Tunisia has proposed a UN Security Council resolution that would call the coronavirus pandemic “a threat to humanity and to international peace and security,” and call for an immediate global humanitarian ceasefire to respond to “the unprecedented threat posed by COVID-19.”
The UN’s most powerful body has not addressed the pandemic sweeping the globe, but Dominican Republic Ambassador Jose Singer, the current council president, on Wednesday said he expects members to meet on COVID-10 “for sure next week, or before.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to brief the council at the request of German Ambassador to UN Christoph Heusgen, diplomats said.
Photo: AFP
Singer said negotiations on the resolution were taking place among the 15 council members.
The draft resolution, which diplomats say has support from the 10 non-permanent council members, stresses the importance of “urgent international action to curb the impact of COVID-19.”
It says that “combating this pandemic requires greater international cooperation and solidarity, and a coordinated, comprehensive and global international response under the leadership” of the UN.
In calling for a global ceasefire, it “demands that all efforts emphasize on fighting the pandemic and saving lives.”
It would also express the council’s “commitment to take special measures to provide protection for the most vulnerable in conflict zones, especially refugees, displaced populations, women, children and persons with disabilities.”
The council has previously twice addressed public health emergencies, first the HIV/AIDS pandemic and second the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014.
The UN General Assembly was expected to decide last night whether to adopt either, both, or neither of two rival resolutions on COVID-19.
One resolution, which has more than 135 cosponsors, supports the WHO and calls for “intensified international cooperation” to defeat the pandemic.
The other, sponsored by Russia with support from four countries, also recognizes WHO’s leading role, but it says unilateral sanctions must not be applied without council approval.
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