Posts

Posted on

World Central Banks Under Fire as Cost of Living Surges

For weeks, governments and policymakers across the world have been suggesting the recent spikes in consumer and energy prices are transitory and rising inflation will ease, once pandemic-related chain-supply disruptions and labor shortages are resolved and the global economy reboots.

But recent figures suggest inflation may persist for some time, prompting worries about an explosive cost-of-living crisis, which could roil the domestic politics of countries and disrupt the electoral plans of incumbent parties and their leaders.

Central bankers have been saying the price increases of goods, rent, food and energy are one-offs, the consequences of economies struggling to recover from the induced coma of COVID-19 lockdowns and pandemic restrictions. But new data on inflation from around the world have exceeded forecasts, and central bankers are now being criticized for failing to act to restrain surging prices.

Bank of England stands pat

Central banks are coming under mounting pressure to raise interest rates but are nervous about acting too hastily and reversing recovery by reducing stimulus measures. The Bank of England earlier this month decided not to raise interest rates despite its governor, Andrew Bailey, earlier saying bankers “will have to act and must do so if we see a risk, particularly to medium-term inflation and to medium-term inflation expectations.”

Recent figures show inflation in Britain has now jumped to its highest level in nearly a decade, with the consumer price index climbing 4.2% in October from a year earlier. The Bank of England has an official inflation target of 2%. The bank’s decision not to raise its key rate, leaving it at 0.1%, confounded the financial markets and sent the pound plunging in value, and the inaction is still being criticized by many economic commentators.

They include Neil Wilson of Markets.com, who says the governor’s “credibility is at stake.”

Likewise, in the United States, the Federal Reserve is coming under fire over rising inflation. Earlier this week, Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz and an influential commentator, said he thought America’s central bank was losing credibility over its long-standing view that inflation is transitory.

“I think the Fed is losing credibility. I’ve argued that it is really important to re-establish a credible voice on inflation and this has massive institutional, political and social implications,” he said.

El-Erian told CNBC-TV the Federal Reserve’s inflation stance risked undermining President Joe Biden’s economic agenda, warning that policymakers should not forget that those on low incomes are the hardest hit by rising consumer prices.

In the US

The rapid increase in household living costs already is being felt by Americans.

According to a series of opinion polls conducted by the pollster YouGov for The Economist magazine, 46% of Americans said they believed the state of the economy was “getting worse,” with only 19% saying it was “getting better.”

In the U.S., the consumer price index rose 6.2% in the 12 months ending in October, the highest rate in three decades. Americans said rising wages were not keeping up with rapidly increasing prices. Fifty-six percent of the respondents to YouGov said they were having trouble affording fuel, 48% could not easily pay their rent or mortgages and 45% said they were struggling to feed their families.

Some member states of the European Union also are facing a cost-of-living crisis.

Romania reported in October an annual inflation rate of 6.5%, the highest increase in consumer prices among EU member states in southeast Europe, according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office. Eurozone inflation is running at 4.1%, more than double the European Central Bank’s target.

Increases seen as transitory

This week, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde conceded that Eurozone inflation likely would remain elevated for longer than had been expected. She remained wedded to the idea that price increases were likely transitory, and she was still forecasting inflation would drop below the bank’s 2% target in the medium term.

“We still see inflation moderating in the next year, but it will take longer to decline than originally expected,” she told lawmakers at the European Parliament.

Some economists in Europe, however, question her optimism. They say the pandemic is far from over, pointing to a fourth wave prompting rising cases across much of the continent and the prospect of a return of economically damaging retractions. Germany has declared a state of emergency and Austria has announced a full lockdown to begin Monday, becoming the first European country to go back under a full lockdown and the first to make COVID-19 vaccination compulsory.

Germany’s coronavirus situation is so grave that a lockdown, including for the vaccinated, cannot be ruled out, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Friday.

“We are in a national emergency,” he told a news conference.

The path back to normality is now again murky for Europe, and economists say the impact of a fourth wave of the coronavirus on household budgets is going to be significant — this at a time when the price of almost everything is going through the roof.

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

After Pledging to Lead on Climate Issues, US Sells New Oil Drilling Rights

In a move that has some environmental activists charging it with hypocrisy, the Biden administration has approved the sale of oil and gas drilling rights to more than 80 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico — an act it says was mandated by a federal court ruling.

The auction on Wednesday by an arm of the U.S. Interior Department resulted in leases for 1.7 million of the 80 million available acres, with Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. among the top buyers. Some 308 lots were purchased for a total of $191.7 million, though it is not certain exactly how much of that will ultimately be developed.

The decision came just days after the close of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), at which President Joe Biden promised that the United States would be “leading by the power of our example” in the effort to achieve a zero-emissions future.

While some environmental groups accuse the administration of going back on its word, the Biden administration has said that it was forced to agree to the sale by a federal court ruling.

Shortly after taking office in January, Biden announced a moratorium on new leases for oil and gas projects on federal property. Republican attorneys general in more than a dozen states filed lawsuits challenging the halt in lease auctions, and in June, a U.S. District Court judge in Louisiana issued an injunction instructing the Biden administration to resume selling drilling rights.

At the time, a spokesperson for the Interior Department, which oversees the leasing of public lands for energy development, said, “We are reviewing the judge’s opinion, and will comply with the decision.”

In 2018, a report from the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the operations of the fossil fuels industry — that is, the extraction, refining, and transportation of fuels, before they are actually used by the consumer — is responsible for about 23% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. The report is frequently cited by environmental groups opposed to the leasing of public lands for energy development.

Wednesday’s auction took place despite a pending lawsuit filed in Washington by the climate activist group Earthjustice. The suit alleges that an environmental impact study conducted in 2017, which the Biden administration used to justify the auction, was flawed and cannot be relied on.

Other options available

Brettny Hardy, a senior attorney with Earthjustice, told VOA that Biden had several other options for preventing the auction of the new leases but chose not to exercise them.

“The administration keeps saying that his hands were tied because of this Louisiana court ruling. But the administration has a ton of discretion under the underlying statute which is at play here, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.”

She acknowledged that the administration is appealing the district court ruling but criticized it for not seeking a stay of the judge’s ruling while the appeal is decided.

Additionally, she said, the administration is aware of the failings of the environmental impact study underpinning the lease auction, pointing out that two other courts have already ruled that the greenhouse gas emissions model it used was insufficient. The administration could have used that knowledge to declare the auction illegal under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Energy industry pleased

By contrast, the energy industry and its supporters in Washington cheered the move.

In a statement provided to VOA, Frank Macchiarola, American Petroleum Institute senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs, said: “U.S. oil and natural gas production on federal lands and waters delivers the affordable and reliable energy America needs while providing much-needed funding for conservation, education, infrastructure and other important state and local priorities.”

“Notably, U.S. oil and natural gas produced offshore in the Gulf of Mexico is also among the lowest carbon barrels produced in the world, according to U.S. Department of the Interior analysis that shows emissions from international substitutions are more carbon intensive,” he added.

In a statement, Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, a trade group for the offshore energy industry, called on the Biden administration to offer more lease auctions in the future.

“Continued leasing is critical to our energy future; good decisions today will benefit America tomorrow,” he said, adding that certainty about future leases “will advance climate progress, stimulate continued economic growth, support high-paying jobs throughout the country, and strengthen our long-term national security.”

Lease extensions

It will take between five and 10 years for actual oil production to begin on the new sites, but once a site is producing oil, the energy company running the drilling operation is typically allowed to extend the lease indefinitely.

The Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, a 160-million-acre expanse that includes the areas sold Wednesday, holds about 48 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

A ‘carbon bomb’

Environmental organizations said this week that they remain focused on pressuring the Biden administration to roll back the leases and reimpose the moratorium on additional auctions.

“The Biden administration is lighting the fuse on a massive carbon bomb in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s hard to imagine a more dangerous, hypocritical action in the aftermath of the climate summit,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“This will inevitably lead to more catastrophic oil spills, more toxic climate pollution and more suffering for communities and wildlife along the Gulf Coast,” she said. “Biden has the authority to stop this, but instead he’s casting his lot in with the fossil fuel industry and worsening the climate emergency.”

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

Partial Lunar Eclipse to be Longest Since 1440

The longest partial lunar eclipse in nearly 600 years, which will bathe the moon in red, will be visible Thursday and Friday for a big slice of humanity.

The celestial show will see the moon almost completely cast in shadow as it moves behind the Earth, reddening 99% of its face.

The spectacle will be visible for all of North America, as well as parts of South America, Polynesia, Australia and northeast Asia.

Sky-watchers in those parts who are blessed with a cloud-free view will see a slight dimming of the moon from 0602 GMT Friday as it enters Earth’s penumbra, the outer shadow.

An hour later it will appear as if someone has taken a giant bite out of the lunar disc as it starts to pass into the umbra, the full shadow.

By 0845 GMT the moon will appear red, with the most vivid coloring visible at peak eclipse 18 minutes later.

The whole process then goes into reverse as the moon slips out of shadow and carries on its endless journey around our planet.

The dramatic red is caused by a phenomenon known as “Rayleigh scattering,” where the shorter blue light waves from the sun are dispersed by particles in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Red light waves, which are longer, pass easily through these particles.

“The more dust or clouds in Earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse, the redder the moon will appear,” a NASA website explains.

From the moment the eclipse proper begins — when the moon enters the Earth’s shadow — to when it ends will take more than three hours, 28 minutes.

That is the longest partial eclipse since 1440, around the time Johannes Gutenberg invented his printing press, and won’t be beaten until the far-off future of 2669.

The good news for moon watchers, however, is that they won’t have to wait that long for another show. There will be a total lunar eclipse on November 8 next year, NASA says.

And even better news for anyone wanting to watch is that no special equipment is necessary, unlike for solar eclipses.

Binoculars, telescopes or the naked eye will give a decent view of the spectacle — as long as the weather here on Earth plays ball.

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

A More Connected Global Economy Is a Double-Edged Sword, Says WTO

In its annual report on the status of global trade, the World Trade Organization finds that the increasing interconnectedness of the world’s economies is a double-edged sword.

While this globalization makes individual countries more vulnerable to short-term shocks, the WTO says, it also allows them to recover far more quickly than they would have in the past.

The report finds, among other things, that global trade in merchandise, after plummeting sharply in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, has already rebounded to above pre-pandemic levels. By the middle of 2022, trade volumes will have caught up with the pre-pandemic trend, meaning that the amount of goods being bought and sold internationally will be at the same level that economists would have predicted if there had been no pandemic at all.

In a foreword to the report, WTO Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic is an example of both the challenges and the benefits of increased globalization.

“The deep interconnections of travel, trade and financial flows that characterize our era allowed the novel coronavirus and its associated economic shocks to spread around the world in a matter of weeks. Earlier pandemics took months, even years, to go global,” she wrote.

“Yet, globalization was also at the heart of why this virus was met with vaccines in record time. Scientists were able to share ideas and technology across borders, backed by public and private funding for research and development,” she wrote. “As the new vaccines proved to be safe and effective, supply chains cutting across hundreds of sites in a dozen or more countries came together to provide the specialized inputs and capital goods needed for vaccine production on a large scale — all within a year.”

Shortages in the US

Scott Lincicome, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Cato Institute and a frequent writer on trade issues, told VOA that the WTO’s analysis holds up to scrutiny.

“We’ve seen this play out during the pandemic,” Lincicome said. “Companies that were more domestically oriented really didn’t end up better off than more globally diversified companies.”

In the United States, he said, some of the most significant shortages and price increases involved goods the United States largely produces on its own, like pickup trucks and food.

“Pickup trucks were in higher shortage last year than sedans, and we import more sedans,” he said. “If you look at food production this year, most of our food production is domestic. But some of the biggest shortages and price hikes we’re seeing are on food.”

Interconnectedness tied to stability

The report also found that the more diversified a country’s trading relationships were with the rest of the world, the less likely they were to experience significant economic volatility.

Drawing on data collected by the International Monetary Fund, the authors established that countries with high levels of trade diversification in 2008 were likely to suffer far less volatility, measured as deviation from average annual Gross Domestic Product, over the 10-year period ending in 2018.

“Trade allows a country to diversify its sources of demand and supply, thereby reducing the country’s exposure to country-specific demand and supply shocks,” the report finds. “For example, when a country has multiple trading partners, a domestic recession or a recession in any one of its trading partners translates into a smaller demand shock for its producers than when trade is more limited.”

‘Reshoring’ production may not be helpful

The report also warns against the temptation of “reshoring,” that is, the effort some countries are making to become self-sufficient in key industries.

Especially in the early months of the pandemic, there were calls in many countries, including the United States, to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers for critical medical equipment, personal protective gear and vaccine components.

In another example, former President Donald Trump placed tariffs on foreign-made steel in an effort to force the return of steel production to the United States, saying it was necessary for national security to be self-sufficient in the production of the metal.

Trump’s effort was ultimately unsuccessful, and if the report is correct, that may be reason for U.S. companies that use steel to be grateful.

“Restricting trade and promoting national self-sufficiency almost inevitably render national economies less efficient in the long run, as such policies ultimately drive up prices of goods and services and restrict access to products, components and technologies,” the report warns.

Lincicome said the ultimate goal of the WTO in dissuading countries from reshoring production is to maintain healthy economic ties across borders.

“The WTO is responding to a pretty significant threat from certain policymakers, whose knee-jerk response to the pandemic is to employ more protectionism,” he said. “In terms of economics, that’s a bad idea. But also, I think in terms of geopolitics, the more that countries turn inward, the more likelihood there is for there to be some sort of future tensions.”

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

Angola discusses boosting cooperation with Djibouti and South Africa

Luanda – The Angolan ambassador to Ethiopia, Francisco José da Cruz, Tuesday discussed bilateral matters and issues related to the African Union (AU) with the counterparts of Djibouti and South Africa, Abdi Mahamoud Eybe and Edward Xolisa Makaya, respectively.

According to a note from the Angolan diplomatic office, sent to ANGOP on Wednesday, Francisco José da Cruz, who is also Angola’s permanent representative to the AU and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), had in the last few days similar meetings with the ambassadors of the United States and the European Union (EU) to the AU, Jessica Lapenn and Birgitte Markussen, respectively.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Posted on

For Millions in Brazil, Rising Poverty and Fuel Prices Mean a Return to the Past

María Ribeiro da Silva, 64, spent a hot afternoon hawking a new contraption to acquaintances and friends who passed by her small grocery store on the outskirts of São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and home to more than 12 million people.

Everyone who passed by received the same invitation from her: “Come, come and see my stove. It’s beautiful. I made it.”

Each guest received the same explanation: “I built a real wood fire oven, with a chimney and everything. No more smoke, no more heat.”

It had been almost 50 years since Ribeiro da Silva cooked with firewood. Since she arrived in São Paulo in 1974, fleeing drought, hunger and poverty in the impoverished northeast region of Brazil, she has only cooked with gas.

“I spent my childhood using firewood. We didn’t have gas. We didn’t have the money to have a real stove. But since I arrived in Sao Paulo … wood was in the past,” she told VOA.

But with the Brazilian economy worsening, and the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the poorest parts of the population, firewood has become the only option for millions of families like Ribeiro da Silvas’.

It was a slow and gradual process for Ribeiro da Silva. First, firewood was only used in extreme cases when the gas ran out and there was not enough money to replace it. But when she lost her job as a cleaner at a company in downtown São Paulo six months ago, firewood became the primary fuel to cook food.

“Now, I only use the gas stove for simple things like making coffee or heating the food I cooked on firewood. I don’t have any more money to buy gas. The price is too high. It’s impossible,” she said.

Skyrocketing fuel prices

According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, at least 25% of the Brazilian population is using wood as their primary cooking source.

This was before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Due to the pandemic, the Brazilian Statistical Institute stopped carrying out quarterly in-person surveys, so we don’t have data for 2020 and 2021,” said Adriana Gioda, a professor in the department of chemistry at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and a leading researcher on firewood consumption by Brazilian families.

“But since 2016, when the federal government cut subsidies for residential gas and tied the fuel price policy to the international prices, there has been a steady growth in the use of firewood to make food,” she told VOA.

Fuel prices have been rising steadily over the past five years but have skyrocketed since President Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019. He promised not to interfere with the country’s state oil company and allow fuel prices to follow the international market.

This year alone, the price of residential gas rose by an average of 35%. Liquefied petroleum gas is the primary fuel for food production in Brazil, and its cost is linked directly to the price of the oil barrels.

‘Back in time’

“In the interior of Brazil, in rural and more isolated areas, using firewood is a tradition. But what impressed us most is that the use of wood is advancing precisely in the most urban areas, in large Brazilian cities, such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo,” Gioda said.

And it is rising in areas such as Jardim Marajoara, a poor neighborhood of migrants from the northeast region of Brazil on Sao Paulo’s outskirts, where Ribeiro da Silva lives. It is in these regions that the poorest and those most affected by the economic crisis are concentrated.

Juarez Viana, a bus driver who also lost his job during the pandemic, has turned to firewood to cook. He, like Ribeiro da Silva, lives in a suburb of São Paulo that is sprawling into the last green areas of the city. Once a week, he crosses the street and enters a small forest to fetch wood.

“It’s hard work, and it seems like I’ve gone back in time,” said Viana, who is also a migrant from the Brazilian northeast. At 49, he remembers cooking with wood as a child. “But it’s worth it. We do not have more money to buy gas. The price is out of control. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“We are going back in time, going back at least half a century,” said pulmonologist Elie Fiss, a research director at Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz. “Since the 1960s, we no longer saw respiratory problems related to the use of firewood for cooking. But with so many people going back to the firewood, this is a problem that will soon return to hospitals.”

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

Bonds, Stocks, Economy: How China’s Property Woes Are Spilling Overseas

Marco Metzler of Switzerland gets 2,000 new followers a day on LinkedIn, all watching to see what will happen to his money. Metzler invested $50,000 last month in the offshore bonds of real estate developer China Evergrande Group to see if he would get any returns. The former Fitch Ratings analyst is not expecting much. He’s out to prove a point about China’s troubled property sector by chronicling the fate of his investment on social media.

“I was concerned about what was going on, and from my past I’m able to read rating reports and also to see what’s going on in the world in economics, and I felt obligated to speak out to the world and to warn about that situation,” Metzler told VOA. “We didn’t invest to get the money back, so I’m fully aware this will be lost.”

Evergrande has struggled since last year, when the Chinese government began clamping down on the country’s property sector to rein in excessive debt and cap speculation.

Towering apartment blocks today extend far into the suburbs of major Chinese cities, but many flats are unoccupied, owned instead by absentee speculators and their banks. Evergrande Group, one of China’s biggest property developers by revenue, is now selling assets and may be staring down a massive restructuring to ease debt.

Companies or governments that invest in offshore bonds, and individuals who trade stocks listed outside mainland China and its $15.42 trillion economy, are coming to terms — albeit more quietly than Metzler — with the Chinese property crisis of 2021. These troubles are threatening bond returns, lowering some stock prices and could erode at least a quarter of the world’s second largest economy.

“I don’t think anyone debates the importance of the real estate market on the Chinese economy,” said James Macdonald, head of the property services firm Savills Research in Shanghai, who estimates real estate at 25% to 30% of China’s economy.

“If we do see a significant slowdown in the real estate market, it will have an impact in terms of domestic economic growth rates, and that could have a knock-on effect in terms of global economy,” Macdonald said.

As many analysts have noted, any major economic shocks that hit China, a country closely tied to the global manufacturing supply chain, and whose massive consumer base importers and exporters rely on, are inevitably felt around the world.

Property crisis: Evergrande and beyond

Evergrande is a bellwether firm that is more than $300 billion in debt. Hong Kong-listed shares in Evergrande have tumbled since February, though the developer averted default in October by paying interest on an overseas bond.

Another Chinese development giant, Kaisa Group Holdings, faces limited funding access and uncertainty over refinancing a “significant amount” of U.S.-dollar bond payments into next year “in light of ongoing capital-market volatility,” Fitch said in an e-mailed news release last month.

Smaller property developers are likely to rattle bond markets outside China because they are “less sound” than bigger ones, said Lillian Li, a vice president-senior credit officer at the Moody’s ratings service.

“We see that the offshore bond market has actually shown larger volatility than the domestic market in front of these regulatory crackdowns, including in the property sector,” Li said.

The Hang Seng Properties Index in Hong Kong, where foreigners are allowed to trade shares of Chinese companies, has lost about 1.2% year to date.

Municipal officials in some cities capped home purchase prices in September to deter speculators, further hobbling property momentum in China. The domestic property market could shrink by half a percent in 2022, Li said. Last month, prices for new as well as resale homes fell amid a fall in construction starts.

What happens next

Evergrande has offered its investors cash payment by installments as well as putting forth actual structures as repayment assets, the state-run China Daily news website says.

Central government officials hope to contain property speculation and leave property for people to occupy, the official Xinhua News Agency reports.

About $52 billion in Chinese property bonds will mature next year and $44 billion the following year, said Henry Chin, Asia Pacific research head with the real estate services firm CBRE. Other bond issuers will default, he forecasts.

No offshore investors want the bonds now, said Liang Kuo-yuan, president of the Taipei-based Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute, though he believes Taiwanese insurers and pension funds have invested in the past.

“Taiwan’s insurers more or less will buy high-yield and high-risk investment products, because the interest rates on policies they’ve sold in the past are too high,” Liang said.

Evergrande was once seen as the epitome of a Chinese property mainland market, Liang added. China’s real estate sector, the world’s largest, grew briskly from 2010 to 2018, says investment bank J.P. Morgan.

But not all is lost, some analysts say.

Investors in private equity for distressed debt could get a lift from China’s property spillover if companies look for new ways to repay debt, said Chin of CBRE. Some stock-buying vehicles have made money, too. Shares of the TAO-Invesco China Real Estate exchange-traded fund of Chinese stocks including Evergrande, for example, has grown 65% year to date.

But back in Switzerland, Metzler wrote on LinkedIn that Evergrande had “officially defaulted on overdue interest payments” and that his current company, DMSA, would file a bankruptcy case against the group. He calls China’s property market “a first domino” in a broader financial and economic crisis.

“The old system needs to come down before a new system will be established,” he told VOA.

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

General Assembly Delegates Call for Breaking New Ground on Security Council Reform, with Many Denouncing Unfettered Veto Use, Lack of Transparency

SEVENTY-SIXTH SESSION, 35TH MEETING (PM)

Appointments Made to Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, International Civil Service Commission

The General Assembly continued its debate on Security Council reform today, with delegates continuing to call for urgent action given the multitude of new and complex global challenges.

Guyana’s representative, stressing that there have been 29 years of structured consideration of Council reform and 12 years of intergovernmental negotiations, called for political will to prioritize and normalize the intergovernmental negotiations process. She advocated for expansion of Council membership in both permanent and non-permanent categories and the guaranteed presence of small island developing States. Given their unique experiences, she said those States have important contributions to make, especially given the threat of climate change.

South Africa’s representative, also addressing the issue of Council composition, said that, apart from being historically unjust, the lack of Africa’s representation adversely affects the Council’s ability to address matters of peace and security on the continent. As there is wider recognition and support for the common African position, she urged Member States to move forward on that basis and to begin negotiations.

Indeed, the Council must better reflect contemporary geopolitical realities, with greater representation for Asia, Africa and Latin America, said Australia’s representative, citing challenges ranging from rapid technological advancement to unprecedented security, economic and health challenges, including COVID-19. Its working methods must also be improved to ensure it is more accountable to Member States. Also, better standards must be developed for the more transparent use of the veto, he said.

Other delegates also expressed concerns about use of the veto, with Spain’s representative emphasizing that “the power of veto is an error” and that it should “head towards disappearance”. Voicing support for the France-Mexico initiative on the veto — supported by 106 States — she said reinforced multilateralism necessarily must include reform of the Council. Cuba’s representative said that, while her country has always been opposed to the veto, new permanent members must have the same prerogatives as the current ones.

Ukraine’s representative was one of several to offer views on the negotiation process itself, emphasizing that efforts must be ambitious enough to break the vicious cycle of year-to-year repetitions of positions. New avenues for progress could be opened via text-based talks. To ensure the success of future attempts, more time for drafting and broader ownership of a General Assembly decision are needed. He called for a text that serves as a basis for negotiations, which reflects the entire scope of positions, and which acknowledges unchallenged proposals as commonalities.

Also today, the Assembly appointed members to four of its subsidiary bodies, on the recommendation of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary): the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), Committee on Contributions, International Civil Service Commission and the Board of Auditors. It also confirmed two reappointments to its Investments Committee.

Also delivering statements on Security Council reform were representatives of the United States, Republic of Korea, Morocco, Malta, Argentina, Colombia, France, Venezuela, Belarus, Federated States of Micronesia, Canada, Nicaragua, Liechtenstein, Algeria, Slovenia, Georgia, Philippines, Slovakia, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Cambodia, Uganda, Libya and Indonesia.

The General Assembly will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 17 November, to take up the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Appointments

Acting on the recommendation of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the Assembly took up five reports under sub-items a) to e) of its agenda item on “Appointments to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs and other appointments”.

Taking up the report “Appointment of members of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions” (document A/76/516), the General Assembly decided to appoint or reappoint Yves Eric Ahoussougbemey (Benin), Amjad Qaid al Kumaim (Yemen), Makiese Kinkela Augusto (Angola), Sharon Brennen-Haylock (Bahamas) and Jakub Chmielewski (Poland) for a three-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2022.

Next, the Assembly considered the report “Appointment of members of the Committee on Contributions” (document A/76/517), deciding to appoint or reappoint Syed Yawar Ali (Pakistan), Phologo Kaone Bogatsu (Botswana), Jasminka Dinic (Croatia), Ihor Humennyi (Ukraine), Kitano Mitsuru (Japan) and Thomas Anthony Repasch (United States) for a three-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2022.

Turning to the report “Confirmation of the appointment of members of the Investments Committee” (document A/76/518), the Assembly confirmed the Secretary General’s reappointments of Keiko Honda (Japan) as a regular member for a three-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2022, and of Macky Tall (Mali) as an ad hoc member for a one-year term of office, beginning on 1 January 2022.

Taking up the report “Appointment of a member of the Board of Auditors” (document A/76/519), the Assembly decided to appoint the First President of the Court of Accounts of France for a six-year term of office beginning on 1 July 2022.

Finally, the Assembly considered the report “Appointment of members of the International Civil Service Commission” (document A/76/520), deciding to appoint or reappoint Claudia Angélica Bueno Reynaga (Mexico), Spyridon Flogaitis (Greece), Kaji Misako (Japan), Jeffrey Mounts (United States) and Shauna Olney (Canada) for a four-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2022. It also decided to designate Boguslaw Winid (Poland) as Vice-Chair for a period of four years, subject to a corresponding extension of his term of office as a member of the International Civil Service Commission.

Statements

MAJID TAKHT RAVANCHI (Iran) said improving the Security Council’s work methods and accountability, and ensuring that decisions are taken in accordance with international law, are no less important than the body’s enlargement. Many Council members are from the West, while the main regions are poorly represented in both number and privilege, including veto power, meaning that inequalities must be addressed both among and within the regions. He expressed full support for addressing historical injustices towards the developing world, particularly Africa — and within regions, providing advantages to those States that have never served on the Council. To that end, he suggested that factors such as population, economic power and regional position could be considered. “A reform that serves the interests of only certain regions or a few States is not acceptable,” he said. On work methods, which must comply with international law, he said sanctions must be applied rarely, in a smart and targeted manner, with limited scope and duration — and only when all “measures not involving the use of armed force” are exhausted. Transforming the Council into a rules-based and accountable body must remain a top priority, he added.

THOMAS CARNAHAN (United States) noting that the intergovernmental negotiations framework remains the most appropriate forum in which to discuss any changes to the Council’s permanent membership, said the United States is open to any form of negotiation within that framework as long as it allows for a broad consensus. Likewise, the United States remains open to an expansion of the Council for both permanent and non-permanent members, he said, noting that expansion should neither diminish the Council’s effectiveness nor alter or expand the veto. Calling the Council an “important tool” for addressing the most pressing threats to international peace and security, he nonetheless acknowledged that it occasionally falls short and that a well-executed expansion could help modernize the body to better reflect realities and increase its effectiveness.

MATHU JOYINI (South Africa), associating herself with the African Group and the L69 Group of developing countries, called for addressing Africa’s lack of permanent representation and under-representation in the non-permanent category. Apart from being historically unjust, the lack of representation adversely affects the Council’s ability to address matters of peace and security on the continent. She expressed full support for the common African position with the goal of Africa being fully represented in all decision-making organs of the United Nations. As there is wider recognition and support for the common African position than in years past, she urged Member States to move forward on that basis. The injustice of exclusion from the premier United Nations body must be undone and rectified as a matter of high priority. As such, text-based negotiations must be set on track. Delays in the Council’s reform will not help address threats to international peace and security. She expressed hope that Member States will take seriously the mandate of the intergovernmental negotiations and thus, commence negotiations.

CHO HYUN (Republic of Korea), associating himself with the Uniting for Consensus Group, said the idea of reforming the Council by simply enlarging the problematic permanent membership will only amplify the deficiencies. If it is difficult to eliminate permanent membership, “we must at least not add any new ones”. The best way to reform the Council would be to increase the proportion of its members that are regularly replaced by the entire membership through elections at the General Assembly. Increasing the number of elected members would allow representation from a variety of groups developing countries, Africa, small island developing States and small States among them to be strengthened. He described such a change as “true reform for all”, which would make the Council more democratic, efficient and dynamic. The intergovernmental negotiation process allows for frank, in-depth discussions in an informal setting, which was not available in the Open-Ended Working Group. Member States have steadily narrowed their differences and moved towards finding common ground, allowing for the establishment of reform that enjoys the widest possible political acceptance. True reform should be based on a clear vision of how global governance should be, rather than by narrowly defined national interests.

IMANE BENZIANE (Morocco), associating with the African Group and the Group of Arab States, said reform of the Council must be comprehensive, not gradual. Expressing support for greater representation and effectiveness, she described the Council’s mandate as “clear and unambiguous” and said the current intergovernmental format must be preserved. At the same time, increased representation should not be achieved to the detriment of effectiveness, efficiency and accountability, she added, describing the Council’s enlargement as an “absolute necessity”. It is unacceptable that Africa is the only continent not represented as a permanent member and underrepresented in the non-permanent category, she said, calling for greater representation, notably as 10 of the 16 largest troop contributors, including Morocco, are African States. Reiterating support for Africa’s equitable representation in both categories of seats, she said the Arab States Group similarly deserves greater representation and she described the current absence as “regrettable”. Further, use of the veto should be more widely debated and made available to all permanent Council members.

VANESSA FRAZIER (Malta), associating herself with the Uniting for Consensus Group, said the COVID 19 pandemic has further exacerbated the need to reform the Security Council and make it more credible and capable of responding to both longstanding challenges and emerging threats. Voicing support for the expansion of elected members — an element which enjoys full convergence amongst all negotiating groups and delegations — she described that solution as a “truly democratic” one which will transform the Council and render it more representative, transparent, efficient and accountable. “We cannot afford to have our next session be composed of the impasse that has overtaken the very essence of our work in past sessions,” she stressed, noting that talks should now lead to a common understanding of what “reform for all” should look like.

MARÍA DEL CARMEN SQUEFF(Argentina), associating herself with the Uniting for Consensus Group, said the Council continues to be non-representative and dominated by some members, due in part to the power of the veto. Working methods lack transparency and permit reduced participation by non-members of the Council, which must now adapt to challenges emerging in the twenty-first century. A real reform effort must truly alleviate some of the world’s problems, she said, noting that adding new members is not the solution. Instead, elected members would make the Council more effective and dynamic. While agreement on some issues is still far from being attained, intergovernmental negotiations are the most appropriate way to advance the progress, with discussions focusing on substantive issues and working towards consensus, as outlined in the Uniting for Consensus proposals.

MARI´A BASSOLS DELGADO (Spain) associating herself with the Uniting for Consensus Group, described the conclusion of negotiations on Council reform during the session and proposals for changing the format of those talks as “frustrating”. The problem lies in the lack of agreement on the substance of the reform rather than in the negotiating format. She expressed hope to see a Council that is more democratic, representative, efficient, accountable and transparent, based on the legal equality of States. Stressing that the nine permanent Council members have become “different countries” in the course of 75 years, she called for agreement on the reform principles and for changes that are not “cosmetic”. Turning to the expansion of the Council’s membership, she said countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as small island and developing States should have more voice in the Council. With 21 elected members, the Council would be better equipped to address global realities. Emphasizing that “the power of veto is an error”, she demanded that it “head towards disappearance”. Voicing support for the France Mexico initiative on the veto supported by 106 States she said reinforced multilateralism necessarily must include reform of the Council.

GUILLERMO ROQUE FERNANDEZ DE SOTO VALDERRAMA (Colombia), associating himself with the Uniting for Consensus Group, said the intergovernmental negotiations are the only legitimate platform for discussing Council reform. Calling text-based negotiations “unacceptable”, he explained that issues of substance must be the focus before matters of procedure. Consensus is the only way forward, he said, urging Member States to persevere with collective focus. On the composition of the Council, he said increasing the number of permanent seats with the right to veto would not only impede fair and comprehensive reform but would contradict the rights of all Member States to participate in international peace and security matters, deepening the imbalances. Colombia does not support extending privileges and capacities to new members. Instead, he proposed an increase in the number of elected members with a two-year mandate, as well as the creation of non-permanent seats with terms longer than two years, noting that longer-term seats would be more representative and efficient. Moreover, a rotation system would open the door for developing countries from all regions to contribute, based on their capacity and under equal conditions.

BRICE FODDA (France), calling for “real negotiations”, supported proposals for greater transparency and, to this end, suggested that statements by like-minded countries be collected and made available. Above all, the start of negations should be based on a draft, which would allow States to avoid the endless repetition of speeches. Acknowledging that this task is extremely difficult, he called for the adoption of useful documents. Enlargement of the Security Council would make it more representative of the world of today and bolster its authority while preserving its executive nature, he said, adding that it is up to those States requesting a permanent seat to decide on the “extremely sensitive” topic of the veto. The objective must be to enhance the Council’s legitimacy, on the one hand, and to bolster its capacity to maintain international peace and security, on the other.

JORGE ARTURO REYES HERNÁNDEZ (Venezuela) said the function of the intergovernmental negotiations is to seek a balance on Council reform, and discussions in that format — based on inclusive dialogue — can facilitate finding a holistic solution to advance progress on equitable representation and enlarging its membership. Given continued divergence on certain issues, forcing a text-based negotiation format could be counter-productive and even impact progress made thus far. The principles of inclusion and legal equality among States are essential elements of multilateralism that should guide the negotiation process and related results. Venezuela supports adequate representation for African States, which comprise one quarter of the United Nations membership and constitute 70 per cent of the Council’s work. The intergovernmental negotiations clearly demonstrate the need to correct the historic imbalances inherited from colonialism, and to augment the presence of African States on the Council.

ARTSIOM TOZIK (Belarus) said that moving Council reform discussions beyond the intergovernmental negotiations framework would lead to a “dead end”. Calling on States to adhere to clearly agreed-upon terms and a timeline for the next round of intergovernmental negotiations, he warned against extending or increasing the number of meetings. Pointing to fundamental differences in States’ approaches to reform, he said none of the proposed configurations has yet received any tangible support. Therefore, reform must be incremental, inclusive and based on dialogue. Drawing attention to the prematurity of negotiation outcomes, he opposed calls for text-based negotiations and requested at least one additional non-permanent seat for the Eastern European States. He said the Council’s expansion is a State-owned and State-driven process while cautioning against disregarding the principle of consensus, which would be tantamount to discriminating against States.

ROSA AMELIA GUERRA TAMAYO (Cuba) said that to advance the intergovernmental negotiations, Member States must continue to work since what has been achieved. The Council must be efficient, democratic, transparent and representative, including through informal negotiations. She expressed support for enlarging the membership in both the permanent and non-permanent categories to rectify the insufficient representation of developing countries. While Cuba has always opposed the veto, she stressed that new permanent members must have the same prerogatives as the current ones. She rejected the creation of new categories or sub-categories, which would promote divisions. The Council must stop interfering in areas outside of its jurisdiction, she added, especially those within the purview of the General Assembly.

JANE J. CHIGIYAL (Federated States of Micronesia) associating herself with the L69 Group, called for a reformed Council that is fit for today’s challenges and responds to even the smallest of its members. “This is our collective time in our history to reform our United Nations and the United Nations Security Council that was built in the 1940s,” she said. She called for improved work methods within the intergovernmental negotiations framework related to documentation and record-keeping, which are critical to enhancing the efficiency and transparency of the process. She underscored the importance of attribution.

Ms. TUDOR-BEZIES (Canada) said her country will do its best to achieve the broadest consensus possible, as Council reform is of capital importance. “The expectations of so many Member States are at stake,” she said. The Council must be accountable, transparent and efficient. Canada will continue to work with Member States from Africa, small island developing States, small States and developing countries to expand representation, she stressed, noting that any reform effort must address Africa’s historically unjust treatment. A reformed Council should better serve everyone. Recalling that consensus should not be a goal “in and of itself” but rather, a visible demonstration of collective will, she said reform will come through an amended United Nations Charter, which will require an intergovernmental process. When a proposal for a reformed Council is presented to Governments, it must one that is aligned with the commitment to a renewed social contract and to a multilateral system that is accountable to the people it is meant to serve.

ALINA J. LLANO (Nicaragua), associating herself with the L69 Group, said the United Nations has not yet managed to achieve the goal set forth in its Charter, so a vital transformation must now create an Organization that better serves humanity. The Council must be reformed to ensure that its composition reflects reality in the twenty-first century. Africa must be heard, as enshrined in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Likewise, the aspirations of the Arab Group, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and other regional groups must also be heard on achieving equitable representation in the Council. Considering these and other concerns, efforts to advance negotiations must be made with a view to finalizing a real process for reform.

CHRISTIAN WENAWESER (Liechtenstein) said an intermediate model, featuring long-term renewable seats without additional veto rights for any State, has the potential to better represent the geopolitical realities of today. It is unacceptable that some regions, such as Africa, are underrepresented on the Council, he said, noting that Liechtenstein fails to see how adding new veto powers can be considered beneficial to the Council’s effectiveness. Noting that the permanent presence of additional countries can establish a healthier power balance, he said that meaningful reform must include an agreement on use of the veto. He cited the proposal for a code of conduct on mass atrocities, joined by 122 States, as a positive initiative, observing that use of the veto has increased in recent years. He called on States to create an accountability mechanism, potentially convening the General Assembly each time the veto is cast in the Council. The Council also must embrace the security of human beings as a new security paradigm, he said.

ZAKIA IGHIL (Algeria) said that despite existing divergences, it remains critical to engage collectively towards a comprehensive reform. Algeria remains committed to a meaningful reform and fully engaged with the common African position, as espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Africa continues to endure a historical injustice that must be redressed by granting it two permanent and two non-permanent seats. Veto power as long as it exists must be extended to the new permanent members. The upcoming session should be an opportunity to sustain momentum and preserve the gains made thus far while also addressing intractable issues related to the process, she said, adding that Algeria stands ready to engage constructively in the intergovernmental negotiations process, which must be membership-driven, inclusive and transparent.

BOŠTJAN MALOVRH (Slovenia), noting that discussions on reform of the Council have “fallen short of actual progress”, said intergovernmental negotiations should be as effective and results-oriented as possible, building on previous negotiations, avoiding repetitive statements and potentially moving to a text-based format. They also should be more transparent and open, by applying the Assembly’s rules of procedure, so that there are records of discussions and repetition is prevented. He called for greater representation for Eastern European States and African States, underscoring the “great responsibility” of those wielding veto rights to refrain from misusing that privilege. He expressed support for suspending veto use in cases of mass atrocities and expanding both categories of Council membership.

SERGIY KYSLYTSYA (Ukraine) said efforts must be ambitious enough to break the vicious cycle of year-to-year repetitions of positions. New avenues for progress could be opened via text-based negotiations. Being ambitious also means moving beyond the technical rollover nature of a decision at the end of the session, as was seen during a relevant discussion at the Assembly’s plenary meeting in June. To ensure success of future attempts, more time for drafting and broader ownership of a General Assembly decision are needed. A text that serves as a basis for negotiations should properly reflect the entire scope of positions and proposals and acknowledge unchallenged proposals as commonalities. Among these unchallenged proposals is strengthened representation in the Council of the Eastern European Group. Ukraine also advocates phasing out the veto right and strongly supports all initiatives aimed at limiting its use, as it is absolutely inappropriate that a permanent member has a privilege to exercise a veto right during consideration of situations in which that member is directly involved as a party to conflict. Since its signing, the United Nations Charter has been amended five times, reflecting a changing world, where such artificial entities as the Soviet Union are now “a thing of the past”. They disappeared from the world map, yet are still present in the United Nations Charter, which in its current wording does not reflect today’s world, he said, adding: “We have opened different clusters in our negotiations, but we cannot agree on the fundamentals; it is time to do it.”

KAHA IMNADZE(Georgia), stressing the importance of starting text-based negotiations, said the “elements paper” produced by the co-chairs, together with previous papers, including the framework document of the sixty-ninth session, can easily serve as a starting point. Voicing support for the expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, he underscored the need to allocate additional seats to the Eastern European States to ensure better regional representation and parity. Highlighting the importance of additional seats for African States, he added that meaningful reform should also imply reform of veto use, namely its restriction. Citing Article 27 of the Charter, he added that the veto right should be restricted when the decision of the Council aims to prevent crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide, and when a member is involved in a conflict under consideration and, therefore, cannot exercise that right impartially.

ENRIQUE AUSTRIA MANALO (Philippines) said the Security Council still has not adequately responded to changing geopolitical developments, in terms of its representativeness and working methods. Expressing support for the Non-Aligned Movement’s position that such changes are crucial for the organ’s effectiveness, he called for more participation, transparency and accountability to non-Council members. “Participation should not be token or perfunctory in manner, but [be] meaningful and effective,” he stressed. Given that the Council’s rules of procedure are provisional, they are essentially unpredictable and non-transparent. Specific actions to be taken under specific circumstances should be agreed. Concerning the Council’s relationship with the Assembly, he called for regular coordination and interaction as well as respect for the specific competencies and mandates of the United Nations other principal organs.

MITCHELL FIFIELD (Australia) said new and complex global challenges — from rapid technological advancement to unprecedented security, economic and health challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic — can only be addressed by an effective United Nations architecture. The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of international cooperation and the crucial need for coordination across agencies. The Security Council — the only United Nations organ with a mandate to make legally binding decisions — requires reform to ensure its primacy as guardian of international peace and security, he asserted. The Council must better reflect contemporary geopolitical realities, with greater representation for Asia, Africa and Latin America; its working methods must be improved to ensure it is more accountable to Member States. Also, better standards must be developed on the more transparent use of the veto.

RÓBERT CHATRNÚCH (Slovakia) said Council reform must be an integral part of a larger effort to make the United Nations fit for its purpose in the twenty-first century. The Council must be more representative, efficient and transparent, he said, joining the call for text-based negotiations to accelerate progress based on five identified areas for discussions. Slovakia calls for an increased membership of 25 with equitable representation, including an additional non-permanent seat for the Eastern European Group. Welcoming positive movement in improving Council relations with other United Nations organs, he said Slovakia anticipates constructive negotiations with a view to reaching agreement on critical matters.

TOFIG MUSAYEV (Azerbaijan), calling for a more representative, democratic, transparent and accountable Council, said that intergovernmental negotiations are the most appropriate platform towards this aim. The negotiations are reasonably based on the principle that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”, he noted, pointing to the large variety of opinions, particularly in relation to the membership categories, the question of the veto and regional representation. Highlighting areas of convergence, he drew attention to the need for increased representation of developing countries, Africa, small island developing States and small States, as well as to the importance of strengthening the relationship between the Council and the General Assembly and improving the Council’s work methods. A balanced expansion of its membership could help enhance its authority and ensure its greater legitimacy, he stressed, adding that more in-depth analysis is needed to explore whether and how the veto impedes the effective functioning of the Security Council.

ENKHBOLD VORSHILOV (Mongolia) associating himself with the L69 Group, voiced support for the just and equitable expansion of both categories of Council membership, as well as for better geographical representation, including of Asian States. Veto power should be gradually eliminated or, otherwise, extended to all Council members. He further called for convening open meetings and for granting access to non-members to the Council’s records and to its debates. The Council should strengthen its relations with troop- and police-contributing countries as well as the General Assembly, he said, noting that an analytical and comprehensive evaluation of the Council’s work should be included in its annual report to the General Assembly.

CAROLYN RODRIGUES-BIRKETT (Guyana), noting that there have been 29 years of structured consideration on the question of Security Council reform and 12 years of intergovernmental negotiations, stressed the urgent need for political will and commitment to prioritize — and normalize — the intergovernmental process and concentrate on achieving actionable outcomes. She also called for applying the Assembly’s rules of procedure, adding that a webcast of negotiations would enhance the transparency and inclusivity of the process. Noting that agreement on the text is a crucial component to the credibility of the process, she said the forthcoming round of negotiations would be another opportunity to instil new life in the discussions. She advocated for expansion of Council membership in both categories and the guaranteed presence of small island developing States. Given their unique experiences, those States have important contributions to make in matters of peace and international security, especially given the threat of climate change.

SOVANN KE (Cambodia) reiterated his country’s support for the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent seats in the Security Council to an extent that will ensure the organ’s effectiveness. An increase in the representation of developing countries, especially middle-income and small countries, should be duly considered, so that their voices can be heard and their concerns can be effectively addressed. He added that any attempt to force a text-based negotiation, without a consensus reached first by all Member States, will be counterproductive and hinder the negotiation process. He emphasized that the Intergovernmental Negotiations framework should be the only primary mechanism for conducting negotiations on the matter of Security Council reform.

JOHN BAPTIST KAYOBOSI (Uganda), associating with the African Group, underscored the need for a comprehensive reform of the Council that considers the interconnectedness of the issues at hand. Uganda is opposed to all selective approaches that contradict the spirit of a comprehensive reform, he said, reiterating support for the common African position, which outlines no fewer than two permanent seats that carry all related privileges, including the veto right. He underscored the need to expand both permanent and non-permanent seats and rejected the creation of other membership categories, which would clearly undermine Africa’s quest for full representation. Reaffirming Uganda’s strong commitment to the intergovernmental negotiations framework, he said it would be premature to call for text negotiations before generating the widest possible consensus.

ESAM O. BEN ZITUN (Libya), endorsing the positions of the African Group and the Arab Group, expressed hope that a new phase of negotiations can advance efforts to achieve the goal of Council reform. The United Nations Charter aims at governing relations among States and preventing wars by engaging in preventive diplomacy, among other measures. However, the world today is different than in the 1940s, requiring new efforts to match emerging circumstances, including by reforming the Council in a comprehensive manner. To right historical injustices, he said African States must have representation on the Council, in line with the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Intergovernmental negotiations must focus on enhancing mutual understanding to work towards commonly desired objectives and begin with a view to realizing comprehensive Council reform in an efficient manner.

PANGERAN IBRANI SITUMORANG (Indonesia) said the ongoing conflicts around the world require the Council’s action, and he called on States to demonstrate greater political flexibility in order to reach agreement on its reform. Pointing to the commonalities and consensus identified over years of deliberations on expanding the Council’s non-permanent membership, he stressed that the voices of people in Africa and Asia must be heard. The Council’s working methods could be improved by sharing information and engaging with States outside the security body. Urging States to build on the momentum generated by pandemic recovery efforts, he called for moving beyond traditional discussions of text-based negotiations and rules of procedure, which have “affected the focus” of reform efforts.

Source: UN General Assembly

Posted on

Angola receives over one million doses of Astrazeneca vaccine

Luanda – Angola on Wednesday received a batch of 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, in a donation from the Republic of France.

With this third donation, as the first being 100,800 doses, the second 495,600 doses and the third of 1.1 million doses, France has so far provided a total of 1.75 million doses of vaccine.

The Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, said that the donation strengthened the commitment outlined by the Angolan state in continuing the fight against Covid-19, adding that it was the first time that Angola had received over a million doses of the Astrazeneca vaccine.

According to the French ambassador to Angola, Daniel Vosgien, this donation is part of the cooperation agreements between the two countries, adding that France has planned a supply of about 120 million vaccines for Africa.

Daniel Vosgien said that his Government will continue to support the Angolan Government in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Posted on

Stronger governance needed to fight superbugs in Africa: Antimicrobial Resistance threatens Africa’s development

17 November 2021, Accra – The leaders of six regional organizations in Africa are calling for stronger governance to fight antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, on the eve of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (18-24 November).

The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance in Africa – where micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites are resistant to antimicrobial treatment – is complicating the management of many infectious diseases, and endangers animal health and welfare, and food production, safety and security.

Addressing AMR requires an holistic and multi-sectoral approach. World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) in Africa aims to encourage best practices among the public, health workers, farmers, animal health professionals and policy makers to prevent further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections in people and animals.

The week also marks two years since a unique partnership of six regional organizations was formed to push ahead on fighting AMR in Africa, involving the Tripartite Partners (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and the World Health Organization (WHO), with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) , the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR).

Events in Africa during WAAW 2021 include:

• A high-level event on Thursday 18 November including panel discussions with representatives of the regional organizations and ministers of human, animal, and environment health. The six regional organizations will also launch a communique calling for greater AMR governance in Africa and renewing their commitment to tackle AMR together.

• A series of roundtable discussions on major issues:

• Friday 19 November: regulations and legislation needed for responsible AMR risk management;

• Monday 22 November: implementing and financing AMR multisectoral national action plans;

• Tuesday 23 November lessons learned from COVID-19: the role of civil society organisations and professional bodies in combatting AMR;

• Wednesday 24 November: adopting a One Health approach and multisectoral coordination mechanisms for AMR;

• A twitter chat on Saturday 20 November on combatting AMR in the Africa context. Get involved by following the hashtag #WAAWAfrica2021

To find out more about this year’s events, go to: https://bit.ly/2YCfDGn

Spread the word, not the germs!

Simple steps individuals can take to reduce AMR risk in their communities include:

Be AMR-Smart: Staying healthy by washing hands frequently and practising good hygiene, and thinking twice and seeking advice before buying and using antimicrobials. Farmers can improve farm management, hygiene, animal welfare and biosecurity practices to prevent animal infections and the spread of germs. When animals get sick, the best course of action is to seek a correct diagnosis and follow instructions to administer antimicrobials properly and use vaccines when indicated.

Be an educator: To help spread awareness of AMR, a simple step is to wear blue during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week. Despite being a leading global public health threat, many policymakers, professionals, and the general public often remain largely unaware of AMR. To improve visibility of this health priority, individuals, communities, and organizations are encouraged to wear blue.

Be a vaccine hero: Keeping people healthy so they don’t need to take any antimicrobials in the first place is key to fighting AMR. Get vaccinated and encourage your family and friends to get vaccinated against all diseases that have vaccines.

Facts about AMR in Africa

• AMR affects humans, animals and the environment.

• AMR could kill 4.1 million people across Africa by 2050 unless we take action to Resist the Resistance now.

• Developing countries across Africa could lose up to 5% of their GDP as a result of AMR. That means the financial toll of antimicrobial resistance would be deeper than the 2008 financial crisis.

• Killer infections like tuberculosis (TB) have become resistant to the antibiotic drugs that save lives. Malaria, which kills 3,000 children in Africa every day, is becoming resistant to a once-effective treatment. If we don’t Resist the Resistance, we could lose these life-saving medicines.

• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is making AMR worse. One recent study found that among patients who went to hospital with COVID-19, 72% were given an antimicrobial they did not need. Only 8% had infections that were treatable with this life-saving medicine.

Source: World Health Organization. Africa