About This Source - United Nations
The United Nations (UN) was established after World War II with the aim of preventing future wars. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states.
The UN’s chief administrative officer is the Secretary-General, currently Portuguese politician and diplomat António Guterres, who began his five year-term on 1 January 2017.
Recent from United Nations:
United Nations published this video item, entitled “Sustaining Peace during Pandemics & other topics – Daily Briefing (8 Dec 2020)” – below is their description.
Daily Press Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General.
– Secretary-General/Security Council
– Bolivia
– Lebanon
– Unifil
– Yemen
– South Sudan
– Mauritius
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– International Youth Day
– Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change
– International Labour Organization
– Phone Call with Italian Foreign Minister
– UN Headquarters Ventilation System
– Financial Contribution
SECRETARY-GENERAL/SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the Security Council’s open meeting on pandemics and the challenges of sustaining peace.
The Secretary-General noted that the COVID-19 pandemic threatens not only hard-won development and peacebuilding gains, but also risks making conflicts worse or fomenting new ones.
He stressed that the challenges of this pandemic underscore, like never before, the imperative of coherent, multi-dimensional and cross-pillar responses along with the integrated logic of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Secretary-General pointed to what he called the three key dangers. First, the pandemic can undermine faith in governments and public institutions. Secondly, they can destabilize the global economic order. And lastly, he said, pandemics could weaken the social fabric by, for example, narrowing the civic space and closing avenues for democratic processes.
But, the Secretary-General said, in spite of challenges, the pandemic also creates opportunities for peace, pointing to the positive responses to the appeal for a global ceasefire earlier this year.
The world, he said, is looking to all leaders – including the Security Council – to address this epic crisis in ways that make concrete, meaningful and positive contributions to the lives of people.
BOLIVIA
Yesterday, in a statement on Bolivia, the Secretary-General said he’s following with concern the recent developments in the country. He called on the organizers of protests there to ensure the safe passage of ambulances, oxygen and medicines, and to allow for the delivery of goods and services essential to the people. The Secretary-General also welcomed the readiness of the Executive, the Plurinational Legislative Assembly and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, as well as political parties and social organizations, to enter into dialogue in order to resolve the political, social, economic and health challenges facing Bolivia. Furthermore, he urged continued restraint to avoid escalation and called upon all social and political leaders to contribute to the preservation of peace.
LEBANON
The United Nations and its partners continue to conduct needs assessments and deliver emergency assistance to people most in need following last week’s blasts in Beirut. The World Food Programme’s Executive Director, David Beasley, announced today that the organization is bringing 17,500 metric tonnes of wheat flour and a three-month supply of wheat into Lebanon to help replenish the country’s food reserves. That is part of a rapid logistics operation that will also involve setting up warehouses and mobile grain storage units.
WFP has also prepared 150,000 food parcels for distribution to families affected by the economic crisis and COVID-19 lockdown measures. In addition, the World Food Programme will scale up its cash assistance programme in Lebanon ten-fold to reach up to one million people, including residents directly impacted by the blast.
The UN Refugee Agency, for its part, has distributed hot meals to 30,000 people along with food kits for 700. Non-food items and hygiene kits were also provided.
And the UN Population Fund’s partners have distributed dignity kits to an estimated [2,000] adolescent girls and women. Forty frontline social workers have also been trained to provide psychosocial support to women affected by the Beirut blast.
UNICEF is also supporting 720 children and adults with psychosocial support through face-to-face sessions, phone calls, and door-to-door visits with families.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=12%20August%202020
United Nations YouTube Channel
Got a comment? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, below. Please note comments are moderated before publication.
In This Story: Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been conducted, but 2007 estimates ranged from slightly more than 1 million to 2.2 million as part of Greater Beirut, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region and the fifteenth-largest in the Arab world.
9 Recent Items: Beirut
In This Story: Bolivia
Its geography varies from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands, situated within the Amazon Basin.
The country’s population, estimated at 11 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, Europeans, Asians and Africans. Spanish is the official and predominant language, although 36 indigenous languages also have official status, of which the most commonly spoken are Guarani, Aymara and Quechua languages.
2 Recent Items: Bolivia
In This Story: Climate Change
Climate Change is the name commonly given to the notion that the Earth is undergoing a changing climate as a result of human activity, including notable leaders, scientists and naturalists including Sir David Attenborough.
Climate change includes both the global warming driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases, and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns.
2 Recent Items: Climate Change
In This Story: COVID-19
Covid-19 is the official WHO name given to the novel coronavirus which broke out in late 2019 and began to spread in the early months of 2020.
Symptoms of coronavirus
The main symptoms of coronavirus are:
- a persistent new cough (non productive, dry)
- a high temperature (e.g. head feels warm to the touch)
- shortness of breath (if this is abnormal for the individual, or increased)
Latest News about Covid-19
Below are stories from around the globe related to the 2020 outbreak of novel Coronavirus – since the WHO gave the Covid-19 naming. Most recent items are posted nearest the top.
5 Recent Items: COVID-19
In This Story: Lebanon
The official language, Arabic, is the most common language spoken by the citizens of Lebanon. Its capital is Beirut.
Lebanon was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and is a member of the Arab League (1945), the Non-Aligned Movement (1961), Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (1969), and the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (1973).
2 Recent Items: Lebanon
In This Story: Lockdown
During the 2020 Covid-19 epidemic, lockdown has come to mean the practice of attempting to control transmission of the virus by means of restricting people’s movement and activities on a broad scale, usually on a national or state-wide basis.
3 Recent Items: Lockdown
In This Story: Mauritius
