Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the 2020 Korea Global Forum for Peace, in New York today:
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the 2020 Korea Global Forum for Peace, in New York today:
In Asia, a strong monsoon season has caused floods and landslides over the past week, killing hundreds of people, displacing millions and destroying infrastructure. The United Nations and aid partners are supporting Government-led responses in several countries despite COVID-19-related logistical challenges.
Polio immunization campaigns have resumed in Afghanistan and Pakistan, months after COVID-19 left 50 million children without their polio vaccines, UNICEF said today. There is concern that up to 1 million children in Afghanistan could miss out as door-to-door vaccinations are not possible in some areas.
A flight carrying ventilators, protective masks and other essential medical supplies landed in Papua New Guinea today, marking the start of the World Food Programme’s humanitarian air service for the Pacific, which aims to help the region’s countries and territories bolster the Covid-19 pandemic response.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the launch of the policy brief on the impact of COVID-19 on South-East Asia, in New York today:
In Zimbabwe, where 60 per cent of the population is projected to be food insecure by the end of 2020, the World Food Programme appealed for $250 million to prevent a human catastrophe. A nationwide COVID-19 lockdown has led to joblessness in urban areas, growing hunger in rural areas and hyperinflation that has made basic goods unaffordable.
The World Food Programme (WFP) today said swift action is needed to avoid severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean, the world’s most coronavirus‑affected region that also faces a relentless rise of hunger, deepening inequality and an active hurricane season.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched today its Global Forest Resources Assessment report and its first online interactive platform containing detailed regional and global analyses of forests in 236 countries and territories, enabling the agency to better respond to deforestation and biodiversity loss.
Severe flooding in Bangladesh is currently affecting some 1.4 million people, with United Nations agencies providing $5.2 million in early funding. In China, heavy rains have impacted more than 38 million people, while floods and landslides in Nepal have led to more than 100 deaths.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the extraordinary intersessional Summit of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, in New York today:
The Secretary-General welcomed the agreement between representatives of the Government of Venezuela and the Advisory Team of the National Assembly on responding to COVID-19. He encouraged parties to respect humanitarian principles in implementing the accord and to continue seeking common ground to overcome the protracted crisis.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the seventy-sixth session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in New York today:
The Secretary-General’s annual report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict has been released. Covering 2019, it documents the death and injury of tens of thousands; the displacement of millions; as well as widespread reports of sexual violence, noting children were forced to take part in fighting.
The World Health Organization (WHO) marked the fortieth anniversary of the eradication of smallpox — the first and only human disease eliminated globally through international collaboration — which killed 300 million people in the twentieth century. Many of the tools used against smallpox are now combating COVID-19.
In the Americas, chronic overcrowding, unhygienic conditions and lack of health‑care access have led to COVID-19 infections among thousands of inmates and prison officials. The Human Rights High Commissioner urged States to ensure widespread access to testing and care for detainees, and both testing and protective gear for staff.
The World Food Programme and the United Nations Children’s Fund are urging Governments to prevent devastating nutrition and health consequences for the 370 million children missing out on school meals as a result of school closures. The daily lunch at school is the only food for millions of children around the world.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Placencia Ambition Forum, held in Belize today:
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
A new International Labour Organization report finds that COVID-19 is expected to wipe out 6.7 per cent of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020, equivalent to 195 million full-time workers. The report highlights the worst affected sectors and regions, and outlines policies to mitigate the crisis.
Ghassan Salamé, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, expressed deep concern to the Security Council today that the truce agreed earlier this month holds only in name. Fighting and military reinforcements on both sides raise the spectre of a full conflict engulfing the wider region.