Tag: UN

UN member states demand ‘equitable’ access to future COVID-19 vaccines

  UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The 193 members of the UN General Assembly on Monday adopted by consensus a resolution that calls for “equitable, efficient and timely” access to any future vaccines developed to fight coronavirus. The resolution also highlights the “crucial leading role” played by the World Health Organization, which has faced criticism from Washington and others about its handling of the pandemic. The resolution, which was drafted by Mexico and received US support, […]

‘Not the time to reduce the resources’ of WHO: UN chief

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — It is “not the time to reduce the resources for the operations of the World Health Organization or any other humanitarian organization in the fight against the virus,” United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday. “It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against COVID-19,” he said, after US President Donald […]

World faces new ‘Great Depression’ as virus toll mounts

  by Dave Clark with AFP bureaus World powers scrambled on Thursday to build a global response to the human tragedy and once-in-a-century economic collapse caused by the coronavirus epidemic, as the worldwide death toll topped 90,000. In a locked-down New York, the UN Security Council was to meet on the pandemic for the first time. And, by video conference, EU finance ministers are wrangling over how to bail out their worst hit members Italy […]

UN delivers 90 tons of COVID-19 aid to Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — A plane carrying 90 tons of UN health, water, and sanitation aid arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday to help the cash-strapped country fight the coronavirus pandemic. The shipment includes 28,000 Personal Protective Equipment kits for health workers, oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, water quality control products, and hygiene kits, the UN said. “This is the first United Nations humanitarian shipment in support of the Venezuela COVID-19 outbreak,” said Peter Grohmann, the UN’s […]

After the virus: What world will we live in?

by Didier LAURAS Agence France Presse One day, the battle against the novel coronavirus will be won. But the world that emerges may look very different from the one we lived in before the pandemic began. Over 60,000 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 and there are a more than a million confirmed cases with the outbreak yet to reach its peak across the developed and emerging world. But on top of the tragic […]

Coronavirus having little impact on climate: UN agency

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Though factories have shut, planes have been grounded and cars left in the garage, the coronavirus pandemic is having very little impact on climate change, the World Meteorological Organization said Wednesday. Any reductions in pollution and carbon dioxide emissions are likely to be temporary, said Lars Peter Riishojgaard, from the infrastructure department of the WMO, a United Nations agency based in Geneva. “It does not mean much for climate,” he told […]

World faces food crisis in wake of coronavirus: UN, WTO

PARIS, France (AFP) — The heads of three global agencies warned Wednesday of the risk of a worldwide “food shortage” if authorities fail to manage the ongoing coronavirus crisis properly. Many governments around the world have put their populations on lockdown causing severe slow-downs in international trade and food supply chains. Panic buying by people going into confinement has already demonstrated the fragility of supply chains as supermarket shelves emptied in many countries. “Uncertainty about […]

Coronavirus the worst global crisis since WW II, says UN chief

  By Agence France Presse The coronavirus pandemic is the worst global crisis since World War II, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday, expressing concern that it could trigger conflicts around the world. Guterres said that the scale of the crisis was due to “a disease that represents a threat to everybody in the world and… an economic impact that will bring a recession that probably has no parallel in the recent past.” “The combination […]

Europeans on UN Security Council condemn North Korean tests

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The European members of the UN Security Council on Tuesday condemned North Korea’s latest missile tests, describing the launches as “provocative actions.” Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom “are deeply concerned by the repeated testing of missiles, using ballistic missile technology,” by North Korea on March 2, 9, 21 and 29, read a statement issued after an informal high-level UN videoconference. The Europeans noted that Pyongyang […]

UN chief calls for ‘immediate global ceasefire’ amid pandemic

by Philippe RATER UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed Monday for an “immediate global ceasefire” to protect vulnerable civilians in conflict zones from the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic. “The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war,” he said in a brief speech at UN headquarters in New York, mentioning no country by name. “That is why today, I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all […]

Norway proposes UN corona fund to help poor countries

OSLO, Norway (AFP) — Norway said Monday it wanted to start a United Nations donors’ fund to help poor countries fight the new coronavirus pandemic. “We are concerned about the way the virus will affect developing countries which have fragile healthcare systems,” Norway’s Development Aid Minister Dag-Inge Ulstein said in a statement. “International solidarity across borders is more important than ever. That’s why it is important for us to contribute financially to such a fund […]

More than 850 million students worldwide not at school: UNESCO

PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 850 million young people, or about half the world’s student population, are barred from their school and university grounds because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, UNESCO said Wednesday. Calling it an “unprecedented challenge,” UNESCO said schools had been closed in 102 countries, with partial closures in 11 more — with more closures to come. “Over 850 million children and youth — roughly half of the world’s student population — […]