The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution calling for a humanitarian pause to boost the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Germany's Permanent Representative to the UN Christoph Heusgen, who currently presides over the Security Council, announced on Wednesday.
The UN Security Council's members voted unanimously to adopt the resolution.
The document is aimed at supporting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' initiative to declare a cessation of hostilities in all conflicts on the Security Council's agenda.
The resolution, drafted by France and Tunisia, was submitted to the UN Security Council in April. According to diplomats, major disagreements arose between the US and China.On Washington's insistence, a reference to the World Health Organization's role in combating the coronavirus was deleted from the document.
The resolution "calls upon all parties to armed conflicts to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days, in order to enable the safe, unhindered and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance, provisions of related services by impartial humanitarian act." However, "this general and immediate cessation of hostilities and this humanitarian pause do not apply to military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh), Al Qaeda and Al Nusra Front (ANF), and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al Qaeda or ISIL, and other terrorist groups, which have been designated by the Security Council."
In addition, the UN Security Council requested "the Secretary General to instruct peace-keeping operations to provide support, within their mandates and capacities, to host country authorities in their efforts to contain the pandemic."
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