At G20, UN chief calls for global leadership towards full, equitable post-pandemic recovery

G20 Summit/ItalyLeaders of the world’s largest economies attend a Working Session during the 2021 G20 Summit, hosted by Italy and convened in Rome. (30 October, 2021)    30 October 2021UN Affairs

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday called on G20 leaders to step up efforts to ensure the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is fair, inclusive and prevents further suffering.

Attending the official opening of the G20 Summit in Rome, Mr. Guterres addressed the leaders during the first session, entitled ‘Global Economy and Global Health.’ 

Save lives, prevent further suffering

In his remarks, the UN chief called for vaccine equity an urged the leaders to show leadership to save lives, prevent further suffering, and enable a full global recovery.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=UN_News_Centre&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NwYWNlX2NhcmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib2ZmIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1454444253510344711&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.un.org%2Fen%2Fstory%2F2021%2F10%2F1104502&sessionId=00b937cea2d4923d979f8aa1ba2fdf9a7e3f78d4&siteScreenName=UN_News_Centre&theme=light&widgetsVersion=f001879%3A1634581029404&width=550px

He also reiterated the importance of the G20 to adopt and coordinate action to support the global vaccination strategy led by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), which aims to get vaccines into the arms of 40 per cent of people in all countries by the end of this year, and 70 per cent by mid-2022.

The WHO launched its strategy earlier this month to help bring an end to what has become a two-track pandemic: people in poorer countries continue to be at risk while those in richer countries with high COVID-19 vaccination rates enjoy much greater protection.

Further in his remarks to the working session, the Secretary-General encouraged the leaders to pursue a post-pandemic path that can simultaneously relaunch the global economy while fighting inequality, as well as restoring trust between developing and developed countries.

On the sidelines of the session, Mr. Guterres had the opportunity to speak informally to a number of world leaders.