Page 5 - Antonio Guterres

Terrorism unjustifiable; India naturally has its own concerns: Guterres

In an exclusive interview to PTI, Guterres said combating terrorism must be a "fundamental priority" for "all of us" and that it is something that is very high in his priorities

Confident that India will do 'everything possible': UN chief ahead of G20

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed confidence that India, all set to host the leaders' summit during its G20 presidency, will do everything possible to ensure that existing geopolitical divides are overcome and the crucial gathering of world leaders concludes with possible results." Guterres will arrive in Delhi on Friday to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit on September 9 and 10 for which world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, are travelling to India. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not attending the summit. "I'm confident that India will do everything possible to make sure that the geopolitical divides that exist are overcome and that the G20 can conclude with possible results, Guterres said in Jakarta where he is participating in the 13th ASEAN-UN Summit. He was responding to a question on his expectations from India as the G20 host as well as New Delhi's support for bringing the African Union (AU) into the grouping o

Unified strategy, funding urgently needed to end Myanmar crisis: UN chief

The United Nations chief renewed an urgent call to the international community Thursday to seek a unified strategy to end the worsening crisis in Myanmar. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres said declining financial aid should be boosted to previous levels to enable the world body to respond to an enormous tragedy. He said the situation in Myanmar has further deteriorated since he met with ASEAN leaders in a 2022 summit, and again called on the crisis-wracked country's military-installed government to immediately free all political prisoners and open the door to a return to democratic rule. Myanmar's army seized power on February 1, 2021, from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, arresting her and top members of her governing National League for Democracy party, which had won a landslide victory for a new term in a November 2020 general election. Security forces suppressed widespread opposition to the military takeover with lethal force, killing thousands of civilians and ...

UN chief Guterres sends proposal to Russia to revive Black Sea grain deal

Moscow wasn't satisfied with the letter that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this week

UN remembers victims, survivors of terrorism: Secy General Antonio Guterres

Guterres said the theme of this year's International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism is "Legacy, Finding Hope and Building a Peaceful Future"

Upcoming G20 Summit in New Delhi critical for climate action: Guterres

The upcoming G20 Summit in New Delhi and the UN Climate Summit during the high-level General Assembly session are among the critical opportunities ahead for accelerated action on climate change, UN chief Antonio Guterres said as he warned that the world has moved from the era of global warming into that of global boiling. As the World Meteorological Organisation and the European Commission's Copernicus Climate Change Service released official data confirming that July 2023 is set to be the hottest month ever recorded in human history, UN Secretary-General Guterres said humanity is in the hot seat. Guterres said that for vast parts of North America, Asia, Africa and Europe it is a cruel summer but it is a disaster for the entire planet. Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning. The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived. The air is unbreathable. The heat is unbearable. And the level of fossil fuel profits and climate ...

Summit to act on reforming global financial system, says UN chief Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the G20 Summit to be hosted under India's Presidency provides an opportunity to take action on debt relief and reform the global financial system, as he voiced concern over the "crushing debt crisis" in the world. Speaking at the launch of a UN report 'A World of Debt' here on Wednesday, Guterres said, "Some 3.3 billion people almost half of humanity live in countries that spend more on debt interest payments than on education or health." "Half our world is sinking into a development disaster, fuelled by a crushing debt crisis," he said. Guterres said that because most of these unsustainable debts are concentrated in poor countries, they are not judged to pose a systemic risk to the global financial system. "This is a mirage," he warned, adding that 3.3 billion people is more than systemic risk. "It is a systemic failure. Markets may seem not (to) be suffering yet. But people are. Some of the poorest countries in the world are

'3.3 bn live in countries that spend more on debt interest than education'

Some 3.3 billion people almost half of humanity now live in countries that spend more money paying interest on their debts than on education or health, according to a new UN report released Wednesday. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a press conference launching the report that because this crushing debt crisis is concentrated mostly in poor developing countries, it is not judged to pose a systemic risk to the global financial system. This is a mirage, the U.N. chief warned. 3.3 billion people is more than a systemic risk, it is a systemic failure. Guterres said financial markets may seem not to be suffering yet but billions of people are and the levels of public debt are staggering and surging. In 2022, global public debt reached a record $92 trillion and developing countries shoulder a disproportionate amount, he said. According to the report, the number of countries facing high debt levels has increased sharply from 22 nations in 2011 to 59 in 2022. The ...

Made effort to remove India from UN report on children in armed clash: Govt

The government was consistently making efforts to exclude India from the UN's annual report on the impact of armed conflict on children, the Women and Child Development Ministry has said after the country did not feature in the report for the first time since 2010. The United Nations has removed India from its annual report on the impact of armed conflict on children, citing "measures taken by the government to better protect" them. In a statement, the Women and Child Development Ministry said, "The ongoing engagement of the Government of India with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General sped up after an inter-ministerial meeting in November 2021." The meeting was attended by Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Child Development Indevar Pandey, Ministry of External Affairs, Permanent Mission of India at New York, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Virginia Gamba, the special representative of the Secretary-General for Children and the UN officials in New Delhi. The m

India removed from UNSG report on impact of armed conflict on children

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has removed India from his annual report on the impact of armed conflict on children, citing "measures taken by the government to better protect" them. Guterres said in his report last year, he had welcomed the engagement of the Indian government with his special representative and noted that it might lead to the removal of India as a situation of concern. In his 2023 report on Children and Armed Conflict, the UN chief said, "In view of the measures taken by the government to better protect children, India has been removed from the report in 2023." Guterres highlighted the technical mission of the office of his special representative in July 2022 to identify areas of cooperation for child protection, and the workshop on strengthening child protection held in Jammu and Kashmir last November by the government, with the participation of the United Nations. In his latest report, he also called upon India to implement the remaining measures identifi

UN puts Russian forces on blacklist for killing children, attacking schools

The United Nations put Russian forces on its annual blacklist of countries that violate children's rights in conflict for killing boys and girls and attacking schools and hospitals in Ukraine, according to a new report seen Thursday by The Associated Press. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the report to the Security Council that he is appalled by the high number of grave violations against children in Ukraine in 2022, shocked at the number of attacks on schools and hospitals, concerned by the detention of children, and troubled that some Ukrainian children have been transferred to Russia. The U.N. chief did not put Israel on the blacklist for grave violations against 1,139 Palestinian children, including 54 killings last year as supporters had hoped. Instead, he welcomed Israel's engagement with the U.N. special envoy for children in armed conflict, Virginia Gamba and its identification of practical measures including those proposed by the U.N." to protect children. Riya

Lack of funding resulting in painful rollbacks: UN Chief Antonio Guterres

Conflicts, climate change and financial turmoil are increasing the need for humanitarian aid, but a lack of funding is resulting in painful rollbacks, the UN chief told a meeting in Geneva

Fossil fuels 'incompatible with human survival,' says UN chief Guterres

The head of the United Nations launched an angry tirade against fossil fuel companies on Thursday, accusing them of betraying future generations and undermining efforts to phase out a product he called incompatible with human survival. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also dismissed suggestions by some oil executives including the man tapped to chair this year's international climate talks in Dubai that fossil fuel firms can keep up production if they find a way to capture planet-warming carbon emissions. He warned that this would just make them more efficient planet-wreckers. It's not the first time the UN chief has called out Big Oil over its role in causing global warming, but the blunt attack reflects growing frustration at the industry's recent profit bonanza despite warnings from scientists that burning fossil fuels will push the world far beyond any safe climate threshold. Last year, the oil and gas industry reaped a record USD 4 trillion windfall in net income, Guterres

On violations of Hindu temples in US, spokesperson says Guterres concerned

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is concerned about the attacks that we've seen around the world on various religions and especially on places of worship, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said

It's time to reform the Security Council, says UN Secy-General Guterres

The UN Security Council reflects the power relations of 1945 and there is a growing need to redistribute power with the realities of contemporary times, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday, as he asserted that it was time to reform the global body. Guterres, while speaking to reporters in Hiroshima at the G7 meeting, said the crushing economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, unsustainable levels of debt, rising interest rates and spiralling inflation are devastating developing and emerging economies. He stressed that among the reasons for problems being faced by developing countries are power-related dimensions. The Bretton Woods system and the Security Council reflect the power relations of 1945. And many things have changed since then. The global financial architecture became outdated, dysfunctional and unfair, Guterres said. Bretton Woods is an international monetary system that was forged by delegates from 44 .

Guterres calls for respect of due process, refrain from violence in Pak

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday took note" of the ongoing protests in Pakistan following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, urging authorities to respect due process and calling for all parties to refrain from violence. Guterres urged authorities in Pakistan to respect due process and the rule of law in proceedings brought against the country's former prime minister, a statement issued by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, said here on Wednesday. The statement said that Guterres takes note of the ongoing protests that have erupted following Khan's arrest on Tuesday in Islamabad. Guterres calls for all parties to refrain from violence. He stresses the need to respect the right to peaceful assembly. Violent clashes between Imran Khan's supporters and security forces have left at least seven people dead and nearly 300 injured across Pakistan as the army was deployed in the country's capital Islamabad, as well as in Punjab, Khyber

UN chief urges nations to not target media as their killings rise by 50%

The United Nations chief warned on the eve of World Press Freedom Day that the media is under attack in every corner of the world and urged all nations to stop the targeting of truth and those who report it. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the 50 per cent increase in the killing of media workers in 2022 "unbelievable," stressing that freedom of the press "is the foundation of democracy and justice" and it is under threat. At least 67 media workers were killed in 2022. In addition, digital platforms and social media have made it easier for extremists to push false narratives and harass journalists. "Truth is threatened by disinformation and hate speech seeking to blur the lines between fact and fiction, between science and conspiracy," Guterres said. Guterres said the collapse of the media industry, which has led to closures of local news outlets and consolidation of media "into the hands of the few" is threatening freedom of expression. So are threatening new laws passed

India participating in Doha meeting convened by UN chief on Afghanistan

India is participating in the meeting convened in Doha by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Afghanistan that is bringing together special envoys from various countries and is aimed at achieving a common understanding on how to engage with the Taliban. Guterres arrived in Doha Monday to host the two-day meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan to reach points of commonality on key issues, such as human rights, in particular women's and girls' rights, inclusive governance, countering terrorism and drug trafficking. The meeting is intended to achieve a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban on these issues, a note issued from the Secretary General's office said here. The note added that India is among the countries and organisations participating in the meeting. The other participants in the meeting are from China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, ..

EAM S Jaishankar to meet UN chief Guterres at HQ during his visit

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to meet UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the UN headquarters here on Thursday. Jaishankar is headed on a nine-day trip to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic beginning Friday, his first visit as the external affairs minister to these countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is scheduled to meet the UN chief in New York on Thursday. Jaishankar had last met Guterres at the world body's headquarters in December 2022, when India was President of the UN Security Council for the month. Jaishankar had presided over two signature events on counter-terrorism and reformed multilateralism held under India's Presidency of the UN Security Council, before the curtains came down on the country's two-year tenure as elected member of the powerful 15-nation Council. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in New Delhi that Jaishankar's visit to the four countries would provide an opportunity to continue high-leve

UN protests US spying on Guterres, calls it 'interference' by Washington

The UN has protested to the US against the spying on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other officials calling it an "interference" by Washington, according to spokesperson Stephane Dujarric