Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram calla for universal availability of Coronavirus vaccine
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NEW YORK - The President of UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan, Wednesday, underscored the need for ensuring that the initially approved coronavirus vaccines are made available to everyone, everywhere, as the deadly virus had impacted the entire world.
“The vaccine must be seen as a global public good,” he told a virtual year-end press conference while highlighting the plight of hard-hit poor and developing countries.
Noting the problems of inequitable distribution, Ambassador Akram said an emergency response was needed to generate and mobilize the financing required to enable the country's foreign countries to have the fiscal space to recover from the impacts of the crisis.
“We need to generate additional liquidity for the developing countries,” he said, suggesting that this could be done through the creation of new Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).
Also, the ECOSOC president said, investing in the ACT-Accelerator, and its COVAX Facility is the fastest way to end the pandemic and ensure a sustainable economic recovery.
The huge debt burden of developing countries must be addressed to avoid insolvency as well as providing them access to financing, especially concessional financing, to avoid a liquidity crisis and combatting illicit financial flows.
