"SECRETARY-GENERAL"

The head of the UN Mission in Haiti, Helen La Lime, told Security Council members, “An economic crisis, gang crisis, and political crisis have converged into a humanitarian catastrophe.” UNIFEED

Almost 75 percent of Cubans voted yesterday in a referendum to decide on changes which address the diversity and plurality of the Cuban families, promote affection and solidarity as key social values and strengthen the protection of rights for children, adolescents, victims of violence, the elderly, people with disabilities, LGTBQI +, and other vulnerable groups, a United Nations spokesperson said. UNIFEED

Secretary-General António Guterres said nuclear weapons “offer no security — just carnage and chaos,” and their elimination “would be the greatest gift we could bestow on future generations.” UNIFEED

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the General Assembly’s General Debate is convening “at a dramatic moment” as “crises are growing, and the situation in the area of international security is deteriorating rapidly.” UNIFEED

Speaking at a meeting on ending the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “it’s time to build political momentum to finish the job on COVID-19. Let’s get it done. Let’s end this pandemic, once and for all.” UNIFEED

Describing the “biblical flood” that left one third of his country under water, the Prime Minister of Pakistan told the General Assembly that “the question to raise here is quite simple: why are my people paying the price of such high global warming through no fault of ours?” UNIFEED

Asked about protests in the Islamic Republic of Iran, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said, “We call on security forces to refrain from using unnecessary and disproportionate force and appeal to all to exercise restraint to avoid further escalation.” UNIFEED

Noting that “there’s more liquidity in Asia than in Europe and USA combined”, the President of Timor-Leste asked the UN Secretary-General to host a “historic summit” to come up with a plan to fight poverty with the wealth from the Global South. UNIFEED

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, urged Member States to support the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), telling them “don't let this collective responsibility assumed by the General Assembly to fail.” UNIFEED

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “the security crisis in the Sahel poses a global threat,” adding that “a coordinated international breakthrough is urgently needed.” UNIFEED