The world has never been more threatened or more divided, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told nations of the world on Tuesday as he kicked off the 76th General Assembly session, urging all 193 member states to “wake up” and realise that solidarity is the only way out of disaster.
“We are on the edge of an abyss,” Guterres said to an assembly hall meeting together for the first time since last year’s suspended in-person session due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetimes.” The COVID-19 pandemic has supersized inequalities, the climate crisis is pummeling the planet, upheavals in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Yemen have thwarted peace and a surge of misformation is polarizing people everywhere.
“Human rights are under fire. Science is under assault. And economic lifelines for the most vulnerable are coming too little and too late —if they come at all,” the UN chief said. While vaccines have been developed in record time, they are missing for far too many people.
Source: aljazeera.com
