GENEVA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- More multilateralism and the reform of multilateral institutions are urgently needed to confront the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Secretary General Martin Chungong said.

"The pandemic taught us that multilateralism is needed today more than ever before. We saw how it was important for countries to be working together to face the challenge of the pandemic," he said in an interview with Xinhua Thursday.

Those who challenge the benefits of multilateralism are mistaken, he noted.

"Of course it is not perfect, and that is the problem. We want to make sure that the institutions that embody multilateralism, including the IPU, are developed and reformed in a way as to make them better functioning for the implementation of the challenges faced by mankind today," he added.

The IPU, which works closely with the United Nations (UN), was founded in 1889 and is one of the world's oldest multilateral organizations.

Asked about the key lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic, he said: "We have learnt that the pandemic has taken on global proportions. It was important that the global community came together in a spirit of solidarity to address this."

"It was not a question of one country resolving the problem by itself. This pandemic has shown that it knows no borders," he said.

Chungong also stressed that the coronavirus crisis has forced a different way of doing business with a renewed sense of solidarity around the world.

"The second thing that we have learnt is that as soon as the surprise was over, people and institutions began to take things into their hands and improve the way they were doing business," he said.

"The pandemic and the way it has been managed have led us to rethink our business models especially with regard to international organizations. We can no longer do business as usual," he added.

Looking ahead, Chungong said that one of the main challenges for the IPU would be to help its members cope with the fallout of the pandemic, and urge them not to overlook other pressing global issues such as climate change and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"We know that the effects and the impacts of the crisis are yet to be felt," he said. "We have already seen that the SDGs, for example, are suffering because of the fact that the global community has had to reset priorities, focusing on fighting the pandemic and not investing enough in other aspects that are crucial for sustainable development."

"This is something that the IPU and the global parliamentary community will have to look at very carefully. How can we help countries and parliaments revise laws, allocate resources, and hold governments accountable for the SDGs, for instance for climate change," he said.