Tuesday, 26 January 2021, 8:49 am
Since September, the devastation wrought by the
COVID-19 pandemic has deepened, infecting close to 100
million people, costing more than $3 trillion in lost wages
and intensifying obstacles for peace and security around the
world, the UN political chief told the Security Council on
Monday.
And while the pandemic has
“hindered diplomatic action and complicated our
peacemaking efforts”, Rosemary DiCarlo,
Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding
Affairs said via videoconference that it has “amplified
the prevention challenge” and aggravated underlying
dynamics of armed conflicts.
Moreover, “new strains
of the virus are poised to unleash more severe waves of
infection at a time when health systems and social safety