– President Ali tells UN Special Session on pandemic

“COVID-19 has emphasised the need for change in global relations,” said President, Dr. Irfaan Ali in his address to the 31st Special Session of the UN General Assembly, in response to the pandemic, on Thursday.

President Ali, during his address, also reiterated his support for the UN Secretary General’s call for a New Global Deal with a New Social Contract.
“As I noted in my intervention to the Meeting of Heads of Government and States on Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond, a New Global Deal will allow for the effective transfer of resources – financial, intellectual and technological – to developing countries, and facilitate also, a fairer sharing of the benefits of globalisation,” the Guyanese Head of State said.

A new social contract will guarantee the more effective use of these resources for sustainable development.
“A new era will soon be upon us. The world looks forward to beating this pandemic and hastening international recovery. This process will be made easier by the ushering in of a new era in global relations, one which will herald the magnificence of multilateralism, spearheaded by the United Nations,” the President told the gathering.
Here in Guyana, the COVID-19 pandemic has squeezed every segment of society, more particularly children, most of whom have been out of school for months, but Guyana has taken several steps to address this situation.

Guyana has supported the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Six-Point Plan which provides a response aimed at ensuring the nation’s children are protected and are catered for in the global recovery efforts which will follow the remission of this pandemic.

Guyana has committed to ensuring that her children are able to continue to learn by closing the national digital divide; enabling improved primary healthcare and access to vaccine by children; eradicating child poverty; effecting, where necessary, mental health-support interventions for children and young people; enacting greater protections and support-measures for vulnerable children; and encouraging access to improved water, hygiene and sanitation.
President Ali said the UN has demonstrated the efficiency and necessity of global cooperation and has been in the forefront of efforts to help countries mitigate the effects of this pandemic.

The UN efforts represent one of history’s greatest rescue missions.
This 31st Special Session comes at a time when the world eagerly awaits the authorisation of vaccines which have been developed to help in the public health fight against the coronavirus.  The UN must continue to be in the forefront – as it has been over the past eight months – in piloting the international rollout of mass immunisation for developing countries.