Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno Garces addresses the General Debate of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
Ecuador is one of the hardest-hit countries in Latin America, with more than 195,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 9,000 confirmed deaths.
QUITO, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno on Thursday called on the United Nations to strengthen multilateralism to soften the "dramatic" impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on countries around the world.
In a pre-recorded speech for a special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the pandemic, the president called for greater international cooperation to help the most vulnerable countries.
"If we do not strengthen multilateralism, there will be no way to stop the dramatic effects that the pandemic will cause," not just on health care, but also on economy, Moreno said.
The only way to overcome the pandemic and its impact is to work together, so "this is not the time for geopolitical conflicts," but "the time for solidarity and for cohesion to facilitate access to humanitarian aid" for all countries, he said.
Ecuador is one of the hardest-hit countries in Latin America, with more than 195,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 9,000 confirmed deaths.
Moreno said his government had to borrow from global lenders to deal with the health emergency and economic crisis.
In late September, the International Monetary Fund approved a 27-month, 6.5-billion-U.S.-dollar loan program for Ecuador. ■
