United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday lamented a lack of global leadership in the fight against the Chinese coronavirus while pointing to a poor response to his call for extra funds to underwrite the battle.
The coronavirus, which was first detected in the southern China city of Wuhan last November, has so far infected some 3.2 million globally and more than 227,000 people have died, according to a Reuters tally.
In response to questions about global leadership, Guterres told a news conference the international community was divided when it was “more important than ever” to be united.
“There is … a disconnect between leadership and power. We see remarkable examples of leadership but they are usually not associated with power. And where we see power we sometimes do not see the necessary leadership,” Guterres said.
“I hope this will be overcome sooner rather than later,” he added, while calling for “solidarity” amongst all nations.
When asked if he was concerned about the ongoing diplomatic tensions between the United States and China harming international cooperation, Guterres said: “These are two absolutely vital countries.”
“The contribution of China and the United States both to fight COVID-19 (and) to all other aspects in the development of international relations is, in my opinion, absolutely essential and I hope that it will become possible in the future,” he said.
Guterres said he was particularly worried about insufficient help from the international community for developing countries, both in responding to the pandemic and addressing the economic and social impacts.
He said a special, one-off U.N. appeal for $2 billion to help the most vulnerable populations cope with the viral onslaught was barely half funded.
The funds raised are destined for the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) which is a subsidiary of the U.N., as Breitbart News reported.
It follows a similar W.H.O. call in February which sought $675 million in “special, one-off funding” to deliver two months worth of direct aid to China and international agencies.
U.N. funding has been a vexed issue in the past few years, with U.S. President Donald Trump being particularly outspoken in his demands for the globalist organization to be more accountable for its spending.
The United States is by far the U.N.’s biggest financial contributor, stumping up 22 percent of its operating budget and funding 28 percent of peacekeeping missions, which currently cost $8 billion annually. The UK and Germany are the next two major backers.
Trump has cautioned the “future does not belong to globalists” in a warning to the organization’s leaders, adding, “the future belongs to patriots, the future belongs to sovereign and independent nations.”