UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations and president of its Economic and Social Council Munir Akram has underscored the need for the international community to mobilise the financing required to enable the developing countries to build back better from the devastation inflicted by the coronavirus.
Statement by Ambassador Munir Akram @PakistanUN_NY @UNECOSOC
at the Forum of the Countries of Latin America & the Caribbean on Sustainable Development on “Sustainable & resilient recovery from #Covid_19 : building an inclusive & effective path for achievement of 2030 Agenda”. pic.twitter.com/tekAbX1N77— Permanent Mission of Pakistan to UN, NY (@PakistanUN_NY) March 16, 2021
“Today, every nation is struggling to recover from the worst health, economic and humanitarian crisis in a century, induced by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Akram said at a meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development.
In this regard, he called for equality in the distribution of and access to the Covid-19 vaccine, making it available to each and everyone — rich or poor — as soon as possible. “Else,” he warned, “the virus will roam and return.”
While all countries have been adversely affected by the pandemic, the Latin American and Caribbean countries have recorded the sharpest economic contraction of 7.7 per cent, with exports falling by 13 per cent and 2.7 million firms, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, having closed down amid the region’s rising debt.
In UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and in other forums, Akram said, there was an emerging agreement on a number of actions that need to be taken.
Citing Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initiative for debt relief in April last, he welcomed the temporary suspension of debt by the G20 that brought “breathing space” to the developing countries, while also calling for its expansion.
The developing countries, which need about US$4.2 trillion for Covid-19 recovery and Sustainable Development Goals’ achievement, do not have access to the reserve currencies to create additional liquidity, he said.
The creation of new Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and redistribution of un-utilised quotas from richer to the developing countries, will be critical to providing that liquidity, Ambassador Akram said, adding that Prime Minister Khan had proposed the creation of 500 billion SDRs.
Akram also proposed mobilisation of significantly larger concessional finance for the poorest countries.
He also called for a halt in the illicit flow of trillions of dollars out of the poorer countries to tax “havens”. “Stolen assets should be returned expeditiously and unconditionally,” he said.
He stressed the need for advanced countries to fulfill their pledge to mobilize $100 billion annually as climate finance for building back better and transition to a sustainable global economy and keeping global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius.
Akram told Latin American leaders that he had proposed the creation of a public-private facility for sustainable Infrastructure Investment under the auspices of the United Nations to help developing countries bridge the existing sustainable infrastructure investment gap.
“We must build equitable trade, taxation, and technology regimes and enable the developing countries to unshackle the potential of their peoples for sustainable production and consumption,” he added.
