Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Mandela Day
– AzerbaijanArmenia
– Security Council
– Yemen
– Guatemala
– Sudan
– Peacekeeping Missions
– India/Nepal Floods
– African Swine Fever
– Locusts
– International Chess Day
– Press Briefing Tomorrow
– Financial Contribution
MANDELA DAY
This morning, The Secretary-General spoke at the General Assembly’s commemoration of Nelson Mandela Day.
The Secretary-General extended his warmest congratulations to the 2020 laureates of the UN Nelson Mandela Prize: Mrs. Marianna Vardinoyannis of Greece and Dr. Morissana Kouyate of Guinea. The Secretary-General said that both are recognized for their long-standing commitment to the service of humanity in the areas of human rights, access to health care, and the empowerment of women and girls and the most vulnerable in society.
The Secretary-General recalled that Nelson Mandela had said, “As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.”
Similarly, the Secretary-General added, high and rising levels of inequality threaten our well-being and our future. Inequality damages everyone.
The answer, he said, lies in a New Social Contract – which is something that he had presented on Saturday when he delivered the Nelson Mandela Lecture. A New Social Contract within societies will enable young people to live in dignity, he asserted. It will ensure that women have the same prospects and opportunities as men. And it will protect the sick, the vulnerable, and minorities of all kinds.
In his lecture on Saturday to the Foundation, the Secretary-General said that the New Social Contract must integrate employment, sustainable development and social protection, based on equal rights and opportunities for all.
He warned that the pandemic has demonstrated the fragility of our world. It has laid bare risks that we have ignored for decades: inadequate health systems; gaps in social protection; structural inequalities; environmental degradation; and the climate crisis. And he said that COVID-19 has been likened to an x-ray, revealing fractures in the skeleton of the societies we have built.
The Secretary-General, in his lecture, said that COVID-19 is a human tragedy but it has also created a generational opportunity – an opportunity to build back a more equal and sustainable world. His remarks were made available to you in all UN working languages over the weekend.
AZERBAIJANARMENIA
The spokesman said that the Secretary-General is following with deep concern the current tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He calls for maximum restraint as a full conflict between these two countries would be disastrous.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council held a closed meeting over video conference on the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, otherwise known as UNFICYP. Council members were briefed by Elizabeth Spehar, the Special Representative and Head of the UN Mission there.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=20%20July%202020