By Gbenga Abulude (Politics and General Desk)
United Nations Secretary-General, Mr António Guterres has congratulated the United States President-elect, Mr Joe Biden and the Vice President-elect, Ms. Kamala Harris for their victory in the US elections.
He also commended the Americans for exhibiting elements of true democracy in the November 3 general elections.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Mr Stephane Dujarric, on Monday, Guterres said the partnership between the U.S. and the UN “is an essential pillar of the international cooperation needed to address the dramatic challenges facing the world today.”
The President of the UN General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, noted in a tweet that Mr. Biden had “a long history of supporting the UN”, and in Ms. Harris, her election was a “milestone for gender equality.”
“I look forward to deepening UN-US ties and working together towards a safer and more prosperous world,” he added.
The head of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, described the prospect of having the first ever woman as vice president, as “a hugely uplifting moment” for women and girls the world over, “especially for women of colour”.
Ms. Harris, who currently sits in the US Senate, representing California, is of Jamaican and Indian descent.
These felicitations come amidst President Donald Trump’s unacceptance of the election result, mounting legal challenges in court, with his campaign team filing lawsuits in several key states.
The UN was created after World War II at the instance of the Uniited States, which provides the largest financial contribution to the organisation’s overall budget.
The U.S provided 22% of the entire UN budget in 2020 more than every other nation, China and Japan contributing 12% and 8.5% respectively.
But the United States’ partnership with UN has been strained by the “America First” foreign policy of the President Donald Trump administration
Mr Trump broke away from his predecessors’ support for multilateralism and the Rules Based International Order (RBIO) represented by the UN.
Since 2016, the president hardly misses any opportunity to deride the organisation, which he once described as a “club for people to get together, talk and have a good time.”
In a speech at a 2016 of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, Mr Trump assailed the “utter weakness and incompetence of the United Nations.”
He has also complained about the cost to the United States of helping to fund the 193-nation body.
Earlier, the head of UN health agency (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, congratulated the declared winners of the US election, noting that the World Health Organization was looking forward to working with the administration “very closely”.
After President Trump made the decision to withdraw the US from WHO earlier this year in response to alleged missteps over the early course of the Covid-19 pandemic, the president-elect has repeatedly vowed to rejoin the organization.
Mr. Biden over the weekend also tweeted out that his administration would be recommitting itself to the Paris Agreement on climate change, on day one of his administration-to-be.
