United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has appealed to countries across the globe to make recovery for people, the planet, and prosperity their resolution for 2022.
He made the appeal in his New Year message, stressing the need for countries to come together and make recovery for people and the planet their priority as the world continues to recuperate from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The world welcomes 2022 with our hopes for the future being tested by deepening poverty and worsening inequality … an unequal distribution of COVID vaccines … climate commitments that fall short, and by ongoing conflict, division, and misinformation,” the UN scribe lamented in an article published on Tuesday.
For him, these are “not just policy tests”, but “moral and real-life tests,” describing them as exams that all of humanity can pass “if we commit to making 2022 a year of recovery for everyone.
Guterres, who went further to highlight how best the recovery should be done on each front, believes the pandemic requires “a bold plan to vaccinate every person, everywhere.
And for an economic rescue, he stated that wealthier countries must support the developing world with “financing, investment and debt relief”.
To heal from mistrust and division, the UN chief affirmed that a new emphasis must be placed “on science, facts and reason”.
Recovery from conflicts at the same time, according to him, calls for “a renewed spirit of dialogue, compromise and reconciliation” while restoring the planet requires “climate commitments that match the scale and urgency of the crisis.”
Guterres also acknowledged that “moments of great difficulty are also moments of great opportunity to come together in solidarity”.
He explained that this was because they offer the chance “to unite behind solutions that can benefit all people, and to move forward together, with hope in what our human family can accomplish”.
“Together, let’s make recovery our resolution for 2022,” the Secretary-General concluded. “I wish you all a happy and peaceful New Year.”