Tunisia Presses Security Council to Call COVID-19 a Threat to Peace

FILE PHOTO - The United Nations Security Council meets on Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, US, March 12, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Segar
FILE PHOTO - The United Nations Security Council meets on Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, US, March 12, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Segar
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Tunisia Presses Security Council to Call COVID-19 a Threat to Peace

FILE PHOTO - The United Nations Security Council meets on Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, US, March 12, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Segar
FILE PHOTO - The United Nations Security Council meets on Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, US, March 12, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Tunisia has proposed a UN Security Council resolution calling for "urgent international action" to curb the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which it described as “a threat to humanity.”

In broad terms, the draft resolution echoes UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in calling for "an immediate global humanitarian ceasefire."

Tunisia, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, proposes in the preamble that the council express "concern about the impact on food security and economies... all over the world due to work, travel and trade restrictions, lockdown measures and cessation of industrial activities."

The draft says the pandemic is “a threat to humanity and to international peace and security.”

It was embraced by the all 10 non-permanent Council members, a diplomat said. In addition to Tunisia, they include Germany, Belgium, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Africa, Niger, the Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Estonia.

But the resolution appears to reflect growing frustration between the non-permanent members and the permanent ones (Russia, the US, China, France and the United Kingdom).

According to diplomats, the proposed resolution's fate is uncertain as long as the United States continues to push for identifying the virus' Chinese origin, which would likely result in a veto by China.

Russia, which also holds a veto, might also want the resolution to call for a lifting of sanctions to better fight the pandemic.

Without US and European support, the resolution in that case would risk failing to garner the minimum nine of 15 votes required for passage.

The UN’s most powerful body has not addressed the pandemic sweeping the globe, but Dominican Republic Ambassador Jose Singer, the current council president, said Wednesday he expects members to meet on COVID-10 “for sure next week, or before.”
Guterres is expected to brief the council at the request of Germany’s UN Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, diplomats said.
Only Guterres has spoken out, warning on multiple occasions that "millions" of people are at risk of dying and stressing the need for a coordinated global response to what he described as the worst crisis since World War II.
Guterres has extended his order for non-essential UN to stay at home until the end of April.



As Sudan's Army Retakes Ground, Some Displaced Residents Return to Ravaged Capital

Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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As Sudan's Army Retakes Ground, Some Displaced Residents Return to Ravaged Capital

Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

The morning sun cast long shadows as Abdulilah Mohamed, an elderly resident of the Shambat neighborhood in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, returned to his family home after fleeing from civil war.

The streets, now strewn with debris and remnants of conflict, led him to a structure barely standing after two years of fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.

"They left nothing behind, they took everything and destroyed everything," he lamented, referring to the RSF as he stood amid the broken walls of his house and the fragments of his family's belongings.

"I came here specifically to assess the situation and see the life, so that my family doesn't come and get confused about what to do. I came first, and then I can evaluate the situation for them here," he added.

Mohamed is one of millions who once lived in the greater capital area, which includes the cities of Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri, and were forced to flee when war broke out in April 2023 amidst a power struggle between the army and the RSF ahead of a transition to civilian rule.

Entire neighborhoods in Khartoum were flattened, though some parts of Omdurman managed to retain access to utilities, Reuters reported.

Now, as the army pushes back RSF fighters and regains ground in the capital, a cautious trickle of residents is making the journey home.

Huda Ibrahim, who fled to Port Sudan - more than 800 km (500 miles) from the capital—said the longing to return had never faded.

"We were forced to stay away," she said, while on a bus en route to Khartoum.

Mohamed Ali, the driver, noted a shift in mood.

"You can sense that their sense of security has grown,” he told Reuters.

But for many, the road home is lined with uncertainty. This conflict has devastated the nation, claiming countless lives and displacing millions.

"Their war now is not a war against the government, it's a war against the citizens and destruction," Mohamed says.

The return of more residents hinges on the government's ability to rebuild.

Rayan Khaled, a young woman who returned from Egypt, highlights the lack of services and electricity as major obstacles.

"I believe that if the government could provide electricity to the people [...] everyone would return to their homes," she said.