28/12/21

Bulletin ONUBIB 4 2021

This is the last Bulletin of 2021. Time to take stock of the year.
Once again, the COVID-19 pandemic has marked many of the activities of the United Nations. The pandemic has caused possibly the most serious global public health and socioeconomic crisis the world has faced in the last century, exacerbating pre-existing and systemic inequalities and threatening the livelihoods and long-term well-being of hundreds of millions of people. persons. The World Organization could not look the other way and it is logical that many of its activities have been marked by this circumstance. Therefore, in addition to the special section dedicated to "The United Nations and the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19)," the reader will find references in all sections to the effects of the pandemic in all sectors of the Organization's activity. We are sure that the pandemic will not take much longer to disappear, but its effects will be felt in the long term and it is necessary for the Organization to address these effects in order to fulfill its goals. Therefore, it is not surprising that the theme of the general debate chosen for the 76th session of the General Assembly was: “Building resilience through hope: recovering from COVID-19, rebuilding in a sustainable way, responding to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of the people and revitalize the United Nations ”.
Another of the areas that has marked the activity of the Organization in this last four-month period with special intensity has been the environment. The reader will find timely information on the Climate Change Conference (COP26) held from October 31 to November 12, 2021 in Glasgow (United Kingdom). But the activities of the United Nations on environment and climate change go much further and, in particular, we wish to highlight Resolution 48/13, adopted on October 8, 2021, by the United Nations Human Rights Council, which recognized with special forcefulness that having a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right.
Although the reader will find information on the entire set of all the activities carried out by the Organization this last quarter, among which is the 76th session of the General Assembly or various reports on the balance of the situation in various areas of the year 2021, we would like to finally highlight a report of special importance: the Report of the Secretary General on "Our common agenda", which looks towards the next 25 years and represents the vision of the Secretary General on the future of global cooperation and the revitalization of the inclusive, networked and effective multilateralism.
Without a doubt, the year 2021 has been complex. Every year they are. But our hope is in the ability of the human being to overcome all adversities, when he has effective instruments to do so. And in this sense, the United Nations is, without a doubt, an indispensable instrument. The challenge for the States is to make it more effective and efficient every day. We hope that the year 2022 will be an important step in this direction.
We finish, as always, by asking our readers to continue to help us in our continuous reflection, sending us their criticisms, suggestions or proposals so that we can live up to what society and the United Nations demand of us. We are especially grateful for the increase in subscriptions to this ONUBIB Newsletter. Our sole interest is public service and the dissemination of the activity of the United Nations.
With our best wishes for peace, development and cooperation for the year 2022.