United Nations | UN chief’s message to world leaders: ‘Wake up, change course, unite’

In a wide-ranging interview with UN News, Secretary-General António Guterres is calling on world leaders to ‘wake up’, make an immediate course correction at home and abroad, and unite.

“The institutions we have, have no teeth. And sometimes, even when they have teeth, like in the case of the Security Council, they have not much appetite to bite”, the UN chief said.

Only a few days before the 76th session of the General Assembly kicked of its high-level week, Mr. Guterres sat down with UN News to answer questions on a host of topics, from the COVID-19 pandemic, to gender equality.

He called for an equitable global vaccination plan, with variants continuing to appear, that at some point, might become resistant to current innoculations. “And on that day, nobody will be safe, in the south and in the north, not even in the countries where everybody was vaccinated,” he said.

On Afghanistan, he argues that the situation is “unpredictable” and warned: “What happened in Afghanistan, might embolden now, terrorist groups or other rebel movements to become more aggressive.”

The UN Chief also highlighted climate change, saying the world is “on the verge of the abyss” and asked all Member States to make the next UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, a success.

Watch the interview (edited for clarity and length):

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Source: United Nations, 19 September 2021