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by IANS |
United Nations, Dec 30 (IANS) Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), has expressed his disappointment at the world body's failure to adopt the budget and plan for 2021.
"I would like to express my concern and disappointment that the UN's budget and plan for 2021 have still not been adopted. We are facing an unprecedented situation, in which we are still continuing discussions that have traditionally been finalised before Christmas," Xinhua news agency quoted the UNGA president as saying in a statement issued on Tuesday.
This year, consensus is more urgent than ever. The world has yet to fully address the health impacts of the raging Covid-19 pandemic and the associated socio-economic consequences, the statement quoted Bozkir as saying.
"The world is therefore looking to the United Nations, including the General Assembly, for leadership and demonstrable action to address these pressing challenges in the real world.
"The General Assembly has a responsibility to meet the world's expectations and support multi-lateralism and pandemic recovery, in a manner that accelerates the implementation of the 2030 Agenda during this Decade of Action," it added.
The statement noted that if member states fail to reach an agreement, the consequences on the work of the UN will be "dire".
First of all, according to the statement, all personnel, including in special political missions, will be asked to stand down from any activity except the minimum needed to ensure the safety of our personnel and assets.
On other consequences, the statement said that all mandated activity, including support for political processes under way, will be disrupted, increasing the risk of instability.
"The missions with time sensitive tasks will be most affected," the UNGA President was further quoted as saying in the statement.
