Guterres to Security Council: Women leaders ‘essential to peace and progress for all’
29 October 2020 - Women continue to be under-represented in key decision-making over the battle against COVID-19, the chief of the UN gender empowerment agency said on Thursday, addressing the Security Council, adding that the situation is even “worse for women in conflict areas”.
No time to waste, as Yemen inches towards famine: UN Children's Fund
23 November 2020 - Raising alarm over “an imminent catastrophe” in war-ravaged Yemen, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reiterated the urgent need for combatants to stop the fighting.
Libyans charting way to secure and prosperous future, but challenges lie ahead
19 November 2020 - Following years of political instability and conflict, Libya is making substantial progress on the path to peace, the top UN official in the country told the Security Council on Thursday.
Rising hunger, ‘an outrage in a world of plenty’: Guterres
16 November 2020 - “Hunger is an outrage in a world of plenty”, the UN chief told the governing body of the Organization’s food agency on Monday, highlighting the important role of food security in cementing peace.
UN envoy urges Yemen’s warring parties to place ‘a firm bet on peace’, as famine threat continues
11 November 2020 - UN humanitarian relief coordinator Mark Lowcock echoes the Secretary-General's call for a global ceasefire, specifically for Yemen.
Deputy UN chief pushes Security Council on global ceasefire, to fight ‘common enemy’
3 November 2020 - The UN Deputy Secretary-General on Tuesday urged the Security Council to do more to encourage combatants across the world to put down their guns and focus instead on fighting “our common enemy” – the coronavirus.
Step up action to achieve COVID-19 ceasefire, Guterres says in UN Day message
23 October 2020 - The UN’s 75th anniversary this Saturday, which falls as countries continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, is an opportunity to accelerate action to achieve a global ceasefire during the crisis, Secretary-General António Guterres has said.
UN salutes new Libya ceasefire agreement that points to ‘a better, safer, and more peaceful future’
23 October 2020 - Warring parties in Libya on Friday agreed an historic ceasefire, which was hailed by the head of the UN Support Mission in the country (UNSMIL), who led the mediation, as a courageous act that can help secure a “a better, safer, and more peaceful future for all the Libyan people”.
Behind the global ceasefire call: 75 years of UN mediation, preventing conflict, promoting peace
23 October 2020 - When Member States signed the 51吃瓜 Charter 75 years ago, it was to prevent more existential conflicts and save succeeding generations from a third world war. Conflict prevention is part of the Organization’s DNA and remains a central priority today, a guiding principle behind the UN Secretary-General’s current call for a global ceasefire during the coronavirus pandemic.
UN chief appeals for global solidarity to overcome the COVID-19, and again call for a global ceasefire during the pandemic
22 September 2020 - In his centerpiece address to the historic and unprecedented 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres appealed for global solidarity to overcome the COVID-19, and again call for a global ceasefire during the pandemic, by the end of the year.
Security Council adopts resolution backing UN’s global humanitarian ceasefire call
1 July 2020 - The Security Council echoed the Secretary-General’s call for a worldwide ceasefire, to combat the coronavirus pandemic that has already claimed more than half a million lives. The UN chief welcomed the long-awaited move, calling for countries to "redouble their efforts for peace".
Security Council support ‘in action’ for Libya, crucial for its future, declares UN mission chief
21 August 2020 - The top UN official in Libya urged the Security Council to press for an immediate de-escalation of tensions and a return to negotiations, following the call from rival political leaders for a ceasefire on 21 August.
PODCAST: UN chief names COVID, a ceasefire, and climate as UN75 priorities
15 September 2020 - Although COVID-19 continues to dominate the headlines, a host of other global challenges have not gone away, such as conflict, famine and the existential threat posed by climate change. In this special edition of our Lid is On podcast, UN News’s Arabic chief, May Yaacoub spoke exclusively to Mr. António Guterres, to find out what his priorities are for the seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly, in a year upended by crises on multiple levels.
Amid COVID-19, UN commitment to peace ‘more urgent than ever’
12 August 2020 - COVID-19 threatens not only hard-won development and peacebuilding gains, but also “risks exacerbating conflicts or fomenting new ones”, the UN chief reminded the Security Council on 12 August, during a briefing on the challenges to achieving sustainable peace, while pandemics ravage communities worldwide.
COVID-19 provides opportunity to resolve conflicts, address weaknesses across Arab region: UN chief
23 July 2020 - While all Arab states are facing difficulties in responding to COVID-19, the pandemic can also provide an opportunity to resolve long-standing conflicts and address structural weaknesses across the region, the UN Secretary-General said.