The UN Security Council plans to call for a 90-day "humanitarian pause" in conflicts worldwide as part of the ongoing struggle against the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a draft resolution obtained by AFP on Tuesday.
An initial version last week – co-authored by France and Tunisia – only asked for a 30-day pause, along with a call to end all hostilities in the involved countries and to increase international cooperation to counter the virus.
The new draft, which was revised on Monday, now "calls upon all parties to armed conflicts to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days."
The stoppage would be "in order to enable the safe, unhindered and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance, provisions of related services by impartial humanitarian actors," according to the draft.
So far no date has been set for a vote, as the thorniest issue of the resolution – how to address the role of the World Health Organisation, which has been sharply criticised by the United States – has yet to be settled.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on March 23 called for an immediate global cease-fire.
The new draft resolution however would only cover countries whose conflicts are already currently under scrutiny by the Security Council, including Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Mali, Central African Republic, Libya, Colombia and Sudan.
Some efforts were made to decrease the intensity of certain conflicts after Guterres's call, though more than a month later several countries, such as Yemen, Libya and South Sudan, saw hostilities continue to ramp up.
In Colombia, the National Liberation Army (ELN) – the country's last active guerilla group – announced on Monday that they would resume operations on May 1.
On March 25, the UN announced a "humanitarian plan" to send aid to the countries most vulnerable to the pandemic and asked for more than $2 billion.
A month later, $1 billion had been raised, officials said.
It would take up to $90 billion in order to protect the people most at risk for dropping incomes – and therefore most in need of food and other care – due to the pandemic, according to a recent UN estimate.
Two-thirds of the funds could be provided by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, according to the estimate.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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Tottenham Hotspur 0 Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 55')
Man of the Match Allan (Everton)
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
