COVID-19 recovery, focus of UN General Assembly special session - UN

COVID-19 recovery, focus of UN General Assembly special session - UN
By NewsTeam - City of London (Remote)
www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com

Nations united on Thursday for a special session of the UN General Assembly to survey the wreckage of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflect on the best response, and forge a path to better days ahead. 

“Today marks an overdue and much needed moment of reckoning. None of us could have imagined, this time last year, what was to come”, said Assembly President Volkan Bozkir, speaking at the opening of the two-day gathering. 

“The world is looking to the UN for leadership, to step up and take demonstrable action to address the greatest challenge our world is facing today. This crisis compels us to shake up how things are done, to be bold, and to restore confidence and trust in the United Nations.”  

‘Time to reset’ 

COVID-19 is first and foremost, a health crisis. Nearly 64 million cases have been recorded as of Thursday, including more than 1.4 million deaths, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). 

While disrupting lives, the pandemic has also decimated livelihoods. With the global economy in decline and millions of jobs lost, extreme poverty is expected to rise and global efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are at risk. 

Although the entire planet is facing this common threat, UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that it is the most vulnerable, such as the poor, older people, and women and girls, who have been hit hardest. 

However, he said some of this fallout is not due to the pandemic alone, but the result of long-standing fragilities, inequalities and injustices which the crisis has only exposed. 

“It is time to reset”, said the UN chief.  “As we build a strong recovery, we must seize the opportunity for change.” 

Image Credit: Iqbal Nuril Anwar