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UN / GA COVID-19 RESPONSE OPENING
STORY: UN / GA COVID-19 RESPONSE OPENING
TRT: 3:28
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 3 DECEMBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY
FILE
1. Exterior shot, national flags in wind, UN Headquarters
3 DECEMBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY
2. UPSOUND (English) Volkan Bozkir, President of the UN General Assembly:
“I would like to invite members to stand and observe a minute of silence for all the victims of the coronavirus disease pandemic including those in our United Nations family.”
3. Med shot, Bozkir standing up
4. Wide shot, Bozkir and Guterres at the podium standing up
5. Wide shot, delegates standing in GA Hall
6. Med shot, Bozkir and Guterres seating down
7. Wide shot, Bozkir going to rostrum
8. Wide shot, GA Hall with Bozkir on screens
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Volkan Bozkir, President of the UN General Assembly:
“This is not a time to point fingers. We have convened here to forge a path forward and to end the suffering of the people we serve. Since the beginning, I have been convinced that holding this special session was a test for multilateralism, defined by our collective action on the most critical issue of our time. And it is in no way the end of our joint response and recovery from the pandemic. We were not prepared for COVID-19, but we have to be prepared for the next pandemic, climate catastrophe or global recession. Because a crisis of this magnitude [will come, and ] we will have to meet it when it does.”
10. Cutaway, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“From the start, the World Health Organization provided factual information and scientific guidance that should have been the basis for a coordinated global response. Unfortunately, many of these recommendations were not followed. And in some situations, there was a rejection f facts and ignorance of the guidance. And when countries go in their own direction, the virus goes in every direction.”
12. Wide shot, Guterres at the podium
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“A vaccine cannot undo damage that will stretch across years, even decades to come. Extreme poverty is rising; the threat of famine looms. We face the biggest global recession in eight decades. And these inter-generational impacts are not due to COVID-19 alone. They are the result of long-term fragilities, inequalities and injustices that have been exposed by the pandemic. It is time to reset. As we build a strong recovery, we must seize the opportunity for change.”
14. Wide shot, Guterres at the podium
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“Looking ahead, the recovery from COVID-19 must address the pre-existing conditions it has exposed and exploited, from gaps in basic services to an overheated planet. Stronger health systems and Universal Health Coverage must be a priority. Since 2007, the World Health Organization has declared six Public Health Emergencies of international concern. COVID-19 will not be the last. We must apply the lessons learned if we are to meet our responsibilities to our children and grandchildren.”
16. Wide shot, GA Hall with Guterres on screens
United Nations General Assembly is holding a high-level special session in an effort to forge a united, coordinated, and people-centered path forward in global response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have convened here to forge a path forward and to end the suffering of the people we serve,” Volkan Bozkir, the President of the UN General Assembly said in his opening remarks.
“This is not a time to point fingers,” he said.
At the onset of the session on Thursday (3 Dec), the GA President invited members to observe a minute of silence “for all the victims of the coronavirus disease pandemic including those in our United Nations family.”
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reminded that “from the start, the World Health Organization provided factual information and scientific guidance that should have been the basis for a coordinated global response.”
“Unfortunately, many of these recommendations were not followed,” he lamented. “And when countries go in their own direction, the virus goes in every direction,” Guterres said.
“As we build a strong recovery, we must seize the opportunity for change,” the Secretary-General also said. “A vaccine cannot undo damage that will stretch across years, even decades to come. Extreme poverty is rising; the threat of famine looms. We face the biggest global recession in eight decades. And these inter-generational impacts are not due to COVID-19 alone. They are the result of long-term fragilities, inequalities and injustices that have been exposed by the pandemic. It is time to reset.”
According to Guterres, the recovery from COVID-19 “must address the pre-existing conditions it has exposed and exploited, from gaps in basic services to an overheated planet.”
“Stronger health systems and Universal Health Coverage must be a priority,” he insisted, pointing out that the COVID-19 pandemic is the sixth international public health emergency declared by the WHO since 2007 and it “will not be the last.”
“We must apply the lessons learned if we are to meet our responsibilities to our children and grandchildren,” Guterres said.
The two-day special session will see the world leaders, United Nations principals and other relevant stakeholders to share their experiences in fighting the pandemic, reflect on the global response to date, and forge a united, coordinated, and people-centered path forward.
The first day of the special session on 3 December, consisting of an opening segment followed by a general debate, will focus on the experiences of Member States. The interactive dialogue on 4 December, will entail a series of moderated panels covering key aspects of the impact of, and response to, the COVID-19 pandemic, including the UN system’s health and humanitarian response to date; the road to a COVID-19 vaccine; and the socio-economic impact and recovering better.
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