– says new era in global relations will require significant development support

By Navendra Seoraj
THE novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, already a dire health emergency, is widening economic constraints experienced by countries around the world, said the President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, as he made his case for there to be debt relief and concessional financing, particularly for developing states.
The President, in his address to the United Nations (UN), said the pandemic is upending economic growth, reversing decades of development, derailing progress towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, and intensifying poverty and inequality. It is also worsening unemployment, and weakening health and education systems.

“As a consequence, developing countries are expected, in the near-term, to experience widening fiscal deficits, the narrowing of fiscal space, reduced external financing inflows and increasing debt. Small states, with undiversified economies and limited resources, will find it difficult to satisfy their immediate development and recovery needs,” said President Ali.

The UN, being the world’s foremost multilateral organisation, ‘must’ spearhead the global response to this pandemic.
At the health level, President Ali said this response should involve increased access to personal protection equipment (PPE) for frontline health workers, the provision of therapeutics and equipment for patient treatment, and the rollout of and support for mass immunization when a vaccine becomes available.

On the socio-economic front, he said it is imperative that global resources be mobilised to ensure a return to a sustainable development trajectory.
“Resources must be made available, expeditiously, using a variety of financial mechanisms, include debt relief, debt-service moratoriums, concessional financing capitalisation of deferred interest payments, and grants,” said President Ali.

RECOVERY
These measures will facilitate the recovery of developing states. But, the pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated global and societal inequalities. Addressing these inequalities must become integral to the global and national responses, said President Ali.
In this regard, he applauded the sentiments expressed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in this year’s Mandela Lecture.

The Secretary-General has clearly set out the challenges which lay before nations, and the actions which are necessary. His call for a New Social Contract and a New Global Deal is an apt response to both the pandemic, and the inequalities which exacerbate its effects.

A New Global Deal, as envisaged by the Secretary-General, will allow for the effective transfer of resources – financial, intellectual and technological – to developing countries. It will facilitate, also, a fairer sharing of the benefits of globalisation. A New Social Contract, in turn, will ensure the effective use of these resources to ensure that states remain on a sustainable development trajectory.

“I am confident that the world will defeat this pandemic. I confident also that with the political will we can reduce global and societal inequalities.

REBUILD
“It is important, therefore, that as we recover and rebuild, that we initiate a new era, one characterised by: a world where we anticipate and prevent illnesses instead of scrambling to cure them; a world where every child receives a quality education; a world where our elderly enjoy a dignified life; a world where everyone has access to food, health care, housing and water; and a world in which diversity and human rights are respected,” said President Ali.
He believes that establishing this new era in global relations will require significant development support, moreso now in the face of an impending global recession. For many small states, the burden of recovery from the pandemic will be too great to bear on their own.
“It is therefore of paramount importance that today’s deliberations pave the way for financial support to help small states rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is equally vital that the Secretary General’s calls for a New Global Deal and New Social Contract be pursued with promptness to ensure that recovery is aligned to reducing inequalities,” said President Ali.

The president said Guyana is aware of the pressing need to pursue, collectively, a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach to effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic and to secure a path towards a sustainable recovery.
“We have survived pandemics, global wars and recessions before. We shall survive again, and, as the United Nations, usher in the New Era,” President Ali affirmed.