United Nations response to the COVID-19 pandemic

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The United Nations response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been led by its Secretary-General and can be divided into formal resolutions at the General Assembly and at the Security Council (UNSC), and operations via its specialized agencies and chiefly the World Health Organization in the initial stages, but involving more humanitarian-oriented agencies as the humanitarian impact became clearer, and then economic organizations, like the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the International Labour Organization, and the World Bank, as the socioeconomic implications worsened.

In June 2020, the Secretary-General launched the 'UN Comprehensive Response to COVID-19'; the UN has also launched a global vaccination initiative. Given the impact on the global economy, funding has been an especial problem, as it has for ongoing operations, and the 'UN Comprehensive Response to COVID-19' has a dedicated funding package attached. The UNSC has been criticized for a slow coordinated response, especially regarding the global ceasefire, which aims to open up humanitarian access to the world's most vulnerable in conflict zones.