UN Calls Special General Assembly Session on COVID-19 Pandemic

The UN General Assembly moved on Thursday to hold a Special Session on International Coronavirus Pandemic Cooperation from 3-4 December in New York.

Discussed since June, the purpose of the meeting is to bring together Heads of State and Government in accordance with a resolution adopted by 150 of the 193 members of the General Assembly, reports AFP.

No country voted against the measure, while the USA, Israel and Armenia abstained.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hoped the session would be "an opportunity for member states to move forward together," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Guterres had "expressed a bit of frustration over the lack of coordinated approach to fighting the pandemic, whether it was initially on closures, whether it was on the vaccine, or whether its on long term development challenges," Dujarric added.

Leaders will be able to submit five-minute pre-recorded statements to be broadcast in the Hall of the General Assembly.

The clips will be played after a brief introduction by the members physically present in the session, in accordance with the resolution — a format identical to that of the annual General Assembly meeting in September.

In-person appearances by world leaders are unlikely, given New York state's required 14-day quarantine period for international visitors.

The United States has already indicated it is opposed to an expanded role for the World Health Organization (WHO) in fighting the pandemic, a stance facing major Russia pushback.

In the meantime, Germany opposed the resolution as too ambiguous, while Britain called for participation from non-governmental organizations and other civil society organisations.

So far this year, the 193 UN member nations have adopted four resolutions on the pandemic – global unity, global access to medicines and vaccinations, coordination of global action and a united response to global health threats.

On the other hand, the Security Council, which had to overcome Chinese-American tensions over the virus, adopted only one pandemic resolution calling for the cessation of global conflicts in the interests of the fight against Covid-19.