This year’s General Assembly will be unlike any other - UN Chief's press conference

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres held his annual press conference at the opening of the 75th Session of the General Assembly. He noted that the COVID-19 virus is the number one global security threat in our world today, stressing the need for the global ceasefire that he called for in March to become a reality by the end of the year. The Secretary-General also underlined the need for the international community needs to come together to defeat the virus, calling for the massive expansion of new and existing tools that can respond to new cases and provide vital treatment to suppress transmission and save lives, especially over the next 12 months. A vaccine, he said, must be seen as a global public good, because COVID-19 respects no borders. Full remarks: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/press-encounter/2020-09-16/secretary-generals-press-conference-the-opening-of-the-75th-session-of-the-general-assembly ——- Speaking to reporters on Wednesday (16 Sep) in New York, on the eve of the 75th General Debate scheduled to start the next week, Guterres said “the COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis unlike any in our lifetimes, and so this year’s General Assembly session will be unlike any other, too. “ “We have a full programme and the stakes could not be higher,” the Secretary-General said. “Our world is nearing the grimmest of milestones: one million lives lost to the virus. Meanwhile, the outbreak remains out of control.” Calling the coronavirus “the number one global security threat in our world today,” Guterres said was why in March this year he called for a global ceasefire. “My appeal resonated with Member States, civil society and a number of armed groups across the world,” he said. “And today, from Afghanistan to Sudan, we see hopeful new steps toward peace. In Syria, Libya, Ukraine and elsewhere, ceasefires or standstills in the fighting can create space for diplomacy. In Yemen, we are pressing for a ceasefire, confidence building measures and resumption of the political process.” The Secretary-General called for the international community to come together to defeat the virus by “massively expand new and existing tools that can respond to new cases and provide vital treatment to suppress transmission and save lives, especially over the next 12 months.” He said “many pin their hopes on a vaccine – but let’s be clear: there is no panacea in a pandemic. A vaccine alone cannot solve this crisis; certainly not in the near term.” Guterres also called for a vaccine to be seen “as a global public good, because COVID-19 respects no borders. We need a vaccine to be affordable and available to all – a people’s vaccine.” The Secretary-General warned against what he called a proliferation of misinformation about a future vaccine. “Mistrust in vaccines is on the rise around the world. We have seen alarming reports of large segments of the population in some countries indicating their reluctance or even refusal to take a future COVID-19 vaccine. In the face of this lethal disease, we must do our utmost to halt deadly misinformation,” he said. Economic recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic, is the world’s chance to put itself back on track in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, according to Guterres. “Even before the pandemic, the world was veering far off course in efforts to eradicate poverty, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and we were losing the battle against climate change,” Guterres said. “Greenhouse gas concentrations reached new record highs in 2020. The Northern Hemisphere has just experienced its hottest summer on record. The world is burning, and recovery is our chance to get on track and tame the flames.” “Recovery must be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Recovery must be green. Subsidizing fossil fuels and bailing out polluting industries means locking in bad patterns for decades to come. Recovery must advance gender equality. And recovery requires effective multilateralism,” he said.