With the Covid-19 pandemic soon reaching the grim milestone of one million deaths, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday rebuked countries that are making “side agreements” to have vaccines exclusively for their own populations, saying such “vaccination” is -Defeat. “” We are working to promote treatments and therapies as a global public good, and support efforts to make a vaccine available and affordable for people everywhere. However, reportedly Some countries are making parallel agreements exclusively for their own populations, ”Guterres said.
“Such ‘vaccinationism’ is not only unfair, it is counterproductive. None of us are safe, until we are all safe. Similarly, economies cannot run with an uncontrolled pandemic, ”he said in his speech to the 75th session of the UN General Assembly that began on Tuesday in the shadow of the devastating and still raging Covid-19 pandemic.
The global organization Oxfam has warned that wealthy nations that make up only 13 percent of the world’s population have already cornered more than half (51 percent) of the promised doses of leading Covid-19 vaccine candidates. Oxfam said that efforts by rich countries, especially the United States, to adopt a nationalistic “me first” approach impede coordination and could prevent or delay the vaccine from reaching the people most at risk, both in developing countries and countries. here at home.
The Covid-19 pandemic has so far infected more than 30 million people and more than 958,000 have died. The United States, with 6.7 million infections, crossed the grim milestone of 200,000 deaths.
Guterres said that since the start of the pandemic, the UN has pushed for a massive rescue package worth at least 10 percent of the world economy. “Developed countries have provided enormous relief to their own economies. They can afford it. But we must ensure that the developing world does not fall into financial ruin, escalating poverty and debt crises. We need a collective commitment to avoid a downward spiral, ”he said. The UN system, led by the World Health Organization, has supported governments, particularly in the developing world, to save lives and contain the spread of the virus, he said.
“Our global supply chains have helped provide personal protective equipment and other medical supplies to more than 130 countries,” Guterres said, adding that the UN has extended life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable countries and people through a Global Humanitarian Response Plan. .
The UN’s ‘Verified’ campaign is also fighting online disinformation, itself a toxic virus that shakes democratic foundations in many countries, he said.
Guterres also called for an inclusive and effective multilateralism that passes the test of the 21st century, warning that countries cannot respond to the crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic by “retreating into national shells.” “More than seven decades later, multilateral institutions need improvement to more equitably represent all the people of the world, rather than giving disproportionate power to some and limiting the voice of others,” he said.
“We don’t need new bureaucracies. We need a multilateral system that constantly innovates, delivers for people and protects our planet, “he added. He stressed that the multilateralism of the 21st century must be networked, linking global institutions across sectors and geographies, from development banks to regional organizations and business alliances.
“To overcome the current fragilities and challenges, we need more international cooperation, not less; strengthened multilateral institutions, not a setback from them; better global governance, not a chaos of all against all, ”he said.
Calling on nations to stand together and act in solidarity in the hour of global crisis, Guterres said, “when countries go in their own direction, the virus goes in all directions.” He also urged countries to be guided by science and hold on to reality in the fight against this pandemic.
The UN chief said that to really reduce fragilities and risks, and to more effectively solve shared problems, “we need a corresponding New Global Deal at the international level.” He said this New Global Deal aims to ensure that global political and economic systems provide critical global public goods, as he noted with concern that today that is simply not happening.
“We have huge gaps in governance structures and ethical frameworks. To close these gaps, we must ensure that power, wealth and opportunity are shared broadly and fairly, ”he said.
He stressed that the New Global Deal must address the historical injustices in global power structures.
Guterres also strongly stated that special attention must be paid to women and girls as the world struggles to recover from the pandemic and rebuild better.
She said that women do most of the unpaid care work generated by the pandemic and women have fewer financial resources to turn to, because their wages are lower and they have less access to benefits.
The UN chief warned that unless “we act now, gender equality could go back decades.” He called on nations to end the horrific increase in violence against women and girls during the pandemic, from domestic violence to sexual abuse, online stalking and femicide.
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