United Nations Security council to meet on COVID-19 first time

On April 2, 2020, the current president of United Nations Security Council, Dominican Republic announced that the world body is to meet over COVID-19 next week. The rotating presidency of the 15-member council was taken by the Caribbean country from the previous president China. China is a permanent member and has veto powers in the council.

Highlights

The Council is planning to meet over teleconferencing. The primary responsibility of the council is to deal with Geo-political peace and security. The public health security is not under the mandate of the Council. Still, the Council is to meet to discuss on providing human security in the matter. The meet comes after the UNSC faced criticism over its silence on COVID-19. This is because, the council acted swiftly in 2014 at the times of Ebola.

UNSC during Ebola

In 2014, UNSC adopted a resolution 2177, claiming that the unprecedented outbreak of Ebola in Africa is a threat to “International Peace and Security”. The resolution urged countries to provide urgent resources and medical assistance. This initiation of UNSC involved several member nations and helped save many lives.

Current Scenario

Today, the United States has the highest number of corona virus cases (2,13,372) followed by Italy with 1,10,574 cases, Spain with 1,04,118, china with 82,361 cases. So far 4,600 have died in the US due to the Corona Virus.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2020