New York [US]: In his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) since taking office, US President Joe Biden referred to huge losses around the world from the COVID-19 pandemic and said this is “a decisive decade for our world” which will “quite literally determine our futures.” The high-level segment of the 76th UNGA began in New York on Tuesday. “We meet this year in a moment intermingled with great pain and extraordinary possibility. We have lost so much to this devastating pandemic that continues to claim lives around the world and impact so much on our existence. We’re mourning more than 4.5 million people, people of every nation, from every background. Each death is an individual heartbreak,” he said. He went on to say this is “a decisive decade for our world” which will “quite literally determine our futures.” “Will we work together to save lives, defeat COVID-19 everywhere, and take the necessary stem to prepare ourselves for the next pandemic, because there will be another one. Or will we fail to harness the tools at our disposal as more virulent and dangerous variants take hold?” More than 100 heads of state and government will attend the UNGA in-person including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
