Xinhua English news | Xinhua, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

United Nations, Nov 29 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for action in three areas to prevent the disaster of biological weapons.Guterres on Monday made the appeal in a video message to participants of the Ninth Biological Weapons Convention Review Conference in Geneva, Xinhua news agency reported.The first area of action is to give teeth to the convention's accountability provisions to ensure that scientific advances are not exploited for hostile purposes, he said."Let's make sure that science and technology are used for the benefit of humanity not its destruction and that peace remains at the heart of all scientific development and cooperation."Second, update the thinking on verification and compliance to fit today's threats. The world has changed dramatically over the last five decades. The convention should change with it, he said.Third, give the convention the increased financial and human resources it needs to carry out this important work, Guterres added."The world generously supports global regimes against chemical weapons and nuclear proliferation. We should do the same for biological weapons with a significant increase in the convention's budget," he said."Now is the time to close off every avenue to the development and use of these weapons."Fifty years ago, when the Biological Weapons Convention was open for signature, the global community stood as one and declared that the deliberate use of disease as a weapon was an affront to humanity. The convention affirms the conscience of humankind, Guterres added."The Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. Now imagine a different kind of disease one that is both deliberately designed and can race through the global population even faster," he said."Biological weapons are not the product of science fiction. They are a clear and present danger. That's why strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention is more important than ever."Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

XinhuaFOLLOW

Xinhua, Latest News

Stockholm, Nov 29 The largest nuclear reactor in Sweden will be taken off-grid next week for repairs, as ... ...

Paris, Nov 29 International students in France contribute around 5 billion euros a year to the country's economy, ... ...

Kiev, Nov 29 Ukraine is seeking to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative by at least a year, ... ...

Honolulu, Nov 29 The world's largest active volcano, the Mauna Loa in Hawaii, has erupted for the first ... ...

Geneva, Nov 29 To avoid racist stereotypes and stigmatisation, the WHO has recommended that the monkeypox virus be ... ...

Islamabad, Nov 29 Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has extended condolences to Indonesian President Joko Widodo over the ... ...

Buenos Aires, Nov 29 Argentina recorded its first death from monkeypox of an adult male with underlying pathologies, ... ...

United Nations, Nov 29 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for action in three areas to prevent the ... ...