The LGBTQ community celebrates in the streets of New York June 5

By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK, Jun 6 2022 (IPS)

The LGBTQ community –comprising lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons—has been fighting a relentless battle for recognition of their rights—as they continue to gain ground while breaking down barriers over the last five decades.

In New York city, June is designated “Pride Month” marked by thousands of LGBTQ members celebrating in the streets – this time in the borough of Queens on June 5 which was the 52nd anniversary of the annual celebrations.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams marched in the procession, along with the Gay Officers Action League of the New York Police Department. “We’re really excited about marching today. I’m full of pride,” he told reporters,

The in-person gathering was a break after two-year hiatus due to the corona virus pandemic when most of New York was virtually shut down because of the spreading infection.

The major Gay Pride Parade in New Yor city is scheduled to take place Sunday, June 26.

The annual festivities go back to June 28, 1969, when police raided a gay club called the Stonewall Inn in the West Village. The police accused the bar for operating with an “improper liquor license”, but in reality, the raid was meant to harass and arrest LGBTQ people in one of few venues where they felt safe.

The attack on Stonewall Inn was one of the first occasions when patrons, described as a diverse crowd of lesbians, gay men and transgender women, fought back. The six-day protests and demonstrations are recorded for posterity as the Stonewall Riots.

The longstanding battle for rights – described as human rights—was politically bolstered when President Joe Biden formally declared June as LGBTQ month during a White House briefing last week. “I call upon the people of the United States to recognize the achievements of the LGBTQ community, to celebrate the great diversity of the American people and to wave their flags of pride high,” he said.

The LGBTQ community says it is working “toward a future without discrimination where all people have equal rights under the law. We do this by producing LGBTQIA+ Pride events that inspire, educate, commemorate and celebrate our diverse community”.

“While much progress has been made to secure our human rights over the years, violence in our community endures with the proliferation of guns in America. And hate crimes against all members of our community endure, particularly again our Black Queer and Trans communities”.

A briefing at the New York Police Department (NYPD)

By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK, May 25 2022 (IPS)

The shootings in the New York subway system have prompted a call for gun scanners to monitor weapons in the city’s transit system.

The high-tech idea was floated by Mayor Eric Adams even though implementing the proposed rule in the sprawling subway system may be a logistical nightmare.

Currently, gun scanning is done at airports, sports stadium and theme parks. The rise in crime in the city’s transit system will also be an impediment to thousands of workers who plan to return to their offices after several months of working from home.

The latest shooting took place six weeks after another gunman opened fire in a crowded rush hour subway car in Brooklyn, shooting 10 people and injuring at least 13 more. By contrast, the assailant in the most recent shooti8ng fired a single shot, striking Daniel Enriquez, 48, who was on his way to brunch in Manhattan.

At a news conference, Adams told reporters: “The call is to come back to work, and the subway system being safe is a major driver to doing that. When you have an incident like this, it sends a chilling impact. There’s no getting around that.”

Meanwhile, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has long gone high tech in monitoring and detecting crime in the City. Described as “the most technologically advanced police department in the nation,” it utilizes cutting-edge technology and equipment to ensure the safety of both its officers and the communities they’re sworn to protect.

According to NYPD, all Police Officers, Detectives, Sergeants and Lieutenants regularly assigned to perform patrol duties throughout the city are equipped with body-worn cameras.

The NYPD body-worn camera program is the largest in the United States with over 24,000 members of the Department equipped with body-worn cameras. The rollout of these cameras was conducted in three phases.

The NYPD says some of the department’s technological advancements and equipment upgrades include:

• Smartphones for all police officers
• Tablets for patrol vehicles
• Ballistic door protection for hundreds of patrol vehicles
• More Tasers in patrol commands
• Stronger pepper spray in better canisters
• Upgraded escape hoods
• Heavy vests and Kevlar helmets
• Belt-worn trauma kits
• Military-grade flashlights
• The Domain Awareness System, which pools existing live streams of data from multiple sources
• CompStat 2.0, which provides officers in the field with access to updated and interactive, real-time crime pattern analysis and mapping software
• Body camera technology that records enforcement encounters
• ShotSpotter technology that identifies, records, locates, and reports gunshots

Credit: Office of New York City Mayor

By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK, May 22 2022 (IPS)

A fifth wave of a new Covid 19 variant BA.2, followed by a surge in infections, is threatening to undermine the safety of New York city (NYC) which was gradually returning to normal after a prolonged pandemic shutdown. As a result, the City went on “high Covid alert.”

But NYC Mayor Eric Adams has assured New Yorkers he will not bring back mask and vaccine mandates in work places, shopping malls, restaurants and Broadway theaters. Instead, he said he will focus on anti-virus treatment and home-testing.

Briefing reporters at a press conference, he said “I think the reason we are here—and not seeing drastic actions – is because we’ve done an amazing job of telling people—vaccines, boosters”.

“When I was hit with Covid, it was just a tickle in my throat. I was still able to exercise, didn’t have any breathing issues, no pain,” he added.

“We are staying prepared and not panicking. When I look at the hospitalizations and deaths, the numbers are stable”, Adams assured.

Back in March, the Mayor released a new color-coded system that tracks COVID-19, alerts and keeps New York City residents apprised of the risks they face.

This new system will better help New Yorkers understand the current level of COVID-19 risk and how they can best protect themselves and others based on the current risk.

The system consists of four alert levels that outline precautions, and recommends actions for individuals and government—and is based on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Community Burden Indicator.

Meanwhile, there was a rising wave of celebrity infections in the US last month, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several members of Congress, including Joaquin Castro, Susan Collins and Adam Schiff, along with Broadway stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick and Daniel Craig.

The United States also reached a milestone: one million deaths from the coronavirus infection.

According to the New York Times, more Americans have died from Covid-19 than in two decades of car crashes or on battlefields in all of the country’s wars combined. The U.S. toll is higher than that of any other country in the world.

New York City, which was on a virtual lockdown for nearly two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic, has now been hit a crime wave.

The rise in crimes has been described as “gun violence”, mostly illegal guns that have flooded the city.

Credit: Office of New York City Mayor

Speaking at a press conference following the April 12 mass shooting at a Brooklyn subway station that left 23 people injured, NYC Mayor Eric Adams was emphatic when he said: “This is not only a New York City problem. This rage, this violence, these guns, these relentless shooters, are an American problem.”

According to Cable News Network (CNN), there has been a surge in gun violence in the US, with more than 140 mass shootings taking place this year alone.
At the same time, there has also been an increase in hate crimes in New York city, an increase of about 76 percent this year compared to the same period last year, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD).
CNN also reported that crime targeting Jewish people increased from 28 crimes last year to 86 so far in 2022, according to the data.

Crimes against Black people also doubled, with the number of targeted incidents this year standing at 26 compared to 13 in the same time period last year. Hate crimes against Asians , however, were down — with 47 last year and 32 in the same period this year, the data show.

Adams sought federal assistance to combat gun violence when he hosted a summit with President Joe Biden on public safety last February. Responding to demands for cut funding to the Police, and speaking at police headquarters, Biden said “The answer is not to defund the police. It’s to give you the tools, the training and the funding to be partners and to be protectors.”

A former police captain, Adams said: “We are not going to return to the era of heavy-handed policing. But we also can’t return to the era of the2,000 homicides a year.’

The rising crime rates are attributed mostly to gang violence and the use of illegal guns while US legislators and the National Rifle Association (NRA) advocate the legal possession of guns as a constitutional right to be exercised by Americans.

Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, who is chairman of the US House Oversight and Reform Committee investigating gun violence, said “a small number of gun dealers are disproportionately responsible for flooding our streets with guns that are used in crimes.”

A report by the committee said a small percentage of gun stores accounted for 57 percent of firearms that ended up in the hands of criminals through illegal resale or direct purchases by “straw” buyers who turned them over to people barred from owning guns.

Credit: Office of New York City Mayor

By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK, Apr 1 2022 (IPS)

Faced with a growing problem of homeless people living and sleeping in park benches and on subway trains, New York city (NYC) authorities are physically moving them out—mostly under protest– to some 150 encampments or public shelters.

A cleanup crew removed all of their belongings lying scattered in a “miniature tent city” across from Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan. As an alternative, the NYC is providing them with “safe Haven” communal shelters.

New York Mayor Eric Adams said makeshift housing is dangerous, and shelters are far safer.

But one advocate for the homeless said the process is “tired and cruel,” and chases people out of the city rather than providing them a place to live safely.

The clearing of the encampments was supervised and coordinated by dozens of police officers and a sanitation truck, with a police loudspeaker repeatedly announcing: “you are ordered to leave the area.” But few responded.

As a result, eight protesting homeless people were arrested and charged with obstructing governmental administration for blocking the planned cleanup. The people arrested also included activists from anti-eviction organizations and groups supportive of the homeless.

Currently, there are an estimated 50,000 homeless people living in shelters. The problems arising from the homeless include crimes committed by some of the mentally ill, including a woman killed after being pushed onto an oncoming subway train, dozens of syringes and drug paraphernalia and, in one instance, the discovery of over 500 discarded needles across homeless campsites.

“Our teams are working professionally and diligently every day to make sure that every New Yorker living in the street knows they have a better option while ensuring that everyone who lives in or visits our city can enjoy the clean public spaces we all deserve,” the Mayor said.

He said NYC was in the process of opening up some 500 beds in specialized shelters. “You cannot continue to live in carboard boxes or sleeping in a tree in the park. You don’t deserve that,” the Mayor noted.

The UN’s empty corridors will soon be back to normal. Credit: United Nations

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 14 2022 (IPS)

After several on-again and off-again pandemic lockdowns, the United Nations is planning to return to normal beginning this week.

A circular from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on March 11 says “based on the new guidelines, we are now able to institute associated changes in our workplace, returning to full operational capability while still prioritizing the health and safety of personnel, and balancing the operational needs of the Organization”.

Guided by the Senior Emergency Policy Team and the Occupational Safety and Health Committee in New York, Guterres has decided to make the following changes:

As of Monday, 14 March: mask use will be voluntary throughout the UN building and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), mostly denied entry since March 2020, will now be given access to the UN premises.

While diplomats were never barred from the UN during the lockdown– since they “own“ the building — all CSOs were banned from the premises. The UN also refused to renew their passes to enter the headquarters building.

The mounting protests last year came from several NGOs, most of whom have been partnering with the UN and providing humanitarian assistance in conflict-ridden countries, including Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Sudan and Ethiopia.

“Civil society organizations are elated about the resumption of their access to the UN building,” said a former senior UN official who interacts regularly with CSOs.

Andreas Bummel, executive director, Democracy Without Borders, told IPS: “We welcome that civil society representatives will be given routine access again at UN headquarters. We certainly hope that similar closures will not be required again”.

“Should a need arise, civil society access should be treated equally to that of diplomats and other stakeholders. This not only pertains to the premises in New York or Geneva, but all conferences held under UN purview. We are concerned, for instance, about reports that CSO representatives weren’t allowed to attend the Oceans treaty negotiations,” he added.

The empty racks on the UN’s third floor, home to several news organizations. Credit: IPS

Until now, most meetings and briefings were described as “hybrid”, partly in-person, but mostly via video conferencing.

As of Monday 28 March, Intergovernmental meetings will also resume as “normal”, and by Monday, 4 April, UN headquarters will enter the “Next Normal” phase.

Decisions regarding the opening of the buildings to visitors, the general public, including for United Nations Guided Tours, to non-resident correspondents, and the holding of side events/receptions will be taken in April, said the circular addressed to over 3,000 UN staffers in New York.

The UN’s decision to go into “full operation” comes following criticisms from member states over the lack of UN staffers to service some of the meetings.

Ambassador Boubacar Diallo of Guinea, the outgoing chairman of the Group of 77 plus China, the largest single coalition of developing countries at the UN, warned late last year that the Group continues to be disappointed that due to security concerns, the Administrative and Budgetary Committee was being deprived of interpretation services (in the UN’s six official languages) during informal consultations.

“We look forward to the day that multilingualism is fully restored, and we can enjoy interpretation services as we are doing here today. We are committed to a thorough consideration of the agenda items allocated to the Committee, and in this regard, note with disappointment that several reports are still outstanding,” he added.

This endemic situation, he pointed out, significantly compromises the Committee’s work. With a resolution being adopted by consensus, including the 134 members of the G77, he said, “It is not possible to turn a blind eye to a General Assembly resolution and a deaf ear to the two-thirds majority of the General Membership.”

The UN has still barred scores of UN retirees living in the tri-state area—New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. One of them who retired after nearly 22 years working in the Secretariat, told IPS, UN security officers barred him from entering the building last month and said his retiree UN pass was invalid.

“I was treated as if I was a security risk—after all these years of service to the UN”, he complained.

Asked about the status of UN staffers in Geneva, which hosts one of the largest conglomerations of UN agencies, Ian Richards, former President of the Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations (CCISUA) told IPS masks are still required for now in public spaces.

“Many meetings are back to normal. The car park is filling up. We are starting to see a more settled pattern now of colleagues alternating between office and home,” he added.

In Geneva, he said, retirees have been able to enter since last year. “No reason to keep them away,” said Richards, an economist at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

In his circular, Guterres said “after a long two-year struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic, we have encouraging news to report. COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations and transmission rates have significantly improved in New York City and the Tri-State area”.

Cases amongst UNHQ personnel have also sharply declined and have been at very low levels for some time. As you know, State and City authorities in New York have now lifted or revised their pandemic mitigation measures, he said.

“From the beginning, our approach on health and safety measures, as well as our transition from Phase Zero to the “Next Normal” phase has been closely guided by advice and the guidance of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and that of the local health authorities in New York City and State,” said Guterres.

The CDC has introduced a new “community level” tool to help formulate prevention steps based on the latest data. Levels – which are determined by hospitalization and test positivity rates – are characterized as low, medium or high. New York is currently at the low community level, for which the CDC recommends the following:

On the question of masks, the circular says people may choose to mask at any time. People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.

On COVID-19 vaccine: “Stay up to date (meaning a person has received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including any booster dose(s) when eligible)”.

Meanwhile, the authorities in New York City have decided to end COVID-19 vaccination requirements at restaurants, gyms, fitness studios, entertainment and cultural venues.

But the City will continue to mandate masks in public transit, as well as in healthcare facilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, schools/day care for children aged 2 to 5, and Broadway theatres. Individual businesses can choose to mandate masks while indoor school mask mandates have been discontinued in the Tri-State area.

“Based on the new guidelines, we are now able to institute associated changes in our workplace, returning to full operational capability while still prioritizing the health and safety of personnel, and balancing the operational needs of the Organization,” the circular added.

Guterres thanked staffers for their resilience, dedication and extraordinary efforts over this long and difficult period.

“We have learned many lessons together – including how to work effectively in innovative ways. Let us build on those lessons as we carry out our essential mission to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights for all,” he added.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK, Jan 20 2022 (IPS)

When hundreds of banks, commercial enterprises, financial institutions and Wall Street investment banks shuttered their offices because of spreading coronavirus infections, Mayor Eric Adams said “You cannot run New York City” – one of the world’s most vibrant cities – “from home”.

The restrictions included vaccine cards at restaurants and mandatory masks in public.

Adams, who took over as the 110th Mayor of New York city on January 1, has been critical of executive heads of thousands of banks, commercial enterprises, financial institutions and Wall Street investment firms, for shuttering their offices and barring their staff from offices because of the spreading new coronavirus infections.

On January 13, Adams told reporters at a news conference outside the Manhattan Civil Courthouse in New York, “Let’s be clear on this, we are winning — and we are going to win because we are resilient.”

According to Cable News Network (CNN), the spread of the Omicron variant is also “putting a strain on health care networks across the US as hospitalizations reach a level not seen since winter.”

More than 141,000 Americans were hospitalized with Covid-19 as of last week, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Separately, the agency announced that health insurers must cover the cost of home Covid-19 tests.

This means most people with private health insurance can buy at-home tests online or in stores and have them paid for at the time of purchase, or get reimbursed by submitting a claim to their insurer.

In a message to staffers, CNN said its offices in New York city would remain closed except “to those who absolutely need to be there.”

A survey mid-January by the Partnership for New York City, a business advocacy group, found about 22 percent of 187 companies said they could not estimate when their offices would reach even half capacity. The survey included about 215,000 workers in white-collar fields.

Some of the major financial institutions that enforced remote working included Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase Dow Jones (which includes the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones news wires, Barron’s, Financial News and MarketWatch)

COVID-19 vaccines now available to most New Yorkers-- and they are free. Credit: New York City Mayor’s Office

By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK, Sep 2 2021 (IPS)

The rigid new restrictions imposed by New York city– currently facing a surge in the deadly Delta corona virus variant– have prompted scores of US companies to impose mandatory vaccinations on all employees, mostly returning to work after temporary lockdowns.

The mandate follows the approval last week of the Pfizer vaccination by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after a prolonged study of its effectiveness.

The leading businesses that have imposed mandatory vaccinations on hundreds and thousands of their employees include Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Facebook, Google, Walt Disney, Amtrak, United Airlines, Capital One and McDonalds, along with nearly one million students in schools and Universities in New York city, which currently has a population of over 8.8 million people.

The new mandate comes into force on September 27, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.

According to a New York Times database, more than 56.5 percent of people in the US have received at least one dose of the vaccination while 48.9 percent are fully vaccinated with two shots.

As of July 2021, the US population stands at 333.2 million, the world’s third most populous nation, ranking behind China and India, with over 1.3 billion each.

In New York city alone there have been over 1.0 million cases of Covid-related illnesses and more than 33,700 deaths since the pandemic last year.

Following the FDA approval, US President Joe Biden was more emphatic: “if you’re a business leader, a non-profit leader, a state or local leader, who has been waiting for FDA approval to require vaccinations, I call on you now to do that. Require it”.

The vaccine refusal by millions of Americans is either for political, personal or medical reasons, with some describing mandatory vaccinations as “a violation of civil rights”.

Meanwhile, in a letter released August 13, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the Delta variant “is posing some challenges to our planning, and we will be taking additional precautionary measures to ensure a safe work environment for our personnel and delegates. “

The letter comes ahead of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly—scheduled for September 21– which is usually attended by more than 150 world leaders. But this year, it may be a hybrid version: a mix of mostly video conferencing and few in-person appearances.

The UN will continue to follow all restrictions imposed by New York, the host city for the world body. Conforming to city guidelines, the UN is expected to insist on proof of vaccination to use several of the dining facilities in the Secretariat building and also mandatory in-house mask-wearing.

“In order to align UNHQ’s approach to indoor dining with that of NYC’s guidance, we will soon require proof of vaccination for seated meals at cafeterias and other dining facilities on premises.,” says Guterres.

Further guidance on full return to work is being developed and will be issued in September.

To ensure adequate protection for all colleagues, all UN personnel must wear masks when indoors on premises, a rule which was effective August 13. “We will reassess this requirement as conditions warrant.”

The letter says the most significant driver of COVID19-related risk is vaccination status. Accurate information on the vaccination status of staff is therefore essential to determine risk and appropriate mitigation strategies.

The mandate for vaccinations may be waived where a recognized medical condition prevents vaccination.

Those staff members who will be required to be vaccinated must receive the final dose of a vaccine no later than 19 September 2021.

Any COVID-19 vaccine that is recognized by the WHO, or under routine approved-use by a Member State’s national health authority, is accepted.

The absence of world leaders may be visible in a near-empty General Assembly Hall, come September. Credit: United Nations

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 12 2021 (IPS)

The annual high-level debate during the upcoming 76th General Assembly sessions beginning September 21 —which traditionally attracted over 150 world leaders in a pre-pandemic era– is now clouded in uncertainty.

Will it be in-person or via video conferencing? Or will it most likely be a hybrid session with a mix of the two options, as it was last year.

The uncertainty has been prompted by a fresh wave of the deadly Delta coronavirus variant which is threatening to either lock- down New York city—or undermine all plans to return to normalcy or near-normalcy.

Asked whether there is a list of world leaders who have decided to be at the session in-person, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on August 11: “The short answer is, I don’t have the list. … which is not to say the list doesn’t exist”

Pointing out the second wave of infections in the city, he said: “I think what we have to keep in mind is that the situation is extremely fluid with the Delta variant, and what plans and what people may announce now may very well change before 21 September”.

The plans may depend on what Member States decide to do at the last minute– given the situation in their own country, given the status of international travel and given what’s going on here, he said. “So, I think we just need to plan for the unexpected.”

Right now, he said, the format of the GA remains unchanged; “it’s what we had announced a few weeks ago, which is Member States will have the choice of either having an in person delivery of a speech or a video delivery of the speech”.

“I assume that a lot of plans will be made at the last minute because of the changing situation of the Delta variant in the four corners of the world… It is not for me to confirm the travel plans of a Head of State or Head of Government, especially this far out from the GA in a time where things are so volatile, in a sense, of what will happen”.

Health workers tend to patients in a temporary COVID-19 emergency ward, in New Delhi, India. Credit: UNICEF/Amarjeet Singh
Cases and deaths resulting from COVID-19 continue to climb worldwide, mostly fuelled by the highly transmissible Delta variant, which has spread to 132 countries, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in July.

With specific exceptions, several US Presidential proclamations currently suspend and limit entry into the United States, including immigrants, nonimmigrants, or noncitizens who were physically present within specific countries during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these restrictions apply to individuals and nationals from China, Iran, UK, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa, India and the European Schengen area which includes Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/map-and-travel-notices.html

But several lingering questions remain: will world leaders, billed as speakers at the General Assembly sessions, be exempted from these restrictions?

And are these leaders willing to take risks visiting a country with more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases per day, reaching that mark for the first time since February?

The New York Times reported on August 10 that America’s borders remain closed to most European travelers during the pandemic, even those fully vaccinated. With fears of the Delta variant raging, there appears to be no end in sight.

But nearly two months later, even as Europe has overtaken the United States in vaccinations, America’s borders remain closed to most European travelers, even ones with vaccinations. And with fears of the Delta variant of the virus raging, there appears to be no end in sight.

According to the Times, the US decision to remain largely closed has dismayed Europeans
and frustrated their leaders, who are demanding that Europe’s decision to open its borders be reciprocated.

When asked for an update on the format for the high-level week, the General Assembly Spokesperson Amy Quantrill told reporters on July 27 that the letter of 23 June was the latest formal correspondence on this matter.

The Spokesperson confirmed the honor system related to vaccination status will continue for the high-level week. By swiping their UN passes, staff and others are confirming they have not tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 10 days and have not had symptoms consistent with COVID-19 in the last 10 days.

For unvaccinated people, she said, swiping their pass means that they have not had close contact with a person with COVID-19 in the last 10 days.

Meanwhile, the staff at the UN secretariat, which provides services, directly or indirectly, to the GA sessions is not in full force. Since early July, UN staffers, numbering over 3,000, have been given the option of either working from home or in-person.

Guy Candusso, a former First Vice President of the UN Staff Union, told IPS that while staffers should return to work in-person, but that will depend on various factors—including what mitigation measures the UN has taken, and will take, if the situation gets worse.

If the outbreak makes the UN a hazardous work environment, he asked, will staff be able to stay home?

In any case, he pointed out, the Organization should have a policy to allow exemptions and accommodations for staff (including for medical reasons and domestic situations where children are still home from school)

In Geneva, which is the second largest UN city, things are virtually back to normal. The UN meetings were mostly online and also in a hybrid mode – both in-person and online.

Prisca Chaoui, president of the 3,500-strong Staff Union at the UN Office in Geneva (UNOG), told IPS there is a gradual return to the office, and currently about 50% of staff are back in their offices. This is also due to Swiss protective measures like physical distancing still being in place.

As for guidelines on wearing masks, UNOG is abiding by the recommendations of the Swiss authorities, and is in close contact with the World Health Organization (WHO) and following their advice. Staff have no concerns whatsoever as all the protection measures have been put in place and being implemented in full, she added.

While staff have never stopped working and delivering on the mandate of the Organization, many staff look forward to getting back to the office, Chaoui declared.

As the current 75th GA sessions comes to a close in early September, the outgoing President Volkan Bozkir said he advocated the value of in-person meetings throughout the 75th session and, following the application of appropriate measures, convened in-person meetings of the General Assembly throughout the year.

As the situation on New York improved, the President implemented an increase in the number of delegates in the General Assembly Hall from 1 to 1+1 and for the High-Level Week to 1+3.

To ensure that all Member States have an equal opportunity to participate in high-level week, the option for Member States to send a pre-recorded video statement was included, if delegations are unable to travel due to on-going COVID-related concerns.

This option, he said, was not intended to replace in-person attendance but rather provide delegations with an alternative means to attend that is mindful of the disparity in the implications of the pandemic on delegations, including due to the matter of vaccine equity.

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