The scene of a car bombing attack in Azaz city of Syria on July 19 (Photo: AA/VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The UN Security Council held aninformal interactive dialogue on July 22 with representatives of thePeacebuilding Commission (PBC) to look into the impact of COVID-19 onconflict-affected countries.
The videoconference, co-organised by Germany,Indonesia, Niger and the UK, was also attended by representatives of Canada asPBC Chair, Colombia and Japan as PBC Vice Chairs, and UN AssistantSecretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Oscar Fernandez-Taranco.
PBC representatives said the COVID-19 pandemichas worsen problems in conflict-affected countries, pointing out thathumanitarian crisis and food scarcity have increased, many economies are now onthe brink of collapse, elections have been postponed, and inequality has gotmore serious.
Assistant Secretary-General OscarFernandez-Taranco affirmed obvious impact of this pandemic on peace andsecurity, which he said has made the UN’s works, including intermediary andpeacebuilding roles, harder but also more necessary.
At the dialogue, member states of the UNSecurity Council applauded activities that the PBC has carried out in therecent past to cope with the pandemic. They were relatively unanimous in theneed for an overall and comprehensive approach, attention to the coordinationand cooperation among UN agencies, priority given to vulnerable groups, andimprovement of the role of local communities.
They also suggested the PBC flexibly adjust itspriorities to adapt to pandemic-induced issues.
Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of Vietnam’spermanent mission to the UN, echoed the views on the pandemic’s impact, theimportance of resolving issues as a whole, and the necessity for coordinatingto avoid overlapping in the implementation of UN programmes and actions./.
VNA
