José Singer Weisinger, the special envoy of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, in the Security Council, Sept. 18, 2019, with members of his delegation. His country assumes the presidency in April, after a tumultuous month in which the Council suddenly switched to privately held meetings online amid the coronavirus pandemic. ARIANA LINDQUIST/UN PHOTO
The UN Security Council’s 15 members held a meeting on March 26, 2020, by videoconference, to discuss the UN political mission in Libya, as the UN headquarters in New York City remains physically off-limits amid the Covid-19 outbreak. But the meetings have not been live-streamed, so other UN member states are raising questions about the growing lack of transparency of the Council.
Secretary-General António Guterres holds a virtual press briefing to appeal for a global cease-fire during the coronavirus pandemic, March 23, 2020. So far, his call has been heard in Cameroon, Philippines, Yemen and parts of Syria. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
In Italy, temperature checks. As the coronavirus rages globally and nations say they are waging a war, the United Nations Security Council has not done anything to address the pandemic’s intensifying threat to international peace and security, the author argues.
The state of affairs in New York City, March 18, 2020, as the metropolis practices social distancing, self-isolating and working from home. Our new podcast episode reveals how four ambassadors who represent their country at the UN are navigating digital diplomacy. EVAN SCHNEIDER/UN PHOTO
The UN’s main lobby in New York, March 11, 2020. By Friday evening, March 13, the UN announced that virtually all personnel working at New York headquarters were being ordered to telecommute for four weeks, after a Filipino diplomat confirmed that a colleague had Covid-19. MARK GARTEN/UN PHOTO
A Filipino diplomat sent a letter to fellow diplomats on March 12 that a colleague at the country’s mission to the UN had tested positive for the coronavirus. The UN says it is following up but has not said it is closing the building. The scene above, March 11. MARK GARTEN/UN PHOTO
In the United Nations Security Council, experts briefing the members remotely from South Sudan. The Council has test-run a simulated cybermeeting, prepping for a potential shutdown of the UN building amid the coronavirus outbreak in New York. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
Zhang Jun, China’s envoy to the United Nations, in the Security Council, Sept. 17, 2019. Zhang has been in the post for less than a year and now leads the Council as president in March, just as the world reels from the coronavirus outbreak. ARIANA LINDQUIST/UN PHOTO
US Ambassador Kelly Craft voting in the UN Security Council on a women, peace and security resolution, Oct. 29, 2019. She and her husband, the coal billionaire Joseph Craft, have donated money recently to a political action committee dedicated to re-electing Trump.
Kelly Craft has taken a big step toward helping to ensure her political future, lavishing a campaign contribution of $360,600 on the re-election of her boss, President Donald Trump.
