Climate change continues to pose an existential threat to many small island developing States, even as the coronavirus pandemic presents an immediate crisis, world leaders said today as they beamed their pre‑recorded messages into a socially distanced seventy‑fifth General Assembly hall.
Fears that the COVID‑19 pandemic is reversing hard‑fought development gains, particularly in Africa, were conveyed today with 33 Heads of State and Government taking the digital stage as the General Assembly continued its seventy‑fifth session under unprecedented conditions.
While the COVID‑19 pandemic represents a stress test for the international community, it is also an opportunity to build a fairer, greener global economy, the General Assembly heard today as it continued its general debate with pre‑recorded video messages from 35 Heads of State and Government around the world.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ address to the General Assembly, in New York today:
World leaders gathered in pre-recorded videos for an unprecedented opening of the General Assembly’s annual general debate today, as the United Nations Secretary-General described the epic upheaval wreaked by COVID-19 across the globe, wiping out decades of development gains and laying down an ultimatum for nations to stand united in weathering the human and economic onslaught.
In a high-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, world leaders in the General Assembly gathered in a virtual format today to adopt a declaration honouring the multilateral framework put in place by its founders in 1945 and pledging to better live out the promise to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
The World Meteorological Organization launched today FOCUS-Africa, an $8.2 million initiative funded by the European Commission to increase resilience and adaptation in Southern Africa over the next four years. It will deliver tailored services in agriculture and food security, water, energy and infrastructure.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the General Assembly meeting marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, in New York today:
The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of its General Committee, today adopted a work programme and agenda for its seventy‑fifth session, deciding to include the item “responsibility to protect” in its discussions over the coming months and to take note that the COVID‑19 pandemic will affect practical arrangements of forthcoming events.
The General Assembly concluded its seventy-fourth session on Tuesday, with outgoing President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (Nigeria) praising delegates for their progressive action, most notably in passing a widely co-sponsored resolution at the outset of COVID-19 epidemic to ensure fair global access to medicines and vaccines.
