MYANMAR’S shadow government, formed by opponents of military rule, called for a revolt against the junta on Tuesday, setting out a strategy that included action by armed militias and ethnic forces and urging bureaucrats to leave their posts.

Duwa Lashi La, the acting president of the National Unity Government, said in a speech that the shadow government, which is made up of members in exile or in hiding, was declaring a state of emergency.

Myanmar’s military toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, triggering a wave of protests by pro-democracy supporters, and hundreds of deaths as security forces tried to quell the demonstrations.

Some opponents of military rule have formed armed groups, under the banner of the People’s Defense Forces, and have forged alliances with some ethnic militias that have long seen Myanmar’s army as their enemy.

Declaring it was launching a “defensive war,” Duwa Lashi La called for a “revolt against the rule of the military terrorists led by Min Aung Hlaing in every corner of the country.”

Myanmar’s military ruler Min Aung Hlaing last month took on the role of prime minister in a newly formed caretaker government and pledged to hold new elections by 2023.

The junta has itself branded the NUG and People’s Defence Forces as terrorist groups.

Military-appointed administrators should “immediately leave your positions,” Duwa Lashi La said in his 14-point speech, in which he urged members of the security forces to join them and for ethnic forces in border areas to attack the military.

Soon after February’s coup, a civil disobedience movement was set up in a bid to undermine military rule.

Hastily formed militias have also been involved in regular skirmishes with the army though often appear to operate independently, while it is also unclear how much coordination there is among ethnic forces that have been fighting the army on and off for decades.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been leading diplomatic efforts to end the violence and open a dialogue between the military rulers and their opponents.

ASEAN’s envoy to Myanmar, Erywan Yusof, said in an interview with Kyodo news agency that the military had accepted his proposal for a ceasefire until the end of the year to ensure distribution of humanitarian aid.

A pro-democracy activist and another member of the NUG said the junta could not be trusted to honor such a deal.

A military spokesman did not answer calls from Reuters to seek comment on the reported ceasefire or the speech by the NUG. — Reuters

ROME — The Group of 20 (G20)rich countries said on Monday more efforts were needed to help poor countries vaccinate their populations against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but steered clear of making new numerical or financial commitments.

Italy, which holds the G20 presidency this year, said after the gathering that the “Pact of Rome,” where the meeting was held on Sunday and Monday, included a political agreement to increase support for poor nations and send them more vaccines.

“The level of (vaccine) inequality is too high and is not sustainable,” Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza told reporters.

“If we leave part of the world without vaccines, we risk new variants which will hurt all of us…Our message is very clear: no one must be left behind in the vaccination campaign.”

Vaccines are being shipped to poor countries through the international COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).

However, richer nations have come under fire for allegedly stockpiling COVID-19 jabs as many underdeveloped countries with low inoculation rates and rising infections struggle to get supplies.

“The strongest countries…are committed to investing significant resources and sending vaccines to the most fragile…We should strengthen this system bilaterally and through international platforms starting from COVAX,” Mr. Speranza said.

However, asked whether the G20 had made any new concrete financial commitments, he warned such pledges risked being a “straitjacket,” and the important thing was a “political goal” of global vaccination.

“We want to take the vaccine to the whole world and we’ll make the investments necessary. Will they be enough? Will more be needed? The countries of the world are making a commitment in this direction,” he said.

An 11-page declaration released after the meeting made no new financial pledges, but Mr. Speranza said these may be delivered at a joint meeting of G20 health and finance ministers in October.

That will be “a decisive occasion to find the resources to finance the instruments we have put on the table,” he said.

A little over 230 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered to 139 countries under COVAX, GAVI data show, against a target to secure two billion doses for lower-income countries by the end of 2021.

Mr. Speranza stressed that poor countries must also be helped to produce vaccines at home. “Transferring doses is not enough. We have to make other areas of the world capable of producing, sharing methodologies and procedures,” he said. — Reuters