NEW YORK, 3 APRILE – Italy at the United Nations welcomed the unanimous adoption of a General Assembly resolution on COVID-19 calling for a a “global coordinated response to this unprecedented global crisis”.
The resolution received a record 188 co-sponsorship and Italy was one on them, the Permanent Mission said on Twitter. The document recognizes “the unprecedented effects” of the coronavirus pandemic and calls for “intensified international cooperation to contain, mitigate and defeat” the COVID-19 disease.
It was the first resolution adopted by the 193-member world body on the pandemic that is sweeping the world and reflects global concern at the fast-rising death toll and number of cases.
The assembly did not approve a rival resolution sponsored by Russia calling for U.N. solidarity in the face of the challenges posed by the new virus and urging an end to trade wars, protectionist practices and unilateral sanctions without U.N. Security Council approval.
Under new voting rules instituted because the General Assembly isn’t holding meetings, a resolution is defeated if even a single country objects to it. Normally, assembly resolutions are adopted by majority votes or by consensus. The European Union, United Kingdom, United States and Ukraine objected to the Russian draft, which was co-sponsored by Central African Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. (@OnuItalia)