U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said A divided world has failed to rise to the challenge of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, and warned concerted action was needed to prevent millions of people being pushed into poverty and hunger.
The former Portuguese prime minister said far more could have been done if countries had worked together to combat the disease, which has killed more than one million people.
He said that if coordinated measures were not taken, “a microscopic virus could push millions of people into poverty and hunger, with devastating economic effects in the years to come”.
Guterres also criticised countries for a lack of unity in trying to solve other global challenges including the conflicts in Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria.
