United Nations Security Council Backs COVID-19 Ceasefire

• UN Demands Halt to Key Global Conflicts to Tackle COVID-19
  by Edith M. Lederer • Published July 1, 2020, https://www.nbcwashington.com/
  It calls on all warring parties “to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days”
  –
  The U.N. Security Council demanded an “immediate cessation of hostilities” in key conflicts including Syria, Yemen, Libya, South Sudan and Congo on Wednesday to tackle COVID-19 in its first resolution on the new coronavirus.
  –
  The U.N.’s most powerful body voted unanimously to adopt the resolution after the United States and China resolved a lengthy dispute over mentioning the World Health Organization. Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, the council president for July, announced the result, calling it “a sign for hope for all people currently living in conflict zones around the world.”
  –
  read more.
  –
• United Nations Security Council Backs COVID-19 Ceasefire
  by https://aretenews.com/ , 1 July 2020
  (Arête News) — The U.N. Security Council overcame U.S. resistance to unanimously approve a resolution on Wednesday calling for immediate ceasefires worldwide so that everyone can focus their efforts on ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
  –
  The U.N.’s most powerful body voted unanimously to adopt the resolution after the United States and China resolved a lengthy dispute over mentioning the World Health Organization. Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, the council president for July, announced the result, calling it “a sign for hope for all people currently living in conflict zones around the world.”
  –
  The council approved the resolution in a 15-0 vote during a brief videoconference chaired by Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen. The meeting was webcast live by U.N. Web TV. “I think it’s a very strong signal for unity of the council, and it’s a sign for hope for all people currently living in conflict zones around the world,” Heusgen said in a vote that coincided with Germany’s first day taking on the council’s monthlong revolving presidency.
  –
  “It is now the obligation of the council — and all parties to armed conflicts — to implement this resolution in our work this month and beyond,” he said.
  –
  read more.

end