UN Secretary-General
Guterres gets second term to lead UN
António Guterres was on Friday re-appointed to a second term as UN Secretary-General, pledging as his priority, to continue helping the world chart a course out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taking the oath of office in the General Assembly Hall, Guterres said he was aware of the immense responsibilities bestowed on him at this critical moment in history.
“We are truly at a crossroads, with consequential choices before us. Paradigms are shifting. Old orthodoxies are being flipped,” he told ambassadors.
“We are writing our own history with the choices we make right now. It can go either way: breakdown and perpetual crisis or breakthrough and prospect of a greener, safer and better future for all. There are reasons to be hopeful.”
Guterres was the sole candidate from the UN’s 193 Member States to vie for its top job. His first five-year term began in January 2017.
He was nominated by his homeland, Portugal, and appointed by acclamation by the General Assembly, following prior endorsement by the UN Security Council, for a second term that runs from January 2022 to December 2026, said the UN News.
Speaking in a mix of English, French and Spanish – three of the UN’s six official languages – Guterres detailed how the pandemic has taken lives and livelihoods, while exposing inequalities.
At the same time, countries are confronting challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
He stated it was crucial that the way out of the pandemic, as well as socio-economic recovery, should occur on a much more equitable basis, going forward.
“Our greatest challenge - which is at the same time our greatest opportunity - is to use this crisis to turn the tide, pivot towards a world that learns lessons, promotes a just, green and sustainable recovery and shows the way via increased and effective international cooperation to address global issues”, he said in French.
Also read: FM greets UN chief Guterres on re-appointment
Momentum for transformation
With the way forward filled with colossal tasks, the Secretary-General expressed confidence that they can be completed successfully, partly due to the incredible commitment of UN staff across the world, though underlining the need for continuous improvement, including through better data and analysis, and a reduction in “unnecessary bureaucracy”.
Although the world has changed a lot, the UN’s promises remain constant, but countries have to work together in entirely new ways to keep them alive.
He called for seizing momentum for transformation, while also stressing the need to bring other voices to the table, including civil society, the private sector and youth.
Vaccine equity now
“Ultimately, this transformation has to do with solidarity and equality”, Mr Guterres said, this time speaking in Spanish.
“But equity needs to start now: vaccines need to be available for everyone everywhere and we must create the conditions for sustainable and inclusive recovery both in the developed and developing world. And there is still a long way to go.”
Guterres warned that the countries must overcome the current “trust deficit” if this is to be achieved.
“In particular, we need to do everything we can to overcome current geostrategic divides and dysfunctional power relations. There are too many asymmetries and paradoxes. They need to be addressed head-on,” he advised.
“We also need to be aware of how power plays out in today’s world when it comes to the distribution of resources and technology.”
Fostering trust, inspiring hope
Mr Guterres vowed to use his second term to work towards ensuring “the blossoming of trust between and among nations” and to engage in confidence building.
He will also seek to inspire hope things can be turned around, or that the impossible might be possible.
“The attitude is never to give up,” he said. “This is not idealistic or utopian but grounded in knowledge of history when big transformations occurred and guided by the fundamental belief in the inherent goodness of people. That breakthroughs are possible when we expect it the least and against all odds. That is my unwavering commitment.”
FM greets UN chief Guterres on re-appointment
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has congratulated António Guterres on his re-appointment as the secretary-general of the United Nations.
He commended Guterres' leadership in the UN during his first term as secretary-general.
Dr Momen also thanked him for his continued attention to the Rohingya issue.
Also read: Guterres gets second term to lead UN
The foreign minister said, "Although Bangladesh is on track towards implementing SDGs, there are concerns about the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in securing financing for the SDGs."
Dr Momen also called for continued support measures for graduating countries.
The UN has special relations with Bangladesh, said Guterres.
He praised Bangladesh's strong leadership in all areas of the UN's activities, especially in peacekeeping, climate change and women empowerment.
Dr Momen met with the UN secretary-general at the UN Headquarters Thursday.
UN to honour eight fallen Bangladeshi peacekeepers
The UN will honour eight fallen peacekeepers from Bangladesh to mark the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on Thursday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said their service and sacrifices will never be forgotten, according to a press release from the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Dhaka.
Guterres will preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal will be awarded posthumously to 129 military, police and civilian peacekeepers, including the eight from Bangladesh. They lost their lives serving under the UN flag last year and in the first month of this year, the release said.
Also read: Bangladesh calls for greater int’l efforts for safety, security of peacekeepers
He will lay a wreath to honour more than 4,000 UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.
The fallen Bangladeshi peacekeepers are Abdul Md Halim who served with MINUSMA; LCpl Md Abdulla Al Mamun and Sgt Mohammad Ibrahim who served with United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Sgt Md Mobarak Hussain, LCl Md Saiful ISLAM, Md Saiful Imam Bhuiyan and Sgt Md Ziaur RAHMAN who were deployed with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); and Washerman Nurul AMIN of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Bangladesh is the largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping.
Also read: UN lauds Bangladesh's peacekeepers
It currently deploys more than 6,600 military and police personnel to the UN operations in Abyei, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Mali, South Sudan, and Western Sahara.
In a message to mark the Day, the Secretary-General said: “I express my deep gratitude to the 85,000 civilian, police and military personnel currently deployed in some of the world’s most challenging hotspots to protect the vulnerable and help to build peace.
The theme for this year’s observance is “The road to a lasting peace: Leveraging the power of youth for peace and security.”
Read Dhaka seeks strong global resolve to end Palestinian crisis permanently
Let's work together to defeat COVID-19: UN chief
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for working together to defeat COVID-19 and ensuring that digital technologies are a force for good that help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
"On World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, let us commit to work together," he said adding that they should not leave anyone behind.
The United Nations, through a Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and the vital work of the International Telecommunication Union, aims to make the transformation equitable, safe, inclusive and affordable for all, with full respect for human rights.
Also read: Restore planet amid pandemic: UN chief
The UN chief made the remarks in a message marking the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day that falls on May 17.
Guterres said digital technologies sustain life, work, health and learning for billions of people.
Also read: Let's plant seeds for sustainable future: UN chief
In the face of COVID-19, he said, businesses, governments and the digital community have proven resilient and innovative, helping to protect lives and livelihoods. "These challenging times have accelerated the transformation everywhere."
Yet 3.7 billion people – nearly half the world’s population – remain unconnected to the Internet; and of these, the majority are women, said the UN chief.
Also read: UN chief lauds Bangladesh’s Covid mitigation efforts
"They, too, must be included if we are to make the possibilities of 5G, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, digital health and other technologies truly transformative and sustainable," he said.
"We must also protect against the dangers of digital technologies, from the spread of hatred and misinformation to cyberattacks and the exploitation of our data," Guterres added.
Realise rights of all persons with disabilities: UN
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said all must realize the rights of all persons with disabilities, including persons with autism, ensuring their full participation in social, cultural and economic life to truly leave no one behind in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.
"Let us work together with all persons with disabilities and their representative organizations to find innovative solutions to recover better and build a better world for all," he said in a message marking the World Autism Awareness Day that falls on April 2.
Also read: Researchers 'successfully test' drug for children with autism
Guterres said as they work together to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, one key goal must be to build a more inclusive and accessible world that recognizes the contributions of all people, including persons with disabilities.
He said the crisis has created new obstacles and challenges. "But efforts to reignite the global economy offer an opportunity to reimagine the workplace to make diversity, inclusion and equity a reality."
Also read: 50,500 children with autism in country: Zahid Maleque
Guterres said recovery is also a chance to rethink the systems of education and training to ensure that persons with autism are afforded opportunities for realizing their potential.
"Breaking old habits will be crucial. For persons with autism, access to decent work on an equal basis requires creating an enabling environment, along with reasonable accommodation," he said.
Guterres urges ‘decisive action’ to avoid debt crisis in developing world
Though significant steps have been taken to prevent debt crises across the world sparked by the COVID-19 crisis, they have not been sufficient to restore economic stability in many developing countries, according to a policy brief issued by the UN Secretary-General on Monday.
More than a year into the pandemic, the fiscal impacts of the crisis are triggering debt distress in a growing number of countries and is severely limiting the ability of many, to invest in recovery and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including urgently needed climate action, Secretary-General António Guterres said.
Also read: Let's plant seeds for sustainable future: UN chief
According to the policy brief, 42 economies borrowing from capital markets have experienced sovereign downgrades since the start of the pandemic, including 6 developed countries, 27 emerging market economies, and 9 least developed countries.
Sovereign downgrades cause borrowing costs to rise, especially for developing countries, which can, in turn, increase the risk of more nations taking on unsustainable debt – especially if the Covid-19 pandemic is more protracted and deeper than expected.
“Unless we take decisive action on debt and liquidity challenges, we risk another ‘lost decade’ for many developing countries, putting the achievement of the SDGs by the 2030 deadline definitively out of reach,” Guterres said.
The policy brief, entitled Liquidity and Debt Solutions to Invest in the SDGs, takes stock of the global policy response since April last year, assess remaining gaps and challenges for their implementation, as well as propose updates to the recommendations, presented last year, in light of developments over the past 12 months.
Need for debt relief
The brief highlights the need for debt relief to create space for investments in recovery and for achieving the SDGs.
Even in the cases of elevated debt, new borrowing can lead to improved creditworthiness if it finances productive investments, it noted, adding that debt relief can also free up resources, create conditions under which countries can return to voluntary market access, and may lower a country’s overall borrowing costs, with positive impacts across the whole economy.
Assistance for small island states
The Secretary-General also urged governments to provide fresh concessional financing for developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States, recapitalise multilateral development banks and accelerate the timetable for replenishing the funds, meet official development assistance (ODA) commitments and provide long-term financing to developing countries for investment in long-term growth.
In support of recent endorsements from the G7, the document also called for a new general allocation of special drawing rights reiterating the need to combine a voluntary reallocation of the rights from developed to developing countries.
The brief also urged the G20 to extend the World Bank’s Debt Suspension Initiative (DSSI) until the end of June 2022 and include middle-income countries, notably small island developing States that have been gravely affected by the crisis.
It also urged the bloc to extend the eligibility for debt relief under its Common Framework for Debt Treatment Beyond the DSSI to other vulnerable countries on a case-by-case basis, as well as consider other mechanisms that would allow countries to access the framework, without compromising the credit rating.
Also read: UN chief lauds Bangladesh’s Covid mitigation efforts
Financing the 2030 Agenda
The policy brief was released to coincide with the high-level meeting of Heads of State and Government on ‘Financing for Development in the era of COVID-19 and Beyond’.
The virtual meeting on Tuesday, followed up on a series of meetings and last year to mobilise action to assist the economic recovery from the pandemic.
The high-level meeting is convened jointly by the Secretary-General Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.
‘Liquidity is vital’
Addressing the high-level meeting, Guterres called for urgent assistance for developing countries so they have the financial liquidity they need to respond to the pandemic as well as invest in recovery, or risk a “lost decade” in development terms.
“I’m encouraged to see that our insistence on the necessity for a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the reallocation of unused SDRs to support vulnerable countries, including middle income ones, is now winning widespread acceptance … let us make sure it happens – and is properly managed to the benefit of the developing world”, he said.
Also read: UN Chief for ensuring equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccine
The Secretary-General urged a “three-phase” approach to debt, including a moratorium on debt payments, targeted debt relief, and reforms to the international debt architecture.
He also called for more responsible borrowing and lending, accepted by debtor and creditor countries, investors, market participants, credit rating agencies and international organisations, highlighting the need for a time-bound, open dialogue to build trust and transparency in a systematic, inclusive way.
“Together, with collective resolve, we can help all countries invest in response, recovery, and a more sustainable, resilient future.”
Myanmar: UN expert urges emergency summit to head off deepening crisis
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, has warned that the pace and scope of the international response to the military coup in Myanmar is falling short of what is required to head off a deepening crisis.
Andrews on Thursday called on UN Member States, including those in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, the United States and China, to hold an emergency summit of all stakeholders, including the duly elected illegally deposed parliamentarians who make up the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH).
“Conditions in Myanmar are deteriorating,” he said, “but they will likely get much worse without an immediate robust, international response in support of those under siege.
“It is imperative that the international community heed the recent call of UN Secretary-General António Guterres for a ‘firm, unified international response’,” Andrews said.
Also Read: UN: 38 died on deadliest day yet for Myanmar coup opposition
To date, however, the limited sanctions imposed by Member States do not cut the junta’s access to revenue that help sustain its illegal activities, and the slow pace of diplomacy is out of step with the scale of the crisis.
“The incremental approach to sanctions has left the most lucrative business assets of the junta unscathed. It needs to be replaced by robust action that includes a diplomatic offensive designed to meet the moment," he said.
Andrews stressed that he is receiving reports indicating that the situation in Myanmar is in danger of spiralling further out of control and warned of a dramatic increase in loss of life.
“Without a focused, diplomatic solution, including the hosting of an emergency summit that brings together Myanmar’s neighbours and those countries with great influence in the region, I fear the situation of human rights in Myanmar will further deteriorate as the junta increases the rate of murders, enforced disappearances and torture,” he said.
Andrews said it is critical that the people of Myanmar, the CRPH, and opposition leaders and activists see that the international community is working towards a diplomatic solution in support of the peaceful Civil Disobedience Movement.
Also read: UN official: Myanmar people want UN sanctions, peacekeepers
This combined course of action — domestic peaceful resistance, sustained pressure, and international diplomatic momentum — will have a greater chance for success than taking up arms and will save untold numbers of lives.
“Member States have an opportunity to demonstrate this alternative, but the window in which this can be achieved is closing rapidly. I fear that the international community has only a short time remaining to act," he said.
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At least 138 peaceful protesters killed in Myanmar since Feb. 1: UN
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