Uhuru: Debt relief and vaccines crucial for recovery of developing countries

Editor - Africa & International

Nation Media Group

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday reiterated his call for supportive debt relief and vaccine access for poor countries, arguing they will be the two most important areas to help the world beat back the Covid-19 pandemic.

The President told an audience in a pre-recorded statement that the world must learn from the “flawed” multilateral system that has largely failed to bring on board everyone, but argued developing countries will bank on reduced debt burdens, more vaccines, and easier channels of trade to recover.“As tax revenues have dipped due to the contraction of economic activities, and the increase in the debt burden, the fiscal space to provide a safety net to vulnerable groups in many of our countries has, equally been significantly constrained,” the President said in a pre-recorded statement.

“I see four glaring challenges, which if not addressed, make any notion of prosperity for all a distant dream. Debt distress, systems starved for investment, unfair trade, and a climate emergency that leaves small island developing states like Barbados perilously vulnerable,” Mr Guteress said. UNCTAD, created in 1964 is a UN agency that seeks to regularise trading rules, for the better of developing countries to access key markets. This year, the UNCTAD15 is seeking to move the world “from inequality and vulnerability to prosperity for all…” and promises to “leave no one behind.”In 2016, the UNCTAD delegates had agreed in Nairobi to focus on improving multilateral trade and development, inclusive economic growth, local manufacturing and implementation of the 17 targets contained in the Sustainable Development Goals. Most of these have been derailed by the pandemic, conflict or inward-looking policies of countries.