On September 10, 2020, the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Forum (HLF) on the Culture of Peace which was convened by its President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande and addressed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the theme “The Culture of Peace: Change our world for the better in the age of Covid-19”. The event was also addressed by ambassadors of a large number of Member States and High Representatives of several UN entities where Indian side was represented by Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Paulomi Tripathi.
- Apart from the above mentioned main event, a side event titled “Education, Covid-19 and the Culture of Peace” was also organized by the renowned US Think Tank the International Peace Institute (IPI).
- This HLF was held on the lines of the UNGA’s resolution 53/243 (Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace) adopted on 13 December 1999 stating convening of HLF to the implementation of the Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace on the occasion of the anniversary of its adoption.
- The objective of the meet to renew the programme particularly under the challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and also to discuss long-term ramifications of COVID-19.
India calls for collaboration between nations and tech companies to check misinformation
During the meet India called for greater collaboration between nations and technology companies to stop the spread of misinformation related to COVID-19 as fake news and doctored videos undermine the people’s trust in authorities to tackle the disease.
- The coronavirus has claimed over 900,000 lives with over 28 million confirmed cases in the world so far.
Participants: Member States and Observers of the General Assembly are invited to participate in the virtual High-Level Forum.
Recent Related News:
On 17th July 2020, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Marianna Vardinoyannis, of Greece, and Doctor Morissana Kouyaté, of Guinea as the awardee of 2020 Nelson Mandela Prize. They were recognised in the virtual ceremony on 20th July 2020.
About UNGA:
President Elect– Volkan Bozkir
Headquarters– New York, United States of America
