\n\u201c<\/em><\/strong>The response to the pandemic, and to the widespread discontent that preceded it, must be based on a New Social Contract and a New Global Deal that create equal opportunities for all and respect the rights and freedoms of all.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u2013 UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The pandemic has demonstrated the fragility of our world.\u00a0It has laid bare risks we have ignored for decades: inadequate health systems; gaps in social protection; structural inequalities; environmental degradation; the climate crisis.<\/p>\n
On\u00a0Nelson Mandela International Day<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a018 July,\u00a0UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a>\u00a0delivered\u00a0the\u00a018th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
In his speech \u201cTackling the Inequality Pandemic: A New Social Contract for a New Era<\/strong>\u201d, the Secretary-General\u00a0took\u00a0aim at the various layers of\u00a0inequality<\/a>\u00a0that are being exposed and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. He\u00a0outlined\u00a0the threat posed to our well-being and our future by historic injustices and current trends, from colonialism and patriarchy to racism and the digital divide, and\u00a0made\u00a0concrete recommendations for a more equitable, just and sustainable way forward in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.<\/p>\n