1) Sign the petition for a global ceasefire.
2) Contact your nation’s government and get a clear commitment to engaging in the ceasefire (not just urging others to do so).
3) Use the Comments section on this page report on what you learn!
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres proposed this global ceasefire:
Our world faces a common enemy: COVID-19.
The virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith. It attacks all, relentlessly.
Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world.
The most vulnerable — women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced — pay the highest price.
They are also at the highest risk of suffering devastating losses from COVID-19.
Let’s not forget that in war-ravaged countries, health systems have collapsed.
Health professionals, already few in number, have often been targeted.
Refugees and others displaced by violent conflict are doubly vulnerable.
The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war.
That is why today, I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world.
It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.
To warring parties, I say:
Pull back from hostilities.
Put aside mistrust and animosity.
Silence the guns; stop the artillery; end the airstrikes.
This is crucial…
To help create corridors for life-saving aid.
To open precious windows for diplomacy.
To bring hope to places among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Let us take inspiration from coalitions and dialogue slowly taking shape among rival parties in some parts to enable joint approaches to COVID-19. But we need much more.
End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world.
It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now.
That is what our human family needs, now more than ever.
Audio here.
Video here.
Fifty-three countries said they supported it:
Other nations said the same. There were even startling reports that the United States supported it. The latter were based entirely on this tweet from the U.S. National Security Council.
The trouble is that it is simply not clear whether the NSC speaks for the U.S. government and whether it simply wants everyone else to cease firing or is committing the U.S. military (and its junior partners) to a ceasefire.
A list of the nations with troops fighting in Afghanistan raises a similar question about a number of nations backing the ceasefire.
So does a list of the nations fighting in Yemen.
So does a list of the nations with wars actually in their territories.
Below is a list of the world’s nations. Those in bold have indicated support for the global ceasefire. We need help in both getting all of the other nations on board, and in pinning down exactly what each nation is committing to. Please help make this idea a reality by taking these steps:
1) Sign the petition for a global ceasefire.
2) Contact your nation’s government and get a clear commitment to engaging in the ceasefire (not just urging others to do so).
3) Use the Comments section on this page to report on what you learn!
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Does this mean that Australia wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Does this mean that Belgium wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic (CAR)
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Republic of the
Costa Rica
Cote d’Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czechia
Does this mean that Czechia wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Denmark
Does this mean that Denmark wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Does this mean that Estonia wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
Does this mean that Finland wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Does this mean that Germany wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Does this mean that Hungary wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Does this mean that Italy wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Does this mean that Lithuania wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Luxembourg
Does this mean that Luxembourg wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Does this mean that Mali wants others to cease firing or that its troops in Mali will cease firing?
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Does this mean that Mexico wants others to cease firing or that its troops in Mexico will cease firing?
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Does this mean that Montenegro wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar (formerly Burma)
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
Does this mean that Netherlands wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
New Zealand
Does this mean that New Zealand wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea
North Macedonia (formerly Macedonia)
Norway
Does this mean that Norway wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Does this mean that Poland wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Portugal
Does this mean that Portugal wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Qatar
Does this mean that Qatar wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Yemen will cease firing?
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Does this mean that Slovakia wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
South Sudan
Spain
Does this mean that Spain wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Sweden
Does this mean that Sweden wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Afghanistan will cease firing?
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Does this mean that UAE wants others to cease firing or that its troops in places like Yemen will cease firing?
United Kingdom (UK)
United States of America (USA):
The National Security Council either wants others to cease firing in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, or is committing the United States to doing so.
It is not clear.
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City (Holy See)
See
here.
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
