The President of the United Nations General Assembly Volkan Bozkir has called for multilateralism in the fight against COVID-19.
Bozkir made the call on Tuesday in his opening address after banging the gavel to open this year’s General Debate.
“Rarely has the whole of humanity faced such an imminent and common threat”, he said. “We must leave our differences and disagreements aside…[and] renew our collective commitment to multilateralism”.
He noted that the world’s vulnerable groups were the worst-affected by the pandemic, including refugees and migrants.
Bozkir reiterated the need to “make full use of all the tools available to us to combat this challenge”, including the Assembly, which he called “a key platform to provide political guidance”.
“I urge Member States to be cooperative and creative, to devise solutions, that will enable this body to function effectively, and remain relevant”, he said.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases globally surpassed the 31.40 million mark on Tuesday with a death toll exceeding 966,000, according to data from the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.
