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UN chief eyes virtual visit to Britain
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Jan 8, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres will pay a virtual visit to London from Sunday, his first
such online effort since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out early last year, his
spokesman said Thursday.
The visit was originally planned to take place in person, but due to
Britain’s worsening public health situation, London instead arranged for a
virtual meeting.
The UN chief’s itinerary will include a Sunday event marking the 75th
anniversary of the first session of the United Nations General Assembly,
which was held at Central Hall in Westminster.
Guterres is expected to call for a renewed global partnership in the face
of the challenges currently facing the world, according to his spokesman
Stephane Dujarric.
On Monday and Tuesday, he is set to participate in a session dedicated to
the fight against climate change and will meet for bilateral talks with
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his foreign minister Dominic Raab and
the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, according to Dujarric.
Other than private family trips to Portugal, his home country, Guterres —
whose term ends at the end of the year — has hardly traveled since the early
days of the coronavirus pandemic.
In December, he was able to make an official trip to Germany to speak to
the Bundestag.
Some UN staff have already experimented with virtual tours, such as
Guterres’s assistant Amina Mohammed, who also paid an online “visit” to
Colombia at the end of October.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0919 hrs