United Nations

"The counter-factual is hard to establish, what the world might have been like without the UN, the conflicts not averted, the human suffering not eased. In any case, imperfect as it may be, the primacy and relevance of the United Nations remains unmatched after more than 75 years," Bozkir said on Wednesday in his opening remarks in the UNGA Interactive Dialogue to Commemorate and Promote the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace.

Developed by the Statistics Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and BC3, the new tool, launched on Thursday, can vastly accelerate the implementation of the new ground-breaking standard for valuing the contributions of nature that was adopted by the UN Statistical Commission last month.

Bozkir was worried about the Covid-19 situation in India, a country that has done so much to ensure the distribution of vaccines to vulnerable countries, said Brenden Varma, the spokesman, Xinhua news agency reported. Now it is time for the world to extend aid and support to India. No one is safe until everyone is safe, said Bozkir.

"We commend all countries that have reached the ambitious target of zero malaria," said the secretary-general in his message for the World Malaria Day, which falls on April 25 annually, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday. "Together, they are showing the world that a malaria-free future is possible," he added.

"Let us mobilize political leadership to move ahead together -- to overcome climate change, end our war on nature and build lives of dignity and prosperity for all," the UN chief told world leaders attending the Leaders Summit on Climate on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The first World Ocean Assessment (WOA I), released in 2015, had warned that many areas of the ocean had been seriously degraded, mostly due to the failure to deal with the pressures caused by human activities, including fishing, aquaculture, shipping, oil and gas exploitation, pollution and the release of greenhouse gases.

These dues have been accruing for four years and total more than $1 billion, according to the writers -- former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, and former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

In a series of tweet confirming the move, Blinken said: The UN Human Rights Council is flawed and needs reform, but walking away won't fix it. The best way to improve the Council, so it can achieve its potential, is through robust and principled US leadership. Under President (Joe)Biden, we are re-engaging and ready to lead.

Reiterating the negative impact of inequitable access to Covid-19 vaccines worldwide at a press briefing here on Friday, Tedros said that although the number of vaccine doses administered globally has already exceeded the number of reported infections, more than three-quarters of those were administered in just 10 countries that account for almost 60 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

There are two Chinese-made vaccines, produced by Sinopharm and Sinovac respectively, currently under WHO's evaluation, said Katherine O'Brien, Director of WHO's Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals. The data of the vaccines have been submitted to the WHO, but inspectors on the ground are still in quarantine waiting to go to the manufacturing sites for evaluation, she added.