G77: FM Calls for Making Health Crisis Opportunity to Consolidate Multilateral Solidarity

Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita called, Tuesday at the ministerial meeting of the Group of 77 and China, to make the health crisis an opportunity to consolidate a multilateral solidarity, starting with ensuring universal and equitable access to vaccines. “We should work to ensure that this health crisis serves as an opportunity to consolidate multilateralism and provide it with more solidarity,” said Bourita, who was speaking by video conference before the 45th meeting of Foreign ministers of the Group of 77 and China, held in New York. This solidarity comes first and foremost through ensuring universal and equitable access to vaccines, he said at this major event on “Sustainable recovery in the era of covid-19 and its impact on development,” noting that currently less than six percent of the African population is fully vaccinated. The Minister noted in this context that despite the promising global economic outlook, the recovery remains “uneven” in an “uncertain” health context marked by the emergence of new waves of contamination. “The persistence of the health crisis accentuates the vulnerabilities and structural problems that most of our economies suffer from, which are difficult to address without bold investments in vital sectors such as health, education, social protection, infrastructure, clean energy and sustainable development,” he said. Bourita also noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed how important it is to invest in the human and sustainable development of societies, saying that is why the 2030 Agenda “must remain at the heart of international cooperation and our collective action”. For the Minister, the Group of 77 and China must focus on climate change, the “greatest challenge of our time”, which represents an “existential threat” for the most vulnerable countries. “We must, therefore, intensify our mobilization and advocacy for the achievement of commitments made, especially by developed countries,” he stressed. Bourita also noted that without sufficient funding, it would be difficult to initiate a green resilient and sustainable recovery, adding that the mobilization of funding is a “real challenge”, which requires a paradigm shift in addressing some fundamental issues, such as access to private finance, trade and investment, climate transition financing, innovative financing, debt and development assistance. It is also important to strengthen solidarity and stimulate the global partnership in favor of LDCs, he stressed, noting that the 5th UN Conference on LDCs, scheduled to be held in Doha next January, offers in this difficult international context, the opportunity to launch a new program of action, both ambitious and achievable, which allows LDCs to meet the challenges they face. On this occasion, the Minister congratulated Pakistan on its election to the presidency of the G77 for next year, assuring this country of the full cooperation and commitment of the Moroccan delegation.