The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a window into how abio-terrorist attack might unfold across the world, UN chief Antonio Guterres said,issuing a strong warning that non-state groups could gain access to virulentstrains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe.
The Secretary-General listed pressing risks to the world dueto the pandemic as he addressed the powerful UN Security Council, which for thefirst time discussed the coronavirus crisis in a closed video-conferencesession on Thursday under the Presidency of the Dominican Republic.
Guterres described the battle against COVID-19 as the fightof a generation — and the raison d’tre of the United Nations itself.
While the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a healthcrisis, its implications are much more far-reaching. The pandemic also poses asignificant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security —potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that wouldgreatly undermine our ability to fight the disease, Guterres said in hisbriefing to the UNSC.
The weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by thispandemic provide a window onto how a bio-terrorist attack might unfold and mayincrease its risks. Non-state groups could gain access to virulent strains thatcould pose similar devastation to societies around the globe, he said.
Voicing strong concern that the threat of terrorism remainsalive, Guterres said, terrorist groups may see a window of opportunity tostrike while the attention of most governments is turned towards the pandemic.
Further, in some conflict settings, the uncertainty createdby the pandemic may create incentives for some actors to promote furtherdivision and turmoil.
This could lead to an escalation of violence and possiblydevastating miscalculations, which could further entrench ongoing wars andcomplicate efforts to fight the pandemic, Guterres said.
According to estimates from Johns Hopkins UniversityCoronavirus Resource Centre, there are more than 1.6 million confirmedcoronavirus cases across the world and over 95,000 people have died so far ofthe disease.
The UN chief stressed that the crisis has hinderedinternational, regional and national conflict resolution efforts, exactly whenthey are needed most.
Another significant risk posed by the pandemic is that it istriggering or exacerbating various human rights challenges and refugees andinternally displaced persons are particularly vulnerable.
We are seeing stigma, hate speech, and white supremacistsand other extremists seeking to exploit the situation. We are witnessingdiscrimination in accessing health services… And there are growingmanifestations of authoritarianism, including limits on the media, civic spaceand freedom of expression he said.
The coronavirus crisis has unleashed ruinous social and economicimpacts, as governments around the world struggle to find the most effectiveresponses to rising unemployment and the economic downturn.
Last month, Guterres had called for an immediate globalceasefire, urging all warring parties to silence the guns in order to helpcreate conditions for the delivery of aid, open up space for diplomacy andbring hope to places among the most vulnerable to the pandemic.
He said he is encouraged by the support his call for globalceasefire has received from Heads of State and Government to regional partners,civil society activists and religious leaders.
From South America to Africa and from the Middle East toAsia we have seen conflict parties take some initial steps to end violence andfight the pandemic, he said.
Two weeks ago, the UN chief also launched the COVID-19Global Humanitarian Response Plan, focusing on needs in countries alreadyfacing a humanitarian crisis. The Central Emergency Response Fund has allocatedUSD 75 million and so far the Plan had received USD 396.5 million.