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Now is the time to “think beyond COVID-19” to reimagine education and realize the goal of providing all students with access to quality learning, UN agencies and their partners said on Monday in a joint statement to mark World Teachers’ Day. 

This year’s commemoration highlights the critical contribution teachers have made in ensuring that learning continues during the global pandemic, as well as their crucial support to the mental health and wellbeing of students. 

While COVID-19 has affected all countries, the pandemic is “uneven”, and it is estimated that 10 per cent of the global population may have been infected with the virus, senior officials with the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

Speaking to a special session of the agency’s Executive Board, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 10 countries account for 70 per cent of all reported cases and deaths, and just three countries account for half.  

With strong leadership and comprehensive strategies it’s never too late for countries to change the trendlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite passing the tragic milestone of one million deaths this week amid regional surges in infections, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.

The elimination of nuclear weapons is vital to the “survival of life on this planet”, the UN chief told the final major event of the General Assembly’s high level week on Friday.

Secretary-General António Guterres told delegates gathered to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, it was the only way “to completely eliminate nuclear risk.”

The UN Secretary-General repeated his call for a global ceasefire on Friday, commemorating the International Day of Non Violence, which is taking place this year in the shadow of the devastating human and socio-economic impacts resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. 

We must “commit” to building a more inclusive and sustainable world, the UN chief underscored in his annual report on the Work of the Organization, launched on Thursday.

In the Introduction, Secretary-General António Guterres said the international community should reflect on “our shared progress as well as…our vision and values”.

Unless countries act now, the COVID-19 pandemic could erase recent “fragile progress” towards gender equality, the UN Secretary-General warned on Thursday, urging governments to put women at the centre of recovery and response. 

António Guterres issued the charge in a speech to a UN General Assembly high-level meeting to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the landmark Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China. 

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is reckoning with the disproportionate and severe impact that the virus has wrought on the “health…rights and well being” of older persons, the UN chief has said, marking the international day highlighting their issues.

The UN Secretary-General on Wednesday called for all nations to provide further urgently needed funds – the equivalent of the total spent on cigarettes worldwide every two weeks – on behalf of global COVID-19 vaccine efforts to ensure that everyone, everywhere, gets protection from the virus. 

For the first time in the history of the United Nations, global leaders were not able to meet in person for the General Assembly’s annual debate, but the 193-Member body’s President said on Tuesday that the precautions forced by the COVID-19 pandemic “did not prevent multilateralism from operating at the highest levels.”