Nothing But Nets Celebrates Appointment of Antonio Guterres as Next United Nations Secretary-General

Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly, on the recommendation of the UN Security Council, appointed António Guterres to succeed current UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon starting on January 1, 2017. Margaret Reilly McDonnell, Director of the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign, made the following statement:

“The appointment of Antonio Guterres as the next United Nations Secretary-General is another great step forward for the world and for the fight against malaria. Nothing But Nets worked closely with Mr. Guterres when he served as the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015.

“Inspired and buoyed by this leadership, Nothing But Nets worked with UNHCR to deliver 1.3 million insecticide-treated bed nets and 400,000 diagnostic tests to refugees in sub-Saharan Africa, protecting them from malaria. Tremendous progress was made through this collaboration – malaria declined significantly as a cause of death among refugees.

“In 2015 as the number of refugees worldwide has increased, and malaria has continued as a major health threat in Africa, we launched ‘The Million Nets Pledge,’ our commitment to provide more than one million nets and other malaria interventions to refugees and vulnerable families fleeing conflict through UNHCR and UNICEF. We will achieve our goal by the end of this year and to date, Nothing But Nets has donated 1.8 million nets to UNHCR to protect refugee families.

“Mr. Guterres is well-suited to address the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and will work tirelessly to ensure human rights for all. He will continue the momentum created by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to fight malaria so that one day, no child will die from a mosquito bite.

“Our work is still far from complete. Every child deserves the chance to lead a healthy life, which is why we must sustain the gains we’ve made and accelerate efforts to defeat malaria. We look forward to continuing our efforts together with Mr. Guterres and our UN partners.

“We can’t stop now. Millions of children and their families are counting on us. Together, we can defeat malaria for good.” 

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Contact

Rachel Henderson

Communications Manager, Nothing But Nets

rhenderson@unfoundation.org

202.739.2782

About Nothing But Nets

Now in its tenth year, Nothing But Nets is a global campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a disease which claims the life of a child every two minutes. Inspired by sports columnist Rick Reilly, hundreds of thousands of people have joined the campaign that was created by the United Nations Foundation in 2006. Nothing But Nets has raised $60 million to help deliver nearly ten million bed nets to families in need, along with other crucial malaria interventions. In addition to raising funds for its UN partners, Nothing But Nets raises awareness and voices to advocate for critical malaria funding for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. It only costs $10 to help save lives from this deadly disease. Visit www.NothingButNets.net to defeat malaria.

About The United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual donors. Learn more at: www.unfoundation.org.