Former U.S. ambassador to United Nations Bill Richardson ends Myanmar visit

Bill Richardson met with the leader of Myanmar’s military government, members of the foreign diplomatic corps and representatives of the United Nations and other international organisations, a statement said.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson left Myanmar on Thursday after finishing a private humanitarian mission in which he sought to boost the Southeast Asian country’s efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic and facilitate the delivery of aid.

“The main focus of my discussions was to identify specific ways to speed the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility to Myanmar and to help mitigate a possible fourth wave of COVID-19,” he said, according to a statement issued by his Richardson Center for Global Engagement.

COVAX is a U.N.-backed effort to even out global vaccine distribution by supplying doses to low- and middle-income countries. Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in Asia.