Following an “annus horribilis” of death, disaster and despair, 2021 must be a year of transformation, Secretary-General António Guterres told the UN’s 193 Member States on Thursday.
The first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty in more than two decades, came into force just after midnight on Friday, hailed by the UN Secretary-General as “an important step towards a world free of nuclear weapons”.
With more than two million lives now lost worldwide to COVID-19, the UN Secretary-General appealed on Friday for countries to work together and help each other to end the pandemic and save lives. In a video statement, Secretary-General António Guterres noted that the absence of a global coordinated effort has worsened the pandemic’s deadly impact.
In his first major speech of the year, the UN Secretary-General underlined the need for global cooperation to address today’s challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
From the Congo to the Middle East, UN icon Sir Brian Urquhart was at the “centre of formative global events”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement on Sunday, paying tribute to the legendary staff member who died yesterday at the age of 101.
The President of the United Nations General Assembly has urged everyone around the world “to continue to work together” to end the coronavirus pandemic, and to build an inclusive and sustainable future.
At UN News, 2020 started with a hope that the year would be one of peace for Syria’s children. However, in the weeks that followed, the news cycle was upended by the coronavirus pandemic, that not only changed what we covered, but also how we covered UN-related news around the world.
As the world enters 2021, after a “year of trials, tragedies and tears”, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has delivered a message of hope for the new year.
