United Nations, Apr 4 (UNI) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the international community should focus only on the battle against its common enemy of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is sweeping the entire world and bringing tremendous socio-economic impacts.
"The global ceasefire appeal is resonating across the world," Guterres said at a virtual press briefing on Friday.
Ten days ago, the UN chief had called for an immediate ceasefire in all corners of the globe to reinforce diplomatic action, help create conditions for the delivery of lifesaving aid, and bring hope to places that are among the most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The pandemic is having profound social, economic and political consequences, including relating to international peace and security.There should be only one fight in our world today: our shared battle against COVID-19, ' he said at the briefing, UN News reported.

According to the UN chief, his global ceasefire appeal has been endorsed by "an ever-growing number of member states, some 70 so far, regional partners, non-state actors, civil society networks and organizations, and all UN messengers of peace and advocates for the Sustainable Development Goals."
"Religious leaders... have added their moral voice in support of a global ceasefire, as have citizens through grassroots mobilization online," the UN chief added.
"A substantial number of parties to conflict have expressed their acceptance for the call," he noted.
In the meantime, the UN chief pointed out that "there is a huge distance between declarations and deeds -between translating words into peace on the ground and in the lives of people."

"There are enormous difficulties to implementation as conflicts have festered for years, distrust is deep, with many spoilers and many suspicions. In many of the most critical situations, we have seen no let-up in fighting -- and some conflicts have even intensified, " he said.
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