UN Chief Antonio Guterres blames the pandemic, climate change and worldwide incidents of conflict for making the world worse than what it was five years back.
As he starts his second term as UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said Thursday the world is worse in many ways than it was five years ago because of the Covid-19 pandemic,the climate crisis and geopolitical tensions that have sparked conflicts everywhere. But, unlike US President Joe Biden he thinks Russia will not invade Ukraine.
Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that the appeal for peace he issued on his first day in the UN's top job on Jan. 1, 2017 and his priorities in his first term of trying to prevent conflicts and tackle global inequalities, the Covid-19 crisis and a warming planet haven't changed.
바카라The secretary-general of the U.N. has no power,바카라 Guterres said. 바카라We can have influence. I can persuade. I can mediate, but I have no power.바카라
Before he became U.N. chief, Guterres said he envisioned the post as being 바카라a convener, a mediator, a bridge-builder and an honest broker to help find solutions that benefit everyone involved.바카라
He said Thursday these are things 바카라I need to do every day.바카라
As an example, the secretary-general said this week he spoke to the African Union's envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, twice with Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, and once with Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in his attempt to get a cessation of hostilities in Ethiopia between the government and forces in the embattled Tigray region.
바카라I hope that we are in a situation in which it might become soon possible to have a cessation of hostilities and that is where I'm concentrating most of my efforts,바카라 Guterres said.
As another example, Guterres said he has also been on the phone to try to get Mali's military leaders who recently delayed elections scheduled for next month to 2026 to reduce the timetable. He said he spoke to Mali's military ruler, President Assimi Goita, three presidents from the 15-nation West African regional group ECOWAS, Algeria's prime minister and the African Union's leader about 바카라how to make sure that in Mali, there is an acceptable calendar for the transition to a civilian government.바카라
Guterres said he hopes Mali's military leaders will understand that they need to accept 바카라a reasonable period바카라 before elections. The secretary-general believes voting should be held in 바카라a relatively short amount of time,바카라 and said: 바카라All my efforts have been in creating conditions for bridging this divide and for allowing ECOWAS and the government of Mali to come to a solution with an acceptable delay for the elections.바카라
Guterres said the U.N. Security Council, which does have the power to uphold international peace and security including by imposing sanctions and ordering military action, is divided, especially its five veto-wielding permanent members. Russia and China are often at odds with the U.S., Britain and France on key issues, including Thursday on new sanctions against North Korea.
On the issue on every country's front burner now 바카라 whether Russia, which has massed 100,000 troops on Ukraine's border, will invade the former Soviet republic 바카라 Guterres said, 바카라I do not think Russia will invade Ukraine, and I hope that my belief is correct.바카라
What makes him think Moscow won't invade when Biden and others believe Russian President Vladimir Putin will send troops into Ukraine?
바카라Because I do not believe in a military solution for the problems that exists, and I think that the most rational way to solve those problems is through diplomacy and through engagement in serious dialogue,바카라 Guterres said, stressing that an invasion would have 바카라terrible consequences.바카라
The secretary-general said 바카라we have been in contact, of course바카라 with top officials in Russia, though the U.N. is not directly engaged in the Ukraine crisis.
Guterres is scheduled to deliver a speech to the 193 U.N. member nations in the General Assembly on Friday on his priorities for 2022.
He singled out three immediate priorities that 바카라are worrying me enormously바카라: the lack of vaccinations in large parts of the world, especially in Africa; the need to reduce emissions by 45% in this decade to try to meet the international goal of trying to limit future global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit); and the 바카라extremely unjust바카라 financial situation in the world that favors rich countries.
Many developing countries have very few resources, high debts that are growing and they pay much higher interest rates than in Europe or North America, have no vaccines, and disproportionately 바카라suffer the impacts of climate change," Guterres said.
바카라We need a deep reform in our international financial system in order to make sure that there is more justice in the way resources are available to allow for the recovery (from COVID-19) to be possible everywhere,바카라 he said.
On another major issue, Guterres stressed that the Afghan people can't be collectively punished for 바카라wrong things that are done by the Taliban,바카라 so it is absolutely essential to massively increase humanitarian aid 바카라because the Afghans are in a desperate situation with the risks of deaths by hunger바카라 and disease in a frigid winter with COVID-19.
바카라More than half the population is in desperate need of humanitarian aid,바카라 he said, and money needs to be injected into the economy to ensure Afghan banks operate and doctors, teachers, engineers and other workers are paid to prevent the country's economic collapse.
The issue of recognition of the Taliban government is up to member states, Guterres said, but the U.N. has been pressing the Taliban, which took power in August as U.S.-led NATO forces were departing after 20 years, to ensure human rights, especially women's rights to work and girls' education, and to make the government more inclusive and reflective of Afghanistan's diverse population.
The secretary-general said he will be attending the Beijing Olympics in February 바카라which is not a political act" but 바카라to be present when all the world comes together for good 바카라 for a peaceful message.바카라