UNGA Chief Calls For ‘fair And Equal Distribution’ Of COVID-19 Vaccines To All Nations

The United Nations General Assembly President, Volkan Bozkir, on Sunday, December 20, called for ensuring that vaccines against the novel coronavirus are available for all the people. On the occasion of Human Solidarity Day, Bozkir, during a virtual address said that the vaccines should be ‘fairly and equally accessible for all countries’. He urged people to lean into a sense of ‘one global community, one humanity, together’. 

Terming 2020 as ‘one of the most challenging years of existence’, Bozkir said that people need a sense of human solidarity as much as they ever did. He recalled the month of April, when Covid-19 was at its peak in New York City and he said “hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people, would stand on their balconies and cheer each day for the essential workers who were putting themselves on the line for the benefit of others”. He added, “the same occurred in other cities around the world”. He also spoke about the situation in Italy. 

The UN General Assembly adopted the 20th day in December as International Solidarity Day after it recognized solidarity as one of the fundamental and universal values. On 22 December 2005, the assembly passed a resolution for the same by 60 to 209. Furthermore, the UN had set up the World Solidarity Fund, which it decided will be used for the objective of overcoming global poverty and challenges with the spirit of solidarity, as well as to promote peace, human rights, and social and economic development.