Antonio Guterres
UN Secretary General António Guterres has used the money accumulated by the 10 richest people in the world during the coronavirus pandemic. He stated this during his appeal to the UN General Assembly, his transcript is available on the organization's website.
According to a report by the charity organization Oxfam, which Guterres cited, these funds would be enough to prevent “anyone from sliding into poverty” as a result of the pandemic and also “to pay for the COVID-19 vaccination for everyone, everywhere.”
He pointed out that the pandemic has exacerbated inequality and that the coronavirus “preys on vulnerable and marginalized people.” “People's capabilities depend on their gender, race, family and ethnicity, whether they have a disability and other factors. These injustices feed each other and lead to people losing confidence in governments and institutions, ”the UN Secretary General stressed.
Guterres previously described 2020 as the year of death, disaster and despair, and expressed the hope that now is the year of the restoration of peace. He also drew attention to economic problems, unemployment, hunger, climate change and geopolitical tensions.
On January 28, the number of cases of coronavirus infection in the world exceeded 100 million. Of these, more than 55.9 million patients have recovered and over 2.1 million have died. The largest number of detected infections is observed in the USA, India, Brazil. Russia ranks fourth.
