In a speech delivered at the general debate of the 31st Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in Response to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic, President Kais Saied, on Thursday reiterated Tunisia’s call for true global solidarity on debt to mitigate financial and economic pressures and the need to secure equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine to all countries of the world, when it becomes available.
President Saied indicated that “Tunisia wishes to hail the efforts of the UN and its various structures to deal with this crisis and mitigate its destructive effects. It at the same time restates the critical need to develop a plan that answers the requirements of all humanity”. The Head of State viewed it “was necessary to rearrange the priorities of international cooperation and give appropriate support according to the requirements of this exceptional phase. This is to guarantee food security and its sustainable systems, as well as to consolidate the networks of universal health coverage and equality for all within the framework of the human rights system,” he added.
The President of the Republic evoked that Tunisia had emphasised, since the beginning of the spread of the pandemic, the obligation to strengthen collective, supportive and complementary international efforts to deal with this pandemic, since it is impossible for nations of the world to tackle it alone. In this regard, he remarked Tunisia’s call to utilise a comprehensive, unified and coordinated approach that takes into account the necessities of all countries and peoples. To achieve this vision, Tunisia, in its capacity as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, had taken the lead to submit to the Council, jointly with France, a draft resolution on the basis of which resolution 2532 was unanimously adopted, the Head of State recollected.
He considered the resolution to be “a breakthrough in the history of the United Nations”, insofar as it expanded the concept of collective security to cover health pandemics as one of the threats to international peace and security. “This resolution also allowed the Security Council member states to unify their vision of a shared responsibility to press for an immediate ceasefire, for the cessation of military operations in all regions of the world, and to push for a humanitarian truce in various conflict zones.
In his speech, the President of the Republic extended gratitude to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Chairman of the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement for his call, on behalf of the member countries of the Movement, for holding this special session of the United Nations General Assembly. The President of the Republic further reiterated to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, Tunisia’s appreciation and support for his initiatives directed at unifying international efforts to combat this epidemic. The latter’s repercussions have not been limited to the health threat it poses worldwide, but have expanded to become one of the emerging factors threatening peace and security in the world.
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