COVID-19 fast becoming protection crisis, UN chief warns Security Council

The COVID-19 pandemic is “profoundly affecting” peace and security across the globe, the Secretary-General told the Security Council, pressing the 15-member body to use its collective influence to protect the millions of people either trapped in, or fleeing conflict, and already facing acute vulnerabilities.

“The health pandemic has fast become a protection crisis”, António Guterres warned. With more than one billion children out of school, 135 million people facing starvation by year-end, and healthcare workers routinely being targeted by violence, “these wide-ranging risks require an urgent and united response.”

The high-level debate, convened by Germany as president for July, follows the Council’s passage of resolution 2532 (2020), which demands a general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations on its agenda.

The risks are diverse, the UN chief said. Trust in public institutions is being eroded in places where people perceive that authorities have not addressed the pandemic effectively or have not been transparent about its impact. As grievances become more entrenched, the potential for instability and violence only grows.

In some places, fragile peace processes could be derailed if the international community is distracted, he said. In Sudan’s restive Darfur region, the pandemic has led to repeated extensions of the deadline for completing the Juba peace process.

Elsewhere, he said terrorist and violent extremist groups see the uncertainty created by the pandemic as a tactical advantage. In Somalia, there is a risk that Islamist extremist group Al-Shabaab, could increase its attacks while security forces, by necessity, focus on the pandemic.

Many countries have had to consider how to move ahead with elections slated for 2020 while trying to manage the health crisis. In the Central African Republic, attempts to use the pandemic as a pretext to postpone elections planned for year-end are creating tensions.

“Our challenge is to save lives today while buttressing the pillars of security for tomorrow,” he said, expressing his support for the Council in any way possible as it carries out its essential part of the response.

Collective security and a shared wellbeing are under assault on many fronts, led by a relentless disease and abetted by global fragilities.

Original source: UN News
Published on 02 July 2020