Economic issues

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the extraordinary meeting of the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance, in New York today:

The United Nations is scaling up life-saving aid for north-west Syria, including health items to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic.  In May alone, it sent 1,781 trucks from Turkey, the highest number since cross-border operations began in 2014, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Forum of Small States, in New York today:

For the first time since 2018, the World Food Programme has been able to send a humanitarian convoy from Kenya directly into South Sudan through the Nadapal Border crossing.  The nine-truck convoy carried 280 metric tons of food, enough to feed 20,000 people for a month.  The route’s reopening cuts travel times in half.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the extraordinary intersessional Summit of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, in New York today:

Following is a transcript of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ press conference with Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau of Canada and Andrew Holness of Jamaica on the high-level event on financing for development in the era of COVID-19 and beyond, in New York today:

The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Global Vaccine Alliance, warned today that COVID-19 is disrupting routine vaccination efforts around the world, putting about 80 million children under the age of one at risk of diseases including diphtheria, measles and polio.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Sanda Ojiambo of Kenya as Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact.

The United Nations and the Government of Bangladesh are making preparations as Super Cyclone Storm Amphan approaches landfall tomorrow, potentially impacting more than 14 million people in the country.  The Humanitarian Coordination Task Team and the Government are working on preparedness and response activities.

The 2020 World Health Statistics, published today by the World Health Organization (WHO), show that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant loss of life, disrupting livelihoods and threatening recent development gains, underlining the urgent need for all nations to invest in strong health systems.