COVID-19 THE “PLAGUE”: Day 128: UN adopts resolution calling for cooperation on coronavirus, stresses no place for racism
The UN resolution emphasises the central role of the body in the global health and economic crisis.PHOTO: AFP
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UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES (AFP) – The UN General Assembly on Thursday (April 2) approved a resolution calling for international cooperation and multilateralism in the fight against Covid-19, in the first text to come out of the international body since the outbreak began.
The resolution, approved by consensus, also stresses “the need for full respect for human rights” and that “there is no place for any form of discrimination, racism and xenophobia in the response to the pandemic.”
Russia was unsuccessful in opposing the resolution with its own text that was supported by four other countries.
The UN resolution emphasises the central role of the body in the global health and economic crisis. It was submitted by Switzerland, Indonesia, Singapore, Norway, Liechtenstein and Ghana, and adopted by 188 of the 193 states that make up the body, diplomats said.
The Russian text – which also discussed cooperation but included an implicit demand for a general lifting of international sanctions, seen as a brake on efforts to fight the virus – was supported by the Central African Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Unlike the UN Security Council, the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly are not binding but have a strong political value, depending on their support.
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According to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the coronavirus is “the most challenging crisis we have faced since the Second World War.” Just last week, as the pandemic spread around the world, killing thousands and infecting many more, Guterres warned that unless the world came together to fight the virus, millions of people could die.
On March 23, he called for an “immediate global ceasefire” to protect vulnerable civilians in conflict zones from the ravages of the pandemic.
Few countries have heeded his appeal..
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“Unfortunately, hostilities have gone unabated,” said Ms Laetitia Courtois, the UN representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
On the Security Council, which has been silent since the start of the pandemic, the five permanent members (the US, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France) are divided on reaching a resolution to support Mr Guterres’ appeal.
They have yet to produce a concrete solution, to the increasing exasperation of the 10 non-permanent members.
The US and China continue to clash over the origins of the virus that first emerged in central China late last year, which Washington wants to highlight.
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Beijing and Moscow, which both have veto power, are also reluctant to see the Security Council – which is responsible for global peace and security – take up an issue that has until now been a primarily health and economic issue.
“The Council missed an opportunity to be relevant – in a way that might have been life-saving – during the early stages of the pandemic,” said Mr Stephen Pomper, a policy director for the international think-tank Crisis Group and former director of multilateral affairs for former US president Barack Obama.
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Coronavirus: Global cases surpass 1 million, with more than 51,000 deaths and half of humanity in confinement
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WASHINGTON (REUTERS, AFP) – Global coronavirus cases surpassed one million on Thursday (April 2), with more than 51,000 deaths, as the pandemic further exploded in the United States and the death toll climbed in Spain and Italy, according to a tally by a US university.
At the same time, according to an AFP calculation, more than 3.9 billion people, or half of the world’s population, are now being called on to stay in their homes to combat Covid-19.
The virus has killed more than 51,000 globally, with the largest number of deaths in Italy, followed by Spain and the US, Johns Hopkins University’s Centre for System Science and Engineering reported.
It said more than 200,000 people had recovered from the disease, more than 75,000 of them in China where the virus was first recorded late last year.
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The first 100,000 cases were reported in around 55 days and the first 500,000 in 76 days, according to a Reuters tally based on official records.
Cases doubled to one million within the past eight days, Reuters’ data showed.
As the pandemic has spread around the world, governments have closed factories and businesses, grounded airlines and ordered hundreds of millions of people to stay at home to try to slow the contagion.
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The lockdown measures – which include compulsory or recommended confinement, curfews and quarantines – are in place in more than 90 countries and territories, said AFP.
The introduction of a curfew in Thailand, which takes effect on Friday, pushes the number facing lockdown measures past half of the global population of 7.8 billion.
Some 2.78 billion residents of 49 countries and territories are currently subject to obligatory confinement at home.
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In Europe, the likes of Britain, France, Italy and Spain are under restrictions. In Asia, similar rules apply to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka among others.
Large parts of the US are under some kind of lockdown and even relatively isolated New Zealand has not been spared.
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Although Covid-19 arrived in Africa later than other regions, countries as distant as Morocco and South Africa have begun to take action.
Eritrea joined the list on Thursday, ordering its citizens to remain in their homes for 21 days.
In most places, people are still able to get out of the house to make vital purchases, such as food or medicine or to go to work, though residents are encouraged to work from home if possible.
In at least 10 other countries, totalling 600 million people, governments are urging residents to stay at home, but without introducing any coercive measures such as fines or arrests.
This is the case in Germany, Canada, Mexico and Iran, among others.
At least 26 other nations or territories, accounting for some 500 million inhabitants, have introduced curfews, obliging people to stay at home throughout the evening and night. This method is much used in African countries including Kenya, Egypt and Mali, and in Latin America, including Chile, Panama and Puerto Rico.
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In at least seven countries, the governments have focused on the main population centres. Bans are now in place on anyone leaving or entering the Saudi Arabian cities of Riyadh, Medina and Mecca. Finland has introduced similar rules for Helsinki and DR Congo for Kinshasa. These restrictions cover over 30 million residents.
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