Imran Yaqub Dhillon
New York
“Everyone and everywhere – rich or poor – must have equal access to the vaccine”: Ambassador Munir Akram “Over the past 75 years, for multiple reasons, the UN Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc) has struggled to fulfill the policy and coordination mandate assigned to it by the Charter. Never before has the fulfillment of this mandate been more challenging or more imperative as it is today”: Ambassador Munir Akram said while speaking at the Webinar: Virtual voices organized by World Information Transfer today in his capacity as 76th ECOSOC President.
Today, Mr. Akram added, “Member States face three simultaneous global challenges” First, “the COVID pandemic and its consequences”, Second, “the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” and Third, avoiding “the existential threat of Climate catastrophe”.
The advanced countries, the Ambassador said, have been able to generate nearly $10 Trillion to finance their response to the pandemic and economic recovery. The developing countries have not been able to raise a fraction of this. The IMF has estimated they need over $2.5 trillion to respond to the Covid crisis, revive economic growth and achieve the SDG targets.
The Ambassador hoped that the Covid-19 vaccine will be developed soon and “Everyone, everywhere – rich or poor – must have equal access to the vaccine”.
Ambassador Akram outlined the main priorities of the Pakistan Presidency of ECOSOC: one, mobilization of adequate finance for developing countries to respond to the Covid pandemic and implementation of SDG and climate goals; two, accelerated investment in sustainable infrastructure; and three, full utilization of latest technologies for achieving the SDGs.
World Information Transfer, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with United Nations/ECOSOC aiming to promote health, and environmental literacy conducted this event as a series of Virtual voices, where today H.E Permanent Representative of the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram spoke in the capacity of 76th President of ECOSOC.
The ECOSOC’s central mandate is to promote “better standards of life in larger freedoms” through international economic cooperation. Pakistan has assumed the Presidency of the Economic and Social Council for the sixth time in the midst of the most serious global crisis faced by the international community since the establishment of the United Nations.
