“The world has never been so threatened”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday opened the organization’s General Assembly by sounding the “wake-up call” to a world that “never been so threatened or so divided“.

“The world must wake up. We are on the brink and go in the wrong direction, ”Guterres told international leaders meeting in New York in a serious speech.

In a particularly tough passage, Guterres charged hard against “The billionaires go to space“ while the rest of humanity must face the multiple problems caused by climate change, pandemic, economic meltdown and armed conflict.

Guterres pointed out that the pandemic and the climate crisis have brought out many of the major global issues, such as lack of solidarity, selfishness, corruption and the enormous inequalities which arouse mistrust and despair among citizens.

“When they see billionaires strolling through space while millions of people are hungry on earth … When parents see a future for their children that looks worse than the problems of today … When young people do not see a future … “, he enumerated.

The Portuguese diplomat presented a gloomy analysis the international situation, marked according to him by the lack of unity in the response to the pandemic, little progress in the fight against climate change, growing inequalities and crises in countries like Afghanistan, Yemen and Ethiopia.

“Obscenity”

The inequality in immunization against covid-19, with rich countries that have already vaccinated most of their population while more than 90% of Africa is still waiting for its first dose, assumes “obscenity” and an ethical breach, denounced on Tuesday the head of the UN, António Guterres.

The Portuguese harshly criticized lack of solidarity in this area and underlined it as a reflection of the great problems of the world today.

“On the one hand, we see vaccines developed in record time, a victory for science and human ingenuity. The other, we see a ruined triumph because of the tragedy of lack of political will, selfishness and mistrust, ”said Guterres.

The United Nations Secretary-General said the world “had passed the scientific test”, but has a disapproval of “ethics”.

“Maybe a picture tells the story of our time. The picture we saw from some parts of the world with covid-19 vaccines in the trash. Expired and unused“, a point.

Guterres again demanded from international leaders a “global vaccination plan” that at least double vaccine production and ensure that these reach 70 percent of the world’s population in the first half of 2022.

The pandemic and access to vaccines stand out as one of the key themes of this edition of the UN General Assembly, which began this Tuesday in New York and which will continue until next Monday with the presence in the city of a hundred leaders from all over the world, in addition to others who will intervene by video from their capitals.

Taking advantage of the meeting, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, plans to organize a virtual summit on Wednesday to discuss exclusively the international response to the pandemic.

Clarin editorial staff