UN Secretary-General - The African Mirror

Jan

2024

UN chief says parties to Gaza war ‘trampling’ on international law

UNITED Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that parties to the conflict in Gaza were "trampling" on international law and urged them to implement an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Guterres said the warring parties were "ignoring international law, trampling on the Geneva Conventions, and even violating the United Nations Charter". "The world is standing by as civilians, mostly women and children, are killed, maimed, bombarded, forced from their homes and denied access to humanitarian aid," he said. "I repeat my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and a process that leads to sustained peace…

Dec

2023

By ABBEY MAKOE

US attempt to help Taiwan to secede from China “doomed to fail” – Beijing

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AT a time of great geopolitical flux – decried by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as a consequence of the “obsolete” global governance system – indications are that international peace efforts lag way behind a satiable appetite for conflict. The UN was founded in the aftermath of WW11 in 1945 in a noble effort to ensure no repeat of global conflict that had left nations in ruins. The UN Charter espouses the essence of a consensus-led international world order. The ethos of multilateralism has therefore formed a nucleus of the UN system, where debate and consensus triumph over bullying and…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

UN secretary-general condemns air strike that killed at least 22 people in Sudan

NEWS

UNITED Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the air strike that reportedly killed at least 22 people in Sudan, according to a statement released by a spokesperson early. At least 22 people were killed and scores injured in an air strike by Sudan's army on western Omdurman city, the Khartoum state health ministry said on Saturday, as the war between the country's military factions entered its 12th week. The secretary-general is also appalled by reports of large-scale violence and casualties across Sudan's Darfur region, according to the statement released by Farhan Haq, his deputy spokesperson. "He is also concerned about reports…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

U.N. chief grades world on vaccine rollout: ‘F in Ethics’

COVID-19

MICHELLE NICHOLS UNITED Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reprimanded the world on Tuesday for the inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, describing it as an "obscenity" and giving the globe an "F in Ethics." Addressing the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders in New York, Guterres said images from some parts of the world of expired and unused vaccines in the garbage told "the tale of our times" - with the majority of the wealthier world immunised while more than 90% of Africa has not even received one dose. "This is a moral indictment of the state of our world. It is…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

The UN’s Guterres, an incumbent with strong backing by Europe, is bound to win another term

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BARBARA CROSSETTE IT was all over in one crucial week. Barring an unforeseen hitch, António Guterres is the clear winner of a second, five-year term as secretary-general of the United Nations, beginning on Jan.1, 2022. This was not a surprise: he had no major competition and the process moved faster than expected. A three-hour question-and-answer session with UN diplomats from around the world in the General Assembly on May 7 appeared to support a growing sense internationally that the Security Council may decide by late June or July, three months before the normal deadline for a candidacy to go to the General Assembly for…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

White supremacy a “transnational threat”, U.N. chief warns

WORLD

UNITED Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned yesterday that white supremacy and neo-Nazi movements are becoming a "transnational threat" and have exploited the coronavirus pandemic to boost their support. Addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council, Guterres said the danger of hate-driven groups was growing daily. "White supremacy and neo-Nazi movements are more than domestic terror threats. They are becoming a transnational threat," he told the Geneva forum. Without naming states, Guterres added: "Today, these extremist movements represent the number one internal security threat in several countries." In the United States, racial tensions simmered during the turbulent four-year presidency of Donald Trump.…