Special Address by António Guterres, UN Secretary-General at the World Economic Forum, Davos agenda event.
In a virtual address to the Davos World Economic Forum, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that humanity has just endured a year of tragedy and crisis that we never want to repeat. However, the Secretary-General added, “the tests to our societies are continuing.”
“If there is one word that characterizes today’s world, it is fragility,” Secretary-General said. “We see it in the impacts of the COVID-19 emergency. More than two million people have died, and we are in the worst economic crisis for nearly a century.”
He also pointed out at the world’s fragility in regards to disarmament regime and the growing risks of nuclear and chemical proliferation as well as the lack of “the multi-stakeholder mechanisms that will ensure safe and equitable governance of cyberspace.”
Guterres said we have reached a moment of truth: In 2021, we must address these fragilities and put the world on track. It is time to change course and take the sustainable path. The Secretary-General once again called for a “reinvigorated, inclusive and networked multilateralism.”
Our common direction, according to Guterres is defined by the Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve them, he called for a New Social Contract and a New Global Deal to create equal opportunities for all and respect the rights and freedoms of all.
“A New Social Contract within societies is needed to enable people to live in dignity,” said Guterres, while a New Social Contract “between Governments, people, civil society, business and more, must integrating employment, sustainable development and social protection, and based on equal rights and opportunities for all.”
On the other hand, “a New Global Deal -- a new model for global governance -- should ensure that power, wealth and opportunities are shared more broadly and fairly at the international level,” the Secretary-General said.
Guterres also said that in the aftermath of the pandemic, the fastest way to reopen the global economy is to reach everyone, everywhere with the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Vaccines are quickly reaching high-income countries, while the world’s poorest have none at all. If developed countries think they will be safe if they vaccinate their own countries while neglecting the developing world, they are wrong. There is now a clear, real danger of mutations making the virus more transmissible or lethal or resistant to existing vaccines. And we must act fast. Vaccine production capacity around the world needs to be massively scaled-up, licenses made available and affordability must be ensured. Vaccines must be seen as global public goods -- people’s vaccines,” he said.
Remarks: [ Ссылка ]
