United Nations published this video item, entitled “Peacekeeping, Vaccine Equity, Somalia & other topics – Daily Briefing (27 May 2021)” – below is their description.
Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Secretary-General/Peacekeeping
– Secretary-General/Vaccine Equity
– Somalia
– Mali
– Democratic Republic Of The Congo
– Armenia/Azerbaijan
– Middle East
– Ethiopia
– Haiti
– Covid-19/Africa
– Covax
– Environment
SECRETARY-GENERAL/PEACEKEEPING
To commemorate the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, the Secretary-General laid a wreath this morning at the Peacekeepers’ memorial at UN Headquarters to honour the more than 4,000 women and men who have lost their lives since 1948, while serving under the UN flag.
Also, at a virtual ceremony, Mr. Guterres awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld medal to 129 military, police and civilian peacekeepers who lost their lives in 2020 and in the first months of 2021.
In his remarks, he said that the challenges and threats faced by peacekeepers are immense. He noted that, despite COVID-19, across all our missions, peacekeepers have not only been adapting to continue to deliver their core tasks, but they are also assisting national and community efforts to fight the virus.
Speaking on this year’s theme, which is “The road to a lasting peace: Leveraging the power of youth for peace and security,” the Secretary-General stressed that in countries where our missions operate, peace cannot be achieved without active participation of young people.
He also presented the 2020 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award to 32-year-old Military Gender Advisor, Major Steplyne Nyaboga, who is from Kenya. She served in the recently completed UN-African Union Operation in Darfur.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/VACCINE EQUITY
Also this morning, the Secretary-General participated in an online event, co-hosted by the UN’s Verified initiative, bringing business leaders together to discuss how to step up global efforts to ensure vaccine equity and ramp up the fight against the virus.
The Secretary-General noted how science has delivered safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines in record time, but there is a large and growing vaccine gap between rich and poor countries. Just ten countries have administered more than 75 per cent of all vaccine doses, he said. Mr. Guterres added this is not only unjust, but it is self-defeating and dangerous – to everyone.
He stressed that fast, equitable vaccination is the only way to prevent new and more dangerous variants from emerging and wreaking further havoc, in rich and poor countries alike.
COVID-19 cannot be beaten one country at a time. It can strike back. The world must act with resolution and in solidarity to overcome the virus.
He also spotlighted the role of the private sector, which he said has been central to every breakthrough since the start of the pandemic: on vaccines, medicines, diagnostics, etc. He commended the many companies that have acknowledged this, by putting people before profits. Now is the time for the private sector to play its full part in ending this global catastrophe.
SOMALIA
In a statement, the Secretary-General welcomes the agreement reached by the Federal Government of Somalia and Federal Member States leaders on the implementation of the 17 September Electoral Model as an outcome of the summit convened by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble. He urges all stakeholders to swiftly implement the agreement, as a critical step towards the holding of a consensual and transparent electoral process without further delays.
The Secretary-General reiterates the importance of dialogue and consensus to resolve any issues that may arise during implementation, and calls for the swift establishment of credible election management bodies at the federal and state levels to conduct the process.
The Secretary-General reiterates the commitment of the United Nations to support the people and Government of Somalia in the implementation of the 17 September Electoral Model and the holding of a timely electoral process.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=27%20May%202021
United Nations YouTube Channel
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