UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir on Thursday called for UN leadership and multilateralism in the fight against COVID-19.

"This (General Assembly) Hall is where nations come together, where they unite. This august body, the General Assembly, is the voice, will, and conscience of humanity. The world is looking to the UN for leadership to step up and take demonstrable action to address the greatest challenge our world is facing today," he told a General Assembly special session in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This crisis compels us to shake up how things are done, to be bold, and to restore confidence and trust in the United Nations. No other institution is as far-reaching, as mandated or as normatively better placed. The United Nations must lead on this."

This is not a time for finger-pointing, but for collective action to end the suffering of the peoples around the world, he said.

"Since the beginning, I have been convinced that holding this special session was a test for multilateralism, defined by our collective action on the most critical issue of our time. And it is in no way the end of our joint response and recovery from the pandemic."

The world was not prepared for COVID-19, but it has to be prepared for the next pandemic, climate catastrophe or global recession because a crisis of this magnitude will come and the world will have to meet it when it does, he said. Enditem

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