Ambassador Hilale Opens Humanitarian Segment of UN Economic and Social Council

Ambassador Permanent Representative of Morocco to the UN in New York, Omar Hilale, President of the Humanitarian Affairs segment of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), opened on Tuesday the 2020 session of this segment.

This virtual meeting was marked by a strong message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, in which he stressed that the Covid-19 pandemic “has the potential to be catastrophic in some of the poorest and most fragile places in the world”, hence “the importance of the multilateral humanitarian response, which has never been so vital”.

This inaugural meeting of the humanitarian segment was also marked by speeches by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock, of Executive Director of UNICEF Henrietta Fore, of Director-General FAO Qu Dongyu, Oxfam Director General Abby Maxman, and President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer.

In his opening statement, Ambassador Hilale highlighted the unique context in which this year’s session is being held, at a critical time when the world is devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

To this end, the Moroccan diplomat, who chairs this segment for the second consecutive year, called for reflection to better understand the challenges facing the world and to act to serve people and communities hit by conflict, climate change, world hunger and the Covid-19 pandemic today.

The ambassador thus stressed the vital importance of the United Nations, which works with partners for global solidarity and global action, to be the voice of the most vulnerable and the catalyst for unified global action in the service of humanity.

He also stressed the imperative of global solidarity and efforts to prevent and respond to the spread of Covid-19, which adds to an already very difficult humanitarian landscape.