UN / PEACE AND SECURITY MULTILATERALISM

STORY: UN / PEACE AND SECURITY MULTILATERALISM
TRT: 02:58
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 07 MAY 2021, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

FILE – NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters

07 MAY 2021, NEW YORK CITY

2. Multiple screens
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Foreign Secretary, India:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened our awareness on the depth of global interdependence and to the fact that the world is only as resilient as its least resilient country. The events of the past year have clearly demonstrated how imperative it is for all countries to coordinate responses to the greatest challenges that the pandemic has brought to the fold. It is the lack of a coordinated global response that has exposed the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of the multilateral system as it stands today, providing a timely reminder of the pressing needs for comprehensive reform. While the pandemic exposed the fault lines from unreliable global supply chains with unequitable vaccine distribution, it has underlined the need for global solidarity and strengthened multilateralism.”
4. Multiple screens
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State, United States:
“Multilateralism is still our best tool for tackling big global challenges – like the one that’s forcing us to gather on a screen today rather than around a table. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as we know it across the planet, with millions of deaths and devastating impacts on economies, health, education, social progress. The climate crisis is another massive threat. If we don’t move swiftly to cut emissions, the results will be catastrophic. We built the multilateral system in part to solve big, complex problems like these, where the fates of people around the world are tied together and where no single country – no matter how powerful – can address the challenges alone.”
6. Multiple screens
7. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Sergey Lavrov, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation:
“The pandemic broke out in what was far from an ideal world. A growth in international tension, the exacerbation of regional conflict, and the emergence of cross border threats and challenges have become a sign of the times. The entire architecture of global governance that was created following the end of the second world war has been sorely tested. It is evident that prospects for the sustainable and predictable development of the international community are directly linked to our ability to find effective solutions to common problems, and our readiness to demonstrate collective leadership in the interest of genuine multilateralism. Russia, like the majority of states believes this work needs to be done exclusively on the basis of universally recognized norms of international law. A key platform for pulling these efforts together, should still be the United Nations, which is the backbone of the modern world order where all independent states are represented.”
6. Multiple screens

STORYLINE:

India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla today (7 May) told the Security Council that the COVID-19 pandemic “has sharpened our awareness on the depth of global interdependence and to the fact that the world is only as resilient as its least resilient country.”

Addressing a Security Council high-level videoconference briefing on Upholding Multilateralism and the United Nations-Centred International System, Shringla said, “the lack of a coordinated global response that has exposed the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of the multilateral system as it stands today, providing a timely reminder of the pressing needs for comprehensive reform.”

United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, told the Council “multilateralism is still our best tool for tackling big global challenges – like the one that’s forcing us to gather on a screen today rather than around a table, adding that the pandemic “has changed life as we know it across the planet, with millions of deaths and devastating impacts on economies, health, education, social progress.”

The climate crisis, he said, “is another massive threat,” and stressed that “if we don’t move swiftly to cut emissions, the results will be catastrophic.”

For his part, the Russian Federation’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said, “the pandemic broke out in what was far from an ideal world.”

Lavrov said, “a growth in international tension, the exacerbation of regional conflict, and the emergence of cross border threats and challenges have become a sign of the times. The entire architecture of global governance that was created following the end of the second world war has been sorely tested. It is evident that prospects for the sustainable and predictable development of the international community are directly linked to our ability to find effective solutions to common problems, and our readiness to demonstrate collective leadership in the interest of genuine multilateralism.”

Russia, he said, “believes this work needs to be done exclusively on the basis of universally recognized norms of international law” and “a key platform for pulling these efforts together, should still be the United Nations, which is the backbone of the modern world order where all independent states are represented.”

The meeting was chaired by China’s State Councillor and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi.