As he starts his second term as United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said on Thursday, “the world is worse in many ways than it was five years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and geopolitical tensions that have sparked conflicts everywhere.”
During an interview with The Associated Press, Guterres said that the appeal he made for peace back on his first day as secretary-general of the UN back in 2017 and the priorities he had for his first term of dealing with global inequality, COVID-19, and global warming were still relevant today and “has not changed.”
Guterres admitted that “the secretary-general of the UN has no power,” saying that despite major possible influence, mediation, and persuasive attempts, “I have no power.”
In the midst of a global pandemic, increasing geopolitical tensions across the world, and political power shifts, the SG maintains that the United Nations plays an important role in the world, through important efforts of mediation, negotiations, and multilateral dialogue.
Antonio Guterres will deliver a briefing today on the organization’s 10 main priorities for 2022, which are not expected to be too different from last year’s goals.
Guterres has already declared that recovery from COVID-19 should be the overarching objective for the year.
He divided this recovery into four separate parts, namely universal vaccination against COVID-19, economic aid to developing countries, combating misinformation, and international reconciliation.
Recovery from the pandemic is unlikely in all these areas during 2022, and only significant progress towards universal vaccination can be expected.
The developed world has achieved high vaccination rates, which will increase the supply available to developing countries since the WHO considered Africa as severely behind in vaccination.
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