UN Messengers of Peace support the Secretary-General’s appeal for a global ceasefire

TEHRAN, 14 April 2020 (UNIC) -- The following declaration is in support of the cease-fire appeal issued by UN Secretary-General António Gutteres on 23 March.

"As we face the fierce common enemy of the new coronavirus, we the United Nations Messengers of Peace forcefully add our voices to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for a global ceasefire, and entreat governments and armed groups to pull back from hostilities and allow the creation of corridors for life-saving aid.

We call on all of humanity to take inspiration from the acts of solidarity, cooperation and kindness that we are seeing among governments, the health care and global scientific communities and citizens everywhere to support the vulnerable among us.

Millions of internally displaced people, refugees and migrants are facing an acute state of vulnerability that could result in unthinkable hardship and unforgivable carnage. As reports of the virus multiply in conflict zones, the likelihood of humanitarian catastrophe looms too large.

History will remember an act of collective courage."

Signed by Messengers of Peace:

• Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein
• Daniel Barenboim
• Paulo Coelho
• Leonardo DiCaprio
• Michael Douglas
• Jane Goodall
• Lang Lang
• Yo-Yo Ma
• Midori
• Edward Norton
• Charlize Theron
• Stevie Wonder
• Malala Yousafzai