UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech at a special session of the UN General Assembly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic at the UN headquarters in New York, Dec. 3, 2020.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for global solidarity and a sense of urgency to confront the COVID-19 pandemic.
Guterres made the remarks at a special session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic at the UN headquarters in New York.
"In a global crisis, we must meet the expectations of those we serve with unity, solidarity and coordinated multilateral global action," Guterres said.
"I call on you to take the opportunity of this special session of the General Assembly to confront the COVID-19 pandemic with the urgency it demands, to save lives and build a better future together," Guterres added.
When talking about inter-generational impacts, Guterres said the impacts are not due to COVID-19 alone. "As we build a strong recovery, we must seize the opportunity for change," he said.
The recovery from COVID-19 must address the pre-existing conditions it has exposed and exploited, from gaps in basic services to an overheated planet, he said.
"We cannot bequeath a broken planet and huge debts to future generations. The money we spend on recovery must go into building a greener, fairer future," he said.
The UNGA's two-day special session in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will primarily consist of a general debate on Thursday and interactive dialogues with experts, UN agencies and leading scientists, on Friday.
