|
|
New York, 6 October 2021
Ambassador Munir Akram said that: “We embarked this year on the Decade of Action to implement the 2030 Agenda”. “The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan, has outlined a Plan of Action to ensure the implementation of the 2030 Agenda” said Ambassador Munir Akram, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN at UN General Assembly’s Second Committee General Debate on “Crisis, Resilience and Recovery – Accelerating Progress Towards the 2030 Agenda today.
He elaborated further on his proposals saying that “we must ensure vaccine equity to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic globally and comprehensively”. Second “the unsustainable debt burden on developing countries must be lifted by further extension of the G-20’s GSSI; participation of the private sector in debt restructuring; debt cancellation and suspension, especially of vulnerable least developed and African countries and the SIDs, “a Global Debt Authority and an independent rating agency should be established. Third, “Significantly larger concessional assistance should be mobilized for developing countries, especially by meeting the 0.7 GNI commitments by donor countries” he said further. Fourth, “at least $150 billion of the unutilized Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), of richer countries should be reallocated to the developing countries” Fifth, “the cost of borrowing by developing countries should be lowered through innovative financial mechanisms, such as the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility proposed by the Economic Commission for Africa.” Sixth, “The flight of an estimated $1 trillion in resources from the developing countries each year in the form of Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) must be halted and reversed. This is a root cause of their under-development. We must stop these flows and secure the return of stolen assets.
“We should address tax havens, tax abuse, especially by multinational corporations, and other illicit financial flows through an equitable international tax regime and a universal UN intergovernmental forum to enable developing countries to generate adequate domestic revenues to finance the SDGs” he added. Seventh, “The goals and targets of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change can be fulfilled only if predictable and adequate climate finance is ensured. The pledge of the developed countries to provide $100 billion annually in climate finance must be fulfilled
Prime Minister’s plan of Action also suggests “massive investment in sectors aligned with the SDGs, in particular an investment of $1 trillion annually for sustainable infrastructure, from public and private sources”. And “concerted efforts are needed to discard old and new trade protectionism and establish a fair international trading system that enables developing countries to continue to pursue export led growth.” Mentioning the digital divide “integration into the digital economy can enable developing countries to leapfrog into the modern knowledge-based global economy” he said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has served as an X-Ray on this inequality” Ambassador called it “vaccine apartheid” where “the developed countries have vaccinated most of their population; the developing countries, less than 5 percent of their people”. “The pandemic has illustrated the oneness of humanity. It should have evoked unrestrained solidarity. Instead, advanced nations appear to have reverted to tribal instincts”.
“The advanced economies have injected around $21 trillion to stimulate their economies; the developing countries have received less than a $100 billion, as against their need for at least $4.3 trillion, to finance recovery and invest in key SDG sectors” he further noted.
“The greatest injustice is that the countries that have contributed the least towards environmental degradation are bearing the brunt of climate change. Their growth has been reversed, poverty has grown, and their development challenges have been significantly magnified” he expressed further.
Pakistan welcomed President Xi Jinping’s Global Development Initiative. “We hope that both developing and industrial countries will join within the framework of this important Initiative to advance the SDGs and promote a common future of prosperity for all nations and peoples” he said.
Ambassador also quoted Secretary General’s statement “Inequality is the hallmark of our times”. Of the six “divides” he mentioned in his opening address to the General Assembly, the most fundamental is the “development divide” – the growing economic and social inequality between the rich and poor countries.
Pakistan aligned its statement delivered by Guinea, on behalf of G-77 and China.
Second committee of the General Assembly is The Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee) of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session, is chaired by Her Excellency Vanessa Frazier of Malta.