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The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) today called for more willingness to implement a global ceasefire, which he has called for months, and avoid a “new Cold War” at all costs.
At the opening of the general debate, at the 75th session of the General Assembly, António Guterres warned that “we are going in a very dangerous direction” of the division of global forces at a time when unity is indispensable.
The UN leader called for avoiding “at all costs” a future “in which the two largest economies divide the world into a Great Fracture, each with its own trade and financial rules and Internet and artificial intelligence capabilities.”
Mike Segar |
“A technological and economic division is in danger of inevitably turning into a geostrategic and military division,” the secretary general warned at the UN General Assembly in New York on the first day of this year’s general debate.
For a week, 193 countries, including the US and China, will speak during the General Assembly, which is held with the limited presence of representatives at UN headquarters and with pre-recorded video speeches due to the pandemic.
Regarding the global ceasefire, Guterres said the original call “was endorsed by 180 member states, along with religious leaders, regional partners, civil society networks and others,” adding that the biggest obstacles are “deep mistrust and the weight of the struggle that has been intensifying for years ”.
“Now is the time for a new collective push for peace and reconciliation. I call for an intensified international effort – led by the Security Council – to achieve a global ceasefire by the end of this year,” he said.
Manuel Elias / UN Photo / BROCHURE
As motivating events in world conflicts, Guterres praised the Peace Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the armed movements, the start of the Peace Negotiations in Afghanistan.
“In Syria, the ceasefire in Idlib is practically intact. After more than nine years of conflict and colossal suffering, I renew my call to end hostilities across the country,” said the UN secretary general.
António Guterres also recalled that the peace agreement in the Central African Republic helped “significantly reduce violence” and stressed the need to continue the national dialogue and work for free and fair elections.
“In Yemen, we are fully committed to uniting the parties to reach an agreement on the Joint Declaration, which includes a nationwide ceasefire, measures to build economic and humanitarian confidence, and the resumption of the political process,” said the Head of the UN.
“I am particularly concerned that terrorist groups and violent extremists are taking advantage of the pandemic,” said the former Portuguese prime minister, giving the example of the Sahel region of Africa and Lake Chad.
Regarding the covid-19 disease, which has already caused at least 965,760 deaths and more than 31.3 million cases of contagion in 196 countries and territories, António Guterres said that the pandemic “is not just a warning, it is a general rehearsal for the world of challenges to come. “
In the Secretary-General’s view, it is “simultaneously a historic health crisis, the greatest economic calamity and job loss since the Great Depression, and dangerous new threats to human rights.”
For the former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2005/15), the UN is currently facing “a fundamental moment”, similar to the founding of the organization in 1945, and one that needs multilateralism.
“Those who built the United Nations 75 years ago went through a pandemic, a global depression, a genocide and a world war. (…) They knew the cost of discord and the value of unity,” said António Guterres.
The Portuguese asked for unity, solidarity, humility and to use the knowledge of science. “In an interconnected world, it is time to acknowledge a simple truth: solidarity is self-interest.”
Still, the UN and the World Health Organization have launched high levels of aid, Guterres said: “We extend life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable countries and people, including refugees and internally displaced persons, through a Plan of Humanitarian Response. Global “.
Guterres criticized countries trying to develop vaccines for their own populations: “This ‘vaccinations’ is not only unfair, it is self-destructive.”
The secretary general announced a meeting on financing development in the era of covid-19 next week.
“And in everything we do, we put a special focus on women and girls … Unless we act now, gender equality can take decades,” she said.
For the UN Secretary General, various parts of the world are in a “covert war against women”, with a lack of protection, social security and dangers of violence and rape.
