António Guterres is the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, who took office on 1 January 2017.
The Covid-19 pandemic is one of the most demanding harmful situations that this world has faced throughout our lives. It is above all a human crisis with serious physical and socio-economic consequences.
The World Health Organization, with thousands of its staff, is on the front line, supporting Member States and their societies, especially the most vulnerable among them, with concrete advice, training, apparatus and important in their fight against the virus.
I witnessed the courage and determination of WHO staff on my stopover in the Democratic Republic of Congo last year, where WHO staff are in precarious situations and in very damaging remote locations as they fight the deadly Ebola virus. It was a remarkable achievement for the WHO, which had not recorded new cases of Ebola for months.
I am convinced that the World Health Organization will have to be supported, as it is surely essential for the world’s efforts to win the war against Covid-19.
This virus is unprecedented in our lifetime and demands an unprecedented response. Obviously, under such conditions, it is conceivable that the same facts have had other readings through other entities. It has to be a moment to look completely back to perceive how such a disease emerged and spread its ravages so temporarily around the world, and how everyone involved responded to the crisis. The lessons learned will be essential to face similar challenges. as they would possibly rise in the future.
But now is the time. Now is the time for unity, from foreign netpaintings to pictures in combination in solidarity to prevent this virus and its devastating consequences.
The Manguinhos Ballet, named after its favela in Rio de Janeiro, returns to the level after a long absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has as interpreters 250 young people and adolescents from the favela. The ballet organization provides social assistance in a network where poverty, hunger and teenage pregnancy are ongoing problems.
The pandemic has put many other people to the test, and news hounds are no exception. The coronavirus has waged war not only against the lives and well-being of others, but has also generated countless deceptions and clinical lies.
The pandemic has shown how vital it is that the right of access to data is reliable and that reliable and accurate data is freely available for government and citizen decision-making – a win-win situation.