The United Nations has called for “the guns to fall silent” across the world and for economic sanctions to be suspended during the coronavirus crisis.
The coronavirus emergency must compel the entire world to show solidarity among peoples and unity of purpose. For this reason, the time for wars must end immediately. The message came from the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, who called for an "immediate and generalised ceasefire across the world." This is in order to protect humanity in the face of the "fury of Covid-19" and, in particular, civilians: the most vulnerable in situations of armed conflict.
"The violence with which the coronavirus strikes us shows how mad it is to wage war at this moment," Guterres added in his heartfelt appeal. "Lay down your weapons — it is time to leave conflicts behind us and focus on the true common battle. Silence the guns and stop the aerial bombardments."
A first case of Covid-19 has been reported in Syria, a country devastated by a war now in its tenth year. But authorities in Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo have also confirmed the presence of infected individuals.
Furthermore, experts have repeatedly stressed that the uncontrolled spread of the epidemic in the world's poorest nations could cause a massacre. Many of them lack healthcare facilities adequate to a challenge that is already bringing even the world's wealthiest countries to their knees.
It is also for this reason that Ruth Marshall, a senior official of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, added a call to suspend the economic sanctions imposed on certain nations around the world. This is the case, for example, with Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. According to Marshall, the impact of such measures — already very severe — could become devastating as a result of coronavirus.
"Iran," she explained, "to take a country in the grip of a full-blown Covid-19 crisis, is facing a dramatic shortage of medical supplies. Iranian doctors and nurses, moreover, are not only caring for their own citizens but also for those of neighbouring countries. And with them, for all of us."