News headlines in September 2021, page 7

Humanity needs the “reserves of goodness present in human hearts” to confront the many challenges facing the world community, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, declared in his video address to the high-level General Debate of the UN General Assembly on Saturday.

The interim Prime Minister of Mali, Choguel Kokalla Maïga, said on Saturday that “rarely, has a country or region been as severely affected by the piling up of crises than Mali and the states of the Sahel.” 

Pacific Island leaders speaking in the UN General Assembly on Saturday underlined the need for global solidarity, commitment and action to tackle COVID-19 and climate change, two crises which threaten sustainable development. 

The Russian Foreign Minister addressed the UN General Assembly on Saturday, calling for a new consensus to uphold the “purposes and principles” of the UN’s founding document, the UN Charter, and a rejection of the Western-backed “Rules Based Order” concept.

In his address to the high-level debate at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Narendra Modi reaffirmed India's commitment to democracy, highlighted its great strides in developing and manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines, and warned against “countries with regressive thinking.”

Sudan continues the path to democracy, two years after the revolution that “carried the aspirations of our people for freedom, peace and justice”, Prime Minister Abdalla Adam Hamdok told the UN General Assembly on Saturday. 

In addition to the global challenges surrounding climate, security and the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on Saturday drew the attention of the 76th UN General Assembly to devastating volcanic eruptions and the on-rushing Atlantic Hurricane season confronting his small-island developing State (SID).

The Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, said on Saturday that “human beings, fathers and mothers who have children, are always going to flee poverty and conflict.” 

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in mid-August, the world has continued to watch anxiously, as the fate of women and girls throughout the country hangs in the balance.

Against the backdrop of what he called “a critical time” in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan said on Friday that if the situation there is neglected, “a huge humanitarian crisis” lies ahead.