Month: September 2020

Walid Al-Moualem, who is also Syria’s Deputy Prime Minister, attributed the decline to Governments that have “illegally imposed their own agendas on other nations”. 

“The situation today does not bode well for the future we want, nor does it reflect the United Nations we need”, Mr. Al-Moualem said in a pre-recorded video address to the Assembly’s annual debate, being held virtually this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.  

The Foreign Minister maintained that his country wants a secure future, “free from terrorism, occupation, and inhumane sanctions” and a UN that “unequivocally stands against wars and warmongers…while avoiding politicization, illegal interference and attempts to destroy nations and communities”. 

Reject ‘unilateral coercive measures’

According to Mr. Al-Moualem, the COVID-19 pandemic has made this more important than ever.

Today’s imperative is that we combat this pandemic together through multilateral joint action — Syrian Foreign Minister

“Today’s imperative is that we combat this pandemic together through multilateral joint action…to build a more equal world, better equipped to withstand crises and achieve real sustainable development for all”, stated the Syrian official.

He maintained however, that the reality on the ground is “the complete opposite” and painted a picture of political agendas taking precedence over humanitarian ones, and tradional international norms.

When life-saving medications and medical equipment are “blocked in the middle of a pandemic”, efforts to rebuild Syria “after the destruction brought by terrorists” obstructed, wheat fields burned, oil fields looted and the energy sector targeted it only serves to deny civilians “access to food, heating, gas and electricity”, underscored Mr. Al-Moualem.

“Unilateral coercive measures imposed by some countries clearly violate international law” he flagged, calling them “false claims intended to cover their inhumanity”. 

The Foreign Minister called on countries to close ranks and “reject such measures” through “cooperation, coordination, and concrete political, economic and commercial means”.

Terrorism

Turning to the issue of terrorism, Mr. Al-Moualem asserted that “the current Turkish regime reigns supreme”.

He called Turkey “one of the main sponsors of terror” in the region, signaling that it has facilitated tens of thousands of foreign terrorists into his country, supported terrorist groups “that have massacred Syrians” and carried out “a ‘Turkification’ and forced displacement policies” in the Syrian territories it occupies.

“The current Turkish regime has become a rogue and outlaw regime under international law”, spelled out the Foreign Minister, warning that its policies and actions “must be stopped”.

Moreover, the “illegitimate presence of American and Turkish forces on Syrian soil meets all the legal conditions of an occupation”, he continued, referring to their actions as “a flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity”.

Finally, Mr. Al-Moualem pointed to the “systematic and grave violations of human rights” that Israel practices in the Golan and renewed Syria’s support for Iran “against the US policy” to undermine the nuclear agreement and destabilize the region.

Full statement available here.

The African country is continuing on a path of political transition following the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. 

“Sudan, with the blood of its martyrs, has gone through decades of tyranny, injustice and social deterioration,” he said. 

“Despite all of this, this period of transition of the young glorious revolution is experiencing many difficulties, which call for the support of the international community in order to be able to carry out the government’s projects and plans intended to improve the economic situation.” 

A ‘paralyzed’ economy

The Prime Minister made the appeal in a pre-recorded speech that was broadcast during the annual debate in the UN General Assembly Hall. Heads of State and Government are mainly participating virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Mr. Hamdock said Sudan’s transitional government has inherited a “paralyzed economy” and a “weak, devastated service sector”, including a health system that had been neglected for decades.  The “dark, strange enemy” of COVID-19 presents an additional complication. 

Sudan has also been hit by recent torrential rain and floods which have caused severe loss of life and property. Tens of thousands of homes have either partially or completely collapsed, he reported. 

Plans to support families 

The authorities are undertaking reforms to restructure the economy and Mr. Hamdock pointed to future plans that include providing social support to poor families and strengthening agricultural production, both in urban and rural areas.  

 “We are making tireless efforts to reconsider national legislation and ensure that it is in harmony with international criteria and conventions,” he said referring to efforts to “clean up” laws on freedom of expression, protection of women’s rights, and impunity, among other areas. 

However, the Prime Minister stated that international support is critical if the economic reforms are to happen.   

Therefore, debt forgiveness and “preferential treatment” are top concerns. Sudan also should be removed from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, he added. 

“Sudan has returned to the international fold after 30 years outside it. This must happen! But we need this assistance and support in order to do so,” he said. 

“It is our hope that we will be able to accomplish projects of reconstruction and reform so that Sudan will become once again an active player on the regional stage and to contribute to the international community and work to create the future we want.” 

Full statement (in Arabic) available here 

Speakers also highlighted the importance of gender equality, improving access to technology and closing the digital divide, addressing inequalities within societies, strengthening climate action, and, in line with the Sustainable Development Goas (SDGs), ensuring no one is left behind. 

Nations have to re-imagine the ways they cooperate as they respond to COVID-19, said Andrew Holness, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, the first of the Caribbean leaders to speak, adding that “persistent global problems require consistent cooperation to achieve strategic global solutions.” 

An excellent example of such effective multilateral cooperation is the UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, he said. The Fund supports low- and middle-income countries overcome the health and development crisis caused by the pandemic and support those most vulnerable to economic hardship and social disruption. 

The inclusion of middle-income countries “recognizes the reality”, added the Prime Minister, referring to the development challenges faced by this group of countries. 

Through ensuring middle-income countries are able to access support they need will allow the entire international community to reap benefits, he said. 

In his address, the Prime Minister Jamaica also voiced concerns over the socio-economic fallout from the pandemic, in particular on efforts to beat back non-communicable diseases, as well as the disproportionate impact on, and rise in, violence against women and girls. 

We protect ourselves, when we safeguard our neighbours 

In the same vein, Ralph E. Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, highlighted that in the increasingly interconnected and hyper-globalized world “we protect ourselves when we safeguard our neighbours.” 

Today’s urgent challenges “cannot be solved by building walls” or by retreating into nationalistic isolationism, he said, stressing “we must build bridges” and stand shoulder to shoulder as we lift each other up from COVID-19. 

The Prime Minister also spoke of the unique challenges facing small island developing states (SIDS) – including his own country. He underscored the need for “predictable and reliable” financing such as through concessional loans, development assistance, and debt relief, to help such nations safeguard their development progress. 

In his address, Prime Minister Gonsalves also called for reforms to the UN Security Council to make it more representative for the African continent and small islands. He said that his country, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, has forged a strong partnership with three non-permanent members from Africa, “in what has become known as the A3+1.”  

Instead of nationalism, we need global cooperation 

Speaking next, the Prime Minister of the smallest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Saint Kitts and Nevis, also underscored the moment of global reckoning wrought by the pandemic “demands a renewal of purpose and promise” through multilateralism, and stronger international cooperation. 

Prime Minister Timothy Harris said that the time for mutual reliance was now.  

He congratulated the UN World Health Organization (WHO) for its stewardship of the international response, adding that Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states strongly back the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator initiative for an equitable vaccine: “Instead of nationalism, we need global cooperation in the fight to defeat COVID-19”, he said. 

Lauding his islands’ “considerable success” combating the virus, he said multilateral assistance was essential for small island nations like his, calling for greater access to “concessional financing” and debt relief to help reshape the economy, battered by everything from a record-breaking hurricane season to the collapse of tourism revenue. 

“Climate change for us, is not something to be postponed for tomorrow. It must be addressed like yesterday,” Prime Minister Harris said, calling on small island nations to champion the cause of preserving biodiversity, at next week’s summit-level meeting of the General Assembly. 

“For Saint Kitts and Nevis, the ocean is our lifeblood. Let us protect it, to preserve a stronger and safer future,” he added. 

Struggle to protect hard-fought development gains

Also speaking on Saturday, the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Allen Michael Chastanet, told the virtual gathering of delegates there were perhaps more global risks besetting the world now than ever before, “forcing us to consider deeply, the future we want and the United Nations we need.” 

Effective multilateral action was essential, he argued, especially to assist SIDS such as Saint Lucia, as they struggle against the “pervasive erosion of our hard-fought developmental gains.” 

He asked nations around the world to consider the reality of supporting the SDGs in countries where life is a daily struggle: if parents “don’t have a means to put a roof over their family’s head, how are they going to participate, or even care about the [Goals]?” 

Locked out of the world’s “economic architecture”, Prime Minister Chastanet said small island developing States were often the most vulnerable, while being the least responsible for the predicament they find themselves in, especially when it comes to fighting climate change. 

“SIDS are the most indebted, yet we are the least likely to get debt relief…the smallest producers of global goods and services, yet we are the most restricted by the rules of international trade”, he said. 

“SIDS are the smallest emitters of carbon, yet we are the most affected by climate change.” 

He pointed out that all these paradoxes are man-made, and the solution sometimes requires no more than “the stroke of a pen”. 

“We cannot continue to attend meetings to discuss solutions within the current framework…New forms of measurement and criteria must be adopted that are going to allow SIDS the opportunity, to help ourselves”, he declared. 

Nations small and big depend on each other

Echoing speakers before him, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago spoke of the shared reliance among all countries, regardless of their size: “they anticipate, and even depend on us all sharing and caring for each other,” he said. 

Prime Minister Keith C. Rowley told world leaders that as with other SIDS battling the impact of COVID-19, his country also had to “walk a thin line” between saving lives and preserving livelihoods. It acted to close its borders and implemented physical distancing, making adjustments as needed to protect the most vulnerable. 

He applauded the WHO for its leadership and commended healthcare and frontline workers everywhere for saving lives and caring for people, often at significant personal sacrifice.  

“The COVID-19 pandemic presents an existential threat of unmatched proportions to human health and safety around the world,” he said, not only because of its impact on health, but also on years’ worth of development gains. 

Mr. Rowley underscored the importance of education for children to enable them with the tools and the opportunities to build a better future. Recalling the words of his country’s first Prime Minister, Eric Williams, Mr. Rowley said, “the future of our nation is in our children’s school bags”. 

Thus, his country remains attentive to the needs of all its children, he continued, adding “as we navigate through these challenging times, we remain committed to ensuring that no child is left behind in our campaign to build back better.” 

In his address, the Prime Minister also spoke about the perils of climate change for his country, other small island nations and least developed countries everywhere, and added that his Government accords high priority to gender equality, reaffirming its commitment to the Beijing Declaration. 

‘After Hurricane Dorian, little did we know…’

Also speaking on Friday, Prime Minister of the Bahamas expressed his solidarity with all other nations fighting COVID-19 and his condolences at the loss of lives. 

When he addressed the General Assembly last year, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian – the most powerful storm to hit the Bahamas in recorded history – Hubert Minnis said he implored world leaders to treat the climate emergency as the greatest challenge facing humanity. 

“Little did we know that just a few months later, an even greater challenge would emerge, forcing the world to come to a grinding halt, at a proportion not witnessed since the Second World War.” 

The Bahamas like so many other had to act decisively to keep the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading, but with tourism as the main earner for the islands, the closure of borders led to the sharpest decline ever of visitor numbers precipitating widespread economic slowdown and unprecedented unemployment, he said. 

In response, his Government rolled out unemployment benefit and social security programmes, including national food distribution initiative. 

However, SIDS – like the Bahamas – “always appear” to operate in a recovery cycle mode, having to deal with external shocks and climate events, at a much higher rate of vulnerability, he said, calling for a review of methodologies used by international financial institutions to take into consideration exposure, vulnerability and ability to recover from exogenous shocks. 

The Prime Minister applauded the G20 for suspending debt service payments for least developed countries and urged that the concession be extended to other economic groupings as well. 

Wrapping up, he said that while he remains “cautiously optimistic” for a viable COVID-19 vaccine in the not too distant future, he takes note of the collaborative efforts of the COVAX facility to secure arrangements for developing countries. 

“Developing countries should be able to access vaccines via a transparent procurement process at affordable market rates,” urged the Prime Minister of the Bahamas. 

“COVID-19 must not blind us. On the contrary, we must open our eyes to the weaknesses that this pandemic has laid bare to our societal models, for example,” she said in a pre-recorded statement.   

Due to the pandemic, the annual debate for Heads of State and Government in the UN General Assembly Hall is mainly being held virtually. 

Prime Minister Wilmès pointed to COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on people who already suffer heavily due to inequality, such as women, girls, children, the elderly and persons with a disability. 

Geopolitical tensions and conflicts 

“At a time when we continue to combat this pandemic with strength and steely determination, as well as its consequences, we cannot nevertheless turn our back to the other major challenges facing us in the 21st century,” she continued. 

“Geopolitical tensions are palpable, and conflicts rage or threaten to emerge across the globe. These tensions are simply exacerbated by the current health situation and they jeopardize the delicate balances reached in our world.” 

For Ms. Wilmès, the situation in the Gulf remains of great concern.  She called for the international community to “actively seek to preserve” the 2015 agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme. 

The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA) sets out rules for monitoring the programme. It also guarantees that the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will have regular access to sites in the country.  

“The JCPOA remains crucial to guarantee the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear programme,” she said. 

The Prime Minister also underlined the need for peace in the Middle East. 

“There can be no solution to the conflict in the Middle East without a lasting and just solution the Palestinian question. There can be no peace in the Middle East without Israel enjoying the legitimate right to live in peace and security in internally-recognized borders. There can be no peace in the Middle East if we do not eradicate terrorism,” she stated. 

Violent extremism and the climate crisis 

Moving to the Sahel, Ms. Wilmès condemned the recent military coup in Mali, and extended her nation’s full support to regional and national efforts towards a civilian transition and the restoration of constitutional order. 

Many of the challenges Mali faces are common to the wider region, such as terrorism, conflict between farmers and herders, and inter-communal tensions, she added, in calling for “a holistic approach” to counter violent extremism. 

“Such an approach must emphasize good governance, the fight against impunity, the strengthening of democratic institutions, tackling the grievances of marginalized groups, as well as sustainable and inclusive development,” she advised. 

Meanwhile, more regions of the world are now weathering the consequences of climate change.  Ms. Wilmès said people are being driven from their homes due to drought and “abnormal meteorological conditions” in countries such as Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan. 

“The climate emergency is a challenge for peace. There is no more time to waste,” she said. “And this is a cause behind which each and every one of us must rally.” 

Full statement (in French) available here 

“And yet the crisis has also been an extraordinary force for division”, Boris Johnson said in a pre-recorded video address to the Assembly’s annual debate, being held virtually this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Although the world is “up against the same enemy”, he pointed out that borders have been springing up “between friends and allies” and global supply chains disrupted with “cheque book wars on airport tarmacs” as nation vie for PPE.

“The very notion of the international community looks, frankly, pretty tattered”, Mr. Johnson observed.

“We simply can’t continue in this way”, he stressed, urging the delegates to “unite…against our common foe” lest everyone lose.

Amidst colossal economic suffering and nearly a million people dead the Prime Minister said “there is a moral imperative for humanity” to reach a joint understanding of how the pandemic began and how was able to spread to “collectively do our best to prevent a recurrence”.

Bolstering global recovery

The UK Prime Minister called the World Health Organization (WHO) “the one body that marshals humanity against the legions of disease” and announced a 30 per cent increase in funding over the next four years, amounting to £340 million.

As we strive for a vaccine, we must never cut corners — British Prime Minister

Calling himself a staunch supporter of science, Mr. Johnson said, “epidemiologists at Oxford University identified the first treatment for COVID-19” and shared with the world dexamethasone, a cheap medicine that reduces the risk of death by over a third for patients on ventilators, “so that as many as 1.4 million lives could be saved in the next six months”.

And as the biggest donor to Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, he explained that in June, the UK helped to raise almost $9 billion to immunize 300 million children against killer diseases and noted that there are 100 potential vaccines currently trying to clear the hurdles of safety and efficacy.

“But even as we strive for a vaccine, we must never cut corners, slim down the trials or sacrifice safety to speed”, Mr. Johnson asserted.

Protecting humanity

The Prime Minister vowed to use the UK’s presidency of the G20 richest nations to “create a new global approach to health security” based on a five-point plan to “protect humanity against another pandemic”. The first aim is to “stop a new disease before it starts”, he said, including by forging a global network of zoonotic research hubs, to spot animal pathogens that may cross the species barrier and infect humans.

Secondly is to develop the manufacturing capacity for treatments and vaccines on hand to stop organisms before they can attack or at least be able to quickly diagnose.

The next objectives are to design a global pandemic early-warning system, based on data collection and analyses, and then to have emergency response protocols should another crisis arise.

Finally, he urged every country to lift export controls wherever possible and cancel tariffs on gloves, protective equipment, thermometers and other critical products.

“Never again must we wage 193 different campaigns against the same enemy”, the British Prime Minister official upheld.

Full statement available here.

Bangladesh is hosting more than one million Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority community who are stateless, most of whom fled following a wave of violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017. 

“More than three years have elapsed. Regrettably, not a single Rohingya could be repatriated. The problem was created by Myanmar, and its solution must be found in Myanmar. I request the international community to play a more effective role for a solution to the crisis,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a pre-recorded speech to the UN General Assembly on Saturday. 

The annual gathering of Heads of State and Government in the iconic General Assembly Hall is being held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Stimulus packages and safety nets 

Like many of her counterparts, Prime Minister Hasina outlined steps her Government has taken to address the crisis and mitigate its impacts. 

Although COVID-19 has impeded economic progress in Bangladesh, she said the authorities implemented initiatives which prioritized both lives and livelihoods, such as introducing some $13.25 billion in stimulus packages for industries, and expanding social safety nets. 

“We have readily arranged food and other assistance for people who are rendered jobless due to COVID-19. This arrangement has benefitted nearly 10 million families. We have provided scholarships to four million students. We have also given cash incentives to five million people, including farmers, workers and labourers affected by the pandemic,” she said. 

“To ensure healthcare of the common people, we are providing 30 types of medicines free of cost through 18,000 community clinics and union health centres,” she continued, noting that overall, the pandemic’s impact has been minimal due to the various interventions.  

Feeding the nation 

Meanwhile, food production has been the top priority during the pandemic, she said. Special arrangements have been made to keep industries up and running, among other measures, all in compliance with health guidelines. 

“Consequently, our health sector and economy are still comparatively at a better shape. Despite the COVID-induced stagnation in global industrial outputs, our GDP has registered a growth rate of 5.24 per cent, which is expected to be seven per cent in the next fiscal year.” 

A vaccine for all 

Prime Minister Hasina said COVID-19 has been a stark reminder “that our fates are interconnected and that no one is secured.”  

She expressed hope that any vaccine against the disease will be readily available to anyone, anywhere who needs it. Bangladesh could also contribute to the process, she added. 

“It is imperative to treat the vaccine as a ‘global public good.’  We need to ensure the timely availability of this vaccine to all countries at the same time,” she told world leaders. 

“If we are provided with the technical know-how and patents, the pharmaceutical industry of Bangladesh has the capacity to go for vaccine production in mass-scale.” 

Full statement available here