle the planet, paying no mind to borders.
我们最薄弱的卫生系统有多强健，全世界就有多强健。如果我们现在不采取果断行动，我担心这一病毒将在最脆弱的国家扎根，继续环绕全球传播，国界形同虚设，因而让整个世界都变得脆弱不堪。
This is the moment to step up for the vulnerable.
此时此刻，须为脆弱者加紧努力。
Older persons, persons with chronic illness and persons with disabilities face particular, disproportionate risks, and require an all-out effort to save their lives and protect their future.
老年人、慢性病患者或残疾人面临特别的且相对过大的风险，需要我们全力以赴拯救他们的生命，保护他们的未来。
We are also aware of the heavy impact the crisis is having on the world’s women across many fronts, in particular losses of livelihood, increased burdens of unpaid care labour, and the heightened exposure to domestic violence.
我们还意识到，这一危机对世界各地的妇女造成了许多方面的严重影响，特别是她们丧失生计，承担更多无偿的护理劳动以及面临更大的家庭暴力风险。
Today we are launching a $2 billion global humanitarian response plan to fund the fight against COVID-19 in the world’s poorest countries.
今天，我们启动一项20亿美元的全球人道主义应急计划，以资助在世界上最贫穷国家抗击2019冠状病毒病。
Coordinated by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, this interagency plan brings together existing appeals from the World Health Organization and other UN partners, and identifies new needs as well.
在联合国人道主义事务协调厅的协调下，这项跨机构计划汇集世界卫生组织和联合国其他合作伙伴的现有呼吁，并确定了新的需求。
Properly funded, it will save many lives and arm humanitarian agencies and NGOs with laboratory supplies for testing, and with medical equipment to treat the sick while protecting health care workers.
如果获得充足资金，这一计划将拯救许多人的生命，并为人道主义机构和非政府组织配备用于检测的实验室用品，以及用于在保护卫生保健工作者的同时治疗病人的医疗设备。
The plan also includes additional measures to support host communities that continue to generously open their homes and towns to refugees and displaced persons.
该计划还包括其他措施，旨在支持收容社区继续慷慨地打开家门和城镇之门接收难民和流离失所者。
We need to act now to stem the impact of COVID-19 in already vulnerable humanitarian contexts.
我们现在需要采取行动，遏制2019冠状病毒病在本已脆弱的人道主义环境中造成的影响。
And we need to maintain support for existing humanitarian response plans on which 100 million people depend.
我们需要维持对有1亿人赖以生存的现有人道主义应急计划的支持。
If such funding is diverted, the consequences could be catastrophic: the further spread of cholera, measles and meningitis; greater levels of child malnutrition; and a blow to the ability of these countries to combat the virus.
如此类资金被挪用，后果可能是灾难性的：即霍乱、麻疹和脑膜炎进一步蔓延；儿童营养不良程度增高；也会打击这些国家抗击这一病毒的能力。
Let us do everything we can to prevent COVID-19 from wreaking havoc in places with limited healthcare capacity and resilience.
让我们尽我们所能防止2019冠状病毒病在医疗能力和韧性有限的地方造成严重破坏。
At the same time, we are doing our utmost to plan for and respond to early recovery in the countries around the globe that will need it most so that we achieve a new sustainable and inclusive economy that leaves no-one behind. I have asked United Nations Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams to support countries around the world in addressing the socio-economic implications of this pandemic, which will require an adequate funding mechanism.
与此同时，我们正在尽最大努力为全球最需要恢复的国家早日恢复作出规划和应对，以实现一个新的可持续、包容的经济，不让任何人掉队。我已经要求联合国驻地协调员和联合国国家工作队支持世界各国应对这一大流行病的社会经济影响，这将需要一个充足供资机制。
Supporting this humanitarian response plan is a necessity for global health security.
支持这一人道主义应急计划，对于全球卫生安全而言不可或缺。
It is a moral imperative and in everyone’s interests.
这既是义不容辞之举，也是每个人的利益所在。
And it is a crucial part of winning this fight.
而且这也是赢得这场战斗的关键所在。
I appeal to Governments to give it their full support.
我呼吁各国政府给予全力支持。
（无英文）
谢谢。