Iran Press/Middle East: The U.N. chief said: “It is time to put armed conflict on lock-down and focus together on the true fight of our lives.”
Antonio Guterres emphasized the world faces “a common enemy — COVID-19” which doesn’t care “about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith.”
“The most vulnerable - women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced - pay the highest price,” he said. “They are also at the highest risk of suffering devastating losses from COVID-19.”
It’s time to silence guns, stop artillery, end airstrikes and create corridors for life-saving aid and diplomacy, he said.
Guterres called on warring parties to “put aside mistrust and animosity” and take inspiration from efforts to get rivals to tackle the coronavirus together, but he stressed that much more was needed.
“End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world,” the secretary-general added. “It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now. That is what our human family needs, now more than ever.”
According to the latest statistics, more than 368,000 people worldwide have been infected with the coronavirus, of which 16,000 have died and more than101,000 have recovered.
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