UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world faces most challenging crisis since World War II, confronting a pandemic threatening people in every country, one that will bring recession 'that probably has no parallel in the recent past.

There is also a risk that the combination of the disease and its economic impact will contribute to "enhanced instability, enhanced unrest, and enhanced conflict," the UN chief said at the launch of a report on the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 on Tuesday.