Guterres reiterates the need to silence the weapons in Ukraine before the outbreak of a “three-dimensional crisis”

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“This is not the time for protectionism,” said the United Nations Secretary-General

MADRID, 14 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, has reiterated that it is necessary to silence the weapons and speed up the peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in order to put an end to the three-dimensional crisis –food, energy and financial– that is causing the conflict in the most vulnerable countries and economies in the world.

Guterres stressed that “the war must end” and pointed out that “the people of Ukraine cannot bear the violence inflicted on them”. The UN Secretary General has also said that “the most vulnerable people cannot become collateral damage.”

“All of this comes at a time when developing countries are already struggling with a host of challenges they did not create: the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and a lack of access to adequate resources to finance recovery in the context of growing and persistent inequalities,” added Guterres.

In this regard, he said that this “perfect storm threatens to devastate the economies of many developing countries.” Guterres has pointed out that up to 1.7 billion people, a third of whom already live in poverty, are exposed to disruptions in the food, energy and financial systems.

Guterres has explained that all these factors have set in motion a “vicious circle of inflation”, the so-called stagflation, and has made it clear that there is “a direct correlation” between rising prices and social instability.

“Thirty-six countries count on Russia and Ukraine for more than half of their wheat imports, including some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the world. Prices were already rising, but the war has made the bad situation much worse,” exemplified by the Secretary General of the UN.

It has also warned that oil prices have risen more than 60 percent over the past year, accelerating prevailing trends, and that natural gas prices have risen 50 percent in recent months.

As he explained, as prices rise and the world’s economies drown in debt — with bond yields rising — so does hunger and malnutrition, especially among young children.

UN RECOMMENDATIONS

“That means ensuring a steady flow of food and energy through open markets. It means lifting all unnecessary export restrictions, and this is not the time for protectionism,” he said.

In this way, Guterres has stressed that it is essential to “direct surpluses and reserves to those in need”, as well as “maintain control over food prices and calm volatility in food markets”.

“Countries must resist hoarding and release strategic stocks and additional reserves (…) we must work to phase out coal and other fossil fuels and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and a just transition,” he recalled.

For all these reasons, Guterres has called for “political will and leadership” and “global and systemic solutions” to pull developing countries out of the financial abyss,” according to a United Nations statement.