Fiji has been represented at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) High Level meeting held earlier this week. Based on the theme, “Financing a Sustainable Recovery from COVID19,” the meeting enabled a wide range of policy discussions on exploring financing options for effective mobilisation of resources and global partnership for proactive recovery and rebuilding economic activities and social wellbeing.
It also enabled the UN member states to examine proposals and recommendations from member states and stakeholders on collectively addressing the challenging tasks of mobilizing sufficient funds to support economic recovery.
UN’s Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed said this was an opportunity for the world to build back better and reaffirm commitments on advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) as the way forward.
While addressing the delegates at this meeting, Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Satyendra Prasad called for UN’s leadership and global solidarity in forging international consensus on finance for COVID-19 recovery.
In conveying the key propositions, Ambassador Prasad said that UN’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund will be a key instrument for the economic recovery of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
“The global social and economic crisis demands a significant grant stimulus; not a debt stimulus. In time, the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund should become the core financing vehicle for Sustainable Development Goals. Consistent with the UNSG’s call to World Leaders last week, I hope that advanced economies can channel some of their domestic stimulus for this purpose as the damage suffered by the SIDS is asymmetrical and far beyond their capacity to respond in a measured manner,” Ambassador Prasad said.
Fiji’s PRUN impressed upon the importance of accelerating momentum on actions for protecting climate, oceans and biodiversity as the core in reviving SIDS tourism industry.
“This industry is in near total shut down mode. As it recovers, there are opportunities to think afresh what the industry may look like going forward. The Global Climate Fund, the Global Environment Fund; the RPSF can be considerably enhanced to support their recovery.
“But these can go much further. Investments via these existing instruments can be fast-tracked; front loaded and focus on green and blue job creating; safety net boosting and livelihood expanding opportunities in and around the tourism sector. Such an approach should be part of a global climate-oceans-ecological recovery response. A green and blue stimulus on scale and speed is within sight,” Ambassador Prasad stated.
The meeting also emphasised the importance of ensuring debt sustainability and investing in recovery strategies. Drawing the UN attention on this subject, Fiji’s PRUN said that SIDS are already challenged with climate induced burden.
“The time for repurposing debt and leveraging debt for a green and blue recovery has surely arrived. For many SIDS; the means through which you operate an economy require higher levels of Government support than in large economies.
All of these, by their very nature mean that small economies have high operating costs. The unit costs for achieving the SDG’s, in short are much higher in SIDS. The time for debt swaps for SDG’s outcomes has surely arrived,” Ambassador Prasad elaborated.