Thank you chair,
Mr. President,
Your excellences
The multiple and interlinked global crises including Russia –Ukraine crisis, Climate crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic impact continue to raise critical challenges for delivery and achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030. These crises are continuing to put at risk and widening the gaps between available resources and the development challenges that are to be address. Increasing fiscal space for an inclusive and sustainable recovery, aligning the global debt architecture with the SDGs in supporting countries to meet the desired results and securing an Inclusive and Sustainable Recovery must remain the most important components of the global discussion with the aim of keeping an eye on delivering the SDGs by 2030 as plan.
Excellences, gathering here at this ministerial roundtable in the sidelines of the High Level Political Forum is an opportunity for us to reflect on key and renewed transformational initiatives that would allow the world to “leap forward” in dealing with the two (2) years unprecedented brutal impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic while working on critical and practical steps to tackle the Russia-Ukraine war which is now seriously affecting our various economies thereby leading to more hardship for our respective population.
For Countries like ours, it is important to note that we are still dealing with the lingering impacts of the Ebola virus disease that hit Liberia in 2014, and now the Covid-19 pandemic impacts and the Russia-Ukraine crisis which has evidently increased the prices of major commodities and created more complexities and uncertainties.
Finally, your excellences, we will encourage this body to look at the below critical next steps:
- Identifying the socio-economic and environmental impacts of the crisis (mainly in the short and medium terms) and how the UN can help countries to respond;
- Identifying the effects of the crisis on the fiscal situation of countries and the post-Covid recovery strategies; and lastly,
- Design and provide urgent support for import-dependent countries so that they are able to keep development initiatives ongoing while addressing crisis challenges.
I thank you.