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Tag: Guterres

  • Covid-19 pandemic removed from over, massive outbreaks in Asia: UN chief Guterres

    With new coronavirus variants rising each 4 months on common, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has cautioned that the Covid-19 pandemic is much from over as massive outbreaks are spreading in Asia.

    Guterres additionally known as for governments and pharma firms to work collectively to ship vaccines to each individual, in all places.

    In a video message ‘One World Protected – Break Covid Now’ to the GAVI COVAX Advance Market Commitment Summit 2022, Guterres stated Friday that the gathering is a important reminder that the “Covid-19 pandemic is far from over.”

    “We’re seeing 1.5 million new cases each day. Large outbreaks are spreading in Asia. A new wave is sweeping across Europe,” he stated, including that some nations are reporting their highest dying charges for the reason that begin of the pandemic.

    He stated the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is a “startling reminder” of how rapidly Covid-19 can mutate and unfold — particularly within the absence of excessive vaccination protection.

    While some high-income nations are getting ready for his or her second booster doses, one-third of humanity stays unvaccinated, he rued.
    “This is a brutal indictment of our deeply unequal world. It’s also a prime breeding ground for new variants — more deaths — and increased human and economic misery,” he stated.

    Guterres stated the subsequent variant will not be a query of “if” however of “when.”

    “We are far from our target of every country reaching 70 per cent vaccination coverage by the middle of this year. And with new variants emerging every four months on average, time is of the essence,” he stated.

    He added that governments and pharmaceutical firms must work collectively to ship vaccines to each individual, in all places — not simply in rich nations.

    A brand new pressure of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, first detected within the United Kingdom, seems to be extra transmissible than earlier strains of the virus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had stated.

    WHO stated final week that the XE recombinant (BA.1-BA.2), was first detected within the United Kingdom on January 19 and greater than 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since.

    “Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10 per cent as compared to BA.2. However, this finding requires further confirmation,” WHO had stated.

    It added that XE belongs to the Omicron variant till vital variations in transmission and illness traits, together with severity, could also be reported.

    “WHO continues to closely monitor and assess the public health risk associated with recombinant variants, alongside other SARS-CoV-2 variants, and will provide updates as further evidence becomes available.”

    The WHO Covid-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update issued this week stated that after the rise noticed in the course of the first half of March 2022, the variety of new Covid-19 circumstances has decreased for a second consecutive week, with a 16 per cent decline in the course of the week of March 28 by means of April 3 as in comparison with the earlier week.

    The variety of new weekly deaths additionally decreased sharply (-43 per cent) as in comparison with the earlier week, when a man-made spike in deaths was noticed.

    Across the six WHO areas, over 9 million new circumstances and over 26,000 new deaths had been reported. All areas reported reducing developments each within the variety of new weekly circumstances and new weekly deaths.

    As of April 3, over 489 million circumstances and over 6 million deaths have been reported globally.

    At the nation stage, the very best variety of new weekly circumstances had been reported from South Korea (2,058,375 new circumstances; a decline of 16 per cent), Germany (1,371,270 new circumstances; a 13 per cent lower), France (959,084 new circumstances; a 13 per cent improve), Vietnam (796,725 new circumstances; a 29 per cent decline), and Italy (486,695 new circumstances; a 3 per cent fall).

    The highest variety of new weekly deaths had been reported within the United States of America (4,435 new deaths; a ten per cent decline), Russia (2,357 new deaths; an 18 per cent decline), South Korea (2,336 new deaths; a 5 per cent decline), Germany (1,592 new deaths; a 5 per cent rise) and Brazil (1,436 new deaths; a 19 per cent fall).

    Noting that the availability of Covid-19 vaccines will not be the difficulty as producers are producing 1.5 billion doses per 30 days, Guterres stated progress in reaching vaccine fairness is feasible however the window is closing quick.

    “This means countries fulfilling and accelerating dose-sharing and donation commitments to COVAX with better quality of supply. And it means having strong national vaccine-delivery systems at the ready — including efforts to counter disinformation and get vaccines into arms.”

    He known as on nations to commit new funding for the ACT-Accelerator and COVAX this yr.

    The COVAX Facility is the worldwide pooled procurement mechanism for Covid-19 vaccines by means of which COVAX seeks to make sure honest and equitable entry to vaccines for all 190 taking part economies, utilizing an allocation framework formulated by WHO.

  • Every Country Should Declare A State Of Climate Emergency’: UN Chief Tells World Leaders

    World leaders should declare “climate emergency” in their respective countries, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in opening remarks at a climate summit that marked the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate accord. In a virtual address to the leaders of the world on December 12, the UN chief urged that there was a “state of emergency” with respect to global climate change and the nations were unable to meet the targets set in 2015. Guterres said that there weren’t considerable efforts from the countries to cut global emissions by 45 percent by 2030 from the 2010 levels. “Promises were not enough,” the UN chief iterated, adding that there is an urgency for revised and strengthened international contributions. Furthermore, the UN chief called on the world leaders to declare a state of climate emergency in their countries until carbon neutrality was reached. “Some 38 countries have already done so, recognizing the urgency and the stakes,” he said. Guterres told world leaders that the revised targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by the Paris accord signatories were to be submitted before the 26th Conference of Parties, to be held in Glasgow, which has been postponed a year duet Guterres. 

  • UN chief Antonio Guterres warns ‘vaccine nationalism’ is moving at full speed

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that “vaccine nationalism” is moving “at full speed,” leaving poor people around the globe watching preparations for inoculations against the coronavirus in some rich nations and wondering if and when they will be vaccinated.The UN chief on Wednesday reiterated his call for vaccines to be treated as “a global public good,” available to everyone, everywhere on the planet, especially in Africa. And he appealed for $4.2 billion in the next two months for the World Health Organisation”s COVAX programme, an ambitious project to buy and deliver coronavirus vaccines for the world”s poorest people.

    After a virtual UN meeting with the African Union, Guterres said at a news conference that financing COVAX is the only way to guarantee vaccines will be available in Africa and other developing areas.

    WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a high-level UN General Assembly meeting last week on COVID-19 that “the light at the end of the tunnel is growing steadily brighter” to end the pandemic. But, he added, vaccines “must be shared equally as global public goods, not as private commodities that widen inequalities and become yet another reason some people are left behind.”

    Tedros said WHO”s cash-strapped ACT-Accelerator programme to quickly develop and distribute vaccines fairly, which includes the COVAX project, “is in danger of becoming no more than a noble gesture” without major new funding.

  • UN reaffirms people’s right to demonstrrate peacefully

    People have a right to demonstrate peacefully and authorities should let them do so, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said on the farmers’ protests in India.

    India has called the remarks by foreign leaders on protests by farmers as “ill-informed” and “unwarranted” as the matter pertained to the internal affairs of a democratic country. As to the question of India, what I would say to you is what I’ve said to others when raising these issues is that people have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and authorities need to let them do so,” Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said on Friday.

    Reacting to the comments by the foreign leaders, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Tuesday said, “We have seen some ill-informed comments relating to farmers in India. Such comments are unwarranted, especially when pertaining to the internal affairs of a democratic country.”

    In a terse message, the ministry further added that “it is also best that diplomatic conversations are not misrepresented for political purposes.”

    On Friday, India summoned Canadian High Commissioner and told him that the comments made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and others in his Cabinet on the farmers’ protest constituted an “unacceptable interference” in the country’s internal affairs and these actions, if continued, will have a “seriously damaging” impact on the bilateral ties.

    Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and several other states have been protesting for the last nine days at the borders of Delhi against three farm laws. Dubbing these laws as “anti-farmer”, these farmers claim that the newly enacted legislation would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.

  • UN Chief Antonio Guterres Urges For Inclusion Of Persons With Disabilities In Society

    United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society. While addressing the countries that are parties to the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the UN chief said that aforesaid rights can be fully achieved by tackling injustices, obstacles, and discrimination that the disabled population experiences.Referring to the global action plan to bring about a more just and sustainable world Guterres said realizing the rights of persons with disabilities is important in order to fulfill the core promise of the 2030 Agenda that is ‘to leave no one behind’.  The 13th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention is taking place ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, commemorated on December 3 annually.Meanwhile, in May, Guterres issued a policy brief highlighting the disproportionate impact COVID-19 is having on persons with disabilities. He has called for pandemic response and recovery to be more disability-inclusive, starting with recognizing and guarding the human rights of persons with disabilities. He further emphasized that securing the rights of persons with disabilities is necessary for upholding the values and principles that underlie the UN.

  • UN Continues To Face Cash Crisis, Could Close The Year With Greater Arrears Than In 2019

    United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during a press conference on Wednesday, November 11 said that the global organisation is experiencing a severe shortage of funds. He further added that it may be left with greater outstanding contributions by the end of 2020 as compared to 2019.

    Earlier in October, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had informed that the organisation is going through a severe budget crisis. He also put in a few measures to help the crisis, which included restricting the travel of staff, limiting heating and air-conditioning services and adjusting hiring practices to curtail spending. 

    In a media statement last month, Guterres had warned that the global organisation won’t be able to pay its bills and salaries if debtor nations don’t cough up their unpaid dues. He had further informed the UN budget committee that the organisation is facing a “severe financial crisis”, outlining a budget of $2.87 billion next year.

    Though the countries are likely to pay a large portion of the dues by the end of the year, unpaid dues stand at $1.3 billion which is an alarming amount. The UN Secretary-General further termed the deficit to be the deepest in the decade. In such a situation, the UN risks exhausting peacekeeping cash reserves.According to figures provided by the US mission to the UN, the country owes $381 million from prior budgets and $674 million for the regular budget. US also owe an additional $2.6 billion for active peacekeeping missions. One of the reasons behind such huge debts is the fiscal years of the US and the UN. The United Nations runs its budget on a calendar year while the US fiscal year begins in October.