UN chief appoints Jean Arnault as personal envoy on Afghanistan

10:33, March 18, 2021

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  'Time for de-escalation' in Myanmar, says Chinese envoy to UN

  Zhang Jun, Chinas permanent representative to the United Nations. (Photo: Agencies)Zhang Jun, Chinas permanent representative to the UN, on Wednesday called for a "de-escalation" in the crisis in Myanmar. "Its important the council members speak in one voice. Now its time for de-escalation. Its time for diplomacy. Its time for dialogue," said Zhang after the UN Security Council agreed to condemn Myanmars military over its actions since ousting Aung San Suu Kyi last month.

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  UN chief calls on leaders to advance women's equal participation

  UNITED NATIONS, March 15 -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on leaders across the world to advance women's equal participation in society."Women's equal participation is the game-changer we need. Over the past year, women leaders are among those who have kept transmission rat

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  UN chief blasts vaccine nationalism, hoarding, side deals

  The United Nations (UN) chief criticized the "many examples of vaccine nationalism and vaccine hoarding" as well as side deals with COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers that undermine access to all people in the world.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a joint press conference with the German Foreign Minister after a meeting in Berlin, on December 17, 2020. (File photo: AFP)UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement marking one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic that "the global vaccination campaign represents the greatest moral test of our times."Ensuring that all people are vaccinated – and "many low-income countries have not yet received a single dose" – is essential to restart the global economy "and help the world move from locking down societies to locking down the virus," he said.Vaccine nationalism – where countries push to get more jabs, is fueling the gap in global access.Guterres reiterated his call for COVID-19 vaccines to be seen as "a global public good.""The world needs to unite to produce and distribute sufficient vaccines for all, which means at least doubling manufacturing capacity around the world," he said. "That effort must start now."However, data shows that richer countries are hoarding COVID-19 vaccines at the expense of poorer ones.Another study by Duke Universitys Global Health Innovation Center shows a similar trend: out of the 8.2 billion confirmed purchases of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide so far, 4.6 billion doses have gone to the wealthiest nations.In other words, high-income countries, which represent only 16 percent of the worlds population, have taken more than half of available doses.As a sharp contrast, lower middle-income countries hold 599 million doses, and low-income countries hold 670 million, according to the data.Some countries have reserved enough doses to immunize their own people multiple t...