Page 5 - Antonio Guterres

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

UN voices concern over possible escalation of tensions in Sudan's capital

The UN has voiced concern over a possible escalation of tensions in Sudan

Receding glaciers to cut flows of rivers like Indus, Ganges: UN chief

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that major Himalayan rivers like the Indus, the Ganges and Brahmaputra, all hugely important for India, could see reductions in their flows as glaciers and ice sheets recede over the coming decades due to global warming. "Glaciers are critical to all life on earth. Over centuries, they carved out the landmasses we call home. Today, they cover 10 per cent of our world. Glaciers are also the world's water towers," Guterres said in his remarks to an event on the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation Wednesday. Guterres voiced concern that human activity is driving the planet's temperature to dangerous new levels and "melting glaciers are the canary in the coalmine". Antarctica is losing an average of 150 billion tons of ice mass every year while the Greenland ice cap is melting even faster losing 270 billion tonnes per year. In Asia, 10 major rivers originate in the Himalaya region, supplying freshwater to 1.3 billion people living

UN chief Guterres urges 'game-changing' commitments on clean water

The United Nations chief urged the first world conference on water in over 45 years on Wednesday to address the 21st century emergency that is wasting the world's most important resource and has left billions of people without clean water and basic sanitation. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the opening session that water is humanity's lifeblood and a human right, but the world is draining it through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use and evaporating it through global heating. In a challenge to all nations and the broader international community, he said the three-day conference must represent a quantum leap in recognition of the vital importance of water and the need for action to ensure its sustainable use. Guterres called for game-changing commitments toward U.N. goals, including ensuring that all people have access to drinking water and sanitation by 2030. The U.N. World Water Development Report, issued on the eve of the conference, says 26% of the world's .

Guterres asks G20 for pact to hold down warming amid food crisis warnings

he cautioned that "the climate time-bomb is ticking", he also sounded a note of hope: "Today's IPCC report is a how-to guide to defuse the climate time-bomb. It is a survival guide for humanity"

UN agrees high seas treaty to protect ocean life in international waters

Guterres in a statement stated, "This action is a victory for multilateralism and for global efforts to counter the destructive trends facing ocean ocean health, now and for generations to come"

No joint communique on Ukraine conflict due to rift between West, Russia

With the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi unable to come out with a joint communique due to the sharp rift between the West and Russia over the Ukraine conflict, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this is not a reflection on India's efforts as host but of the divisions" seen among countries in the international fora. India as President of the G20 hosted the Foreign Ministers Meeting on Thursday in New Delhi, attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang among counterparts from other G20 nations. The meeting was unable to come out with a joint communique due to a sharp rift between the West and Russia over the Ukraine conflict despite efforts by host India to bridge the differences. Blinken told a news conference in the Indian capital that Russia and China were the two countries that did not support a joint communique at the meeting. Well, we are not a party to the

UN chief Guterres points to 'massive' rights violations in Ukraine

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has triggered the most massive violations of human rights in the world today, the head of the United Nations said on Monday, as the war pushed into its second year with no end in sight. The Russian invasion has unleashed widespread death, destruction and displacement, UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres said in a speech to the UN-backed Human Rights Council in Geneva. After failing to capture the Ukrainian capital in the opening weeks of the invasion and suffering a series of humiliating setbacks in the east and the south during the fall, Russia has stabilised the front and is concentrating its efforts on a slow push to capture the rest of the Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas. Ukraine, meanwhile, hopes to use battle tanks and other new weapons pledged by the West to launch new counteroffensives and reclaim more of the occupied territory. He said attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure have caused many casualties

UN chief Guterres slams 'climate-wrecking' firms at human rights body

UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres on Monday stressed the importance of legal challenges against climate-wrecking corporations" like fossil-fuel producers, ratcheting up his call for the fight against climate change - this time before the UN's top human rights body. Guterres opened the latest session of the Human Rights Council, part of an address that decried summary executions, torture and sexual violence in places like Ukraine; antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and the persecution of Christians; inequality and threats to free expression, among other issues. Guterres also sought to undergird the concept of human rights which have faced "public disregard and private disdain and tie them together with environmental concerns. "Human rights are not a luxury that can be left until we find a solution to the world's other problems. They are THE solution to many of the world's other problems," he said. From the climate emergency to the misuse of technology, the answers to today's cri

Guterres calls on G20 finance ministers to find solutions to debt crisis

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is asking the G20 finance ministers meeting in Bengaluru to take bold steps to reform the international development banks and find ways to solve the debt crisis

UN appoints Indo-Canadian coordinator for Scaling Up Nutrition Movement

United Nations Secretary-General Antnio Guterres has announced the appointment of Indo-Canadian Afshan Khan as the coordinator of the 'Scaling Up Nutrition Movement'. The Scaling Up Nutrition or SUN Movement is a country-driven initiative led by 65 nations and four Indian states united in their mission to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030, Stphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary-general told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York. "Afshan Khan will succeed Gerda Verburg of the Netherlands, to whom the secretary-general expresses his gratitude for her efforts and dedication in leading the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement," he said. Born in India, Khan will lead the SUN Movement Secretariat, as well as coordinate the network of SUN Government Focal Points, the movement's stakeholders, and supporters, Dujarric said. She has both Canadian and United Kingdom citizenship. Khan holds a master's degree in public policy from the , and a bachelor's degree in political science