The UN chief says the world is “at the breaking point” after months of protests against racism and the coronavirus pandemic
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Saturday to end the global inequalities that sparked this year’s massive protests against racism and that have been exposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
“COVID-19 has been compared to an x-ray, revealing fractures in the fragile skeleton of the societies that we have built,” Guterres said while speaking at the Nelson Mandela Annual Conference.
He said: ‘You are exposing fallacies and falsehoods everywhere: the lie that free markets can provide health care for all, the fiction that unpaid care work is not work, the illusion that we live in a post-racist world , the myth that we are all in the same boat ‘.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Saturday to end the global inequalities that sparked this year’s massive protests against racism and that have been exposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
He said that developed countries are heavily invested in their own survival and “have been unable to provide the necessary support to help the developing world through these dangerous times.”
The UN chief’s speech marked what would have been the birthday of the former South African president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Mandela.
South Africa, the world’s most unequal country a quarter of a century after the end of the racist apartheid system, is fast becoming one of the most affected nations in the pandemic.
The UN chief’s speech pointed to the vast inequality of wealth: “The 26 richest people in the world own as much wealth as half of the world’s population,” Guterres said, and other inequalities involving race, gender, class and place. of birth. .
Workers are pictured above wrapping a body in a morgue in Bolivia.
These, he said, are seen in the world’s fragmented response to the pandemic as governments, businesses and even individuals are accused of amassing evidence, medical supplies and other much-needed supplies for them.
The legacy of colonialism still resonates, Guterres added, and it shows in global power relations.
Developing countries, and especially African nations, are underrepresented in levels of power, including in financial institutions like the World Bank and policies like the UN Security Council, whose five most powerful members: the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia and China – Date of the 1940s when the world body was created.
‘Inequality starts at the top: in global institutions. Addressing inequality must start by reforming them, ‘Guterres said, offering some solutions.
A new generation of social protection is needed, including universal health coverage and perhaps even a universal basic income, he said, adding that “individuals and corporations must pay their fair share.”
He said spending on education in low- and middle-income countries should more than double by 2030 to $ 3 trillion a year. And in the face of huge changes due to climate change, governments should tax carbon instead of people.
“COVID-19 has been compared to an x-ray, revealing fractures in the fragile skeleton of the societies that we have built,” Guterres said while speaking at the Nelson Mandela Annual Conference. Black Lives protesters matter this week in Portland, USA.
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