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PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM STATEMENT FOR THE 2ND COMMITTEE GENERAL DEBATE

Monday, 5 October 2020

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the 14 Pacific Island Forum countries with Missions to the United Nations, namely Australia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu and my own country Tuvalu.

At the outset, allow me to congratulate you Mr. Chair and members of your Bureau for your successful election. I also like to commend you for your courage, creativity, and tireless efforts in proceeding with the preparations of the 2nd Committee work as planned at these unprecedented times.

Mr. Chairman,

The Pacific Islands Forum welcomes the theme for the 2nd Committee’s general debate this year – “Building back better after COVID-19: ensuring a more equitable global economy, inclusive societies and sustainable recovery.”

It is without a doubt COVID-19 has significantly disrupted economies and societies right across the world. Our Pacific Leaders recognised it as a major crisis for the Blue Pacific region – its peoples, countries and economies. Its effects will be felt for years to come, exacerbating our existing regional development challenges. We believe that the 2nd Committee is the right place to provide guidance to ensure the necessary CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY implementation of actions are taken to address our development challenges.

By ensuring a more equitable global economy, inclusive societies and sustainable recovery we must rethink, plan, collaborate and work collectively to address these challenges at the national, regional and global levels.

We must have a coordinated and sustained regional response and recovery efforts to COVID-19 – working through national and regional systems – to protect the most vulnerable, support economic livelihoods and ‘build back better’ in support of a socially inclusive and economically resilient Blue Pacific.

Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers have also called for support, including through the provision of debt relief in line with the April 2020 G20 decision and enhanced flexibility in development financing modalities and priority areas of focus.

While most of our countries have managed to control or prevent COVID- 19 outbreaks through border restrictions and public health measures, a vaccine is critical to the resumption of ‘normal life’ and to our economic recovery. We must have early and equitable access to a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.

Furthermore, regional recovery efforts to COVID-19 must support quality health infrastructure and systems and social protection measures, in support of equitable and inclusive access for all. For the Pacific, this is important in the fight against communicable and non-communicable diseases. The Pacific has some of the highest rates of NCDs in the world, accounting for 70-75% of all deaths.

Mr. Chairman

While COVID-19 is our immediate crisis, climate change presents the single greatest threat to the livelihood, security and wellbeing of the Pacific and its peoples.

Just as our region responds to COVID-19, the significant damage and loss of life caused by Cyclone Harold is a stark reminder of the need for urgent climate change action. COVID-19 has exacerbated the region’s vulnerability to climate change, and shown we need to do more to prepare CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY for shocks, underpin our policy with science, and bolster multilateral efforts.

We call for urgent, transformative global climate change action to be front of mind when providing development assistance to respond to COVID-19. With governments committing to borrowing to support COVID-19 recovery, we have an opportunity and a responsibility: we need to minimize debt and future climate change impacts as much as possible as we rebuild economies and protect our people.

The importance of meeting and beating Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and formulating Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS) is more critical than ever. Countries should be looking for opportunities to synergise COVID-19 recovery efforts with measures that accelerate transition to decarbonisation and build resilience.

Mr. Chairman,

The full and effective implementation of the SAMOA Pathway remained a priority concern for SIDS. More concerning now is the fact that COVID-19 has further delayed the implementation of the SAMOA Pathway. It is crucial that we need to double our efforts to accelerate its implementation.

Partnerships play an important role in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and remains a centerpiece to the full and effective implementation of the SAMOA Pathway. In saying this, any successful partnership, be it cross sectoral, multi-stakeholder, or public-private, requires adequate and predictable resources.

This can only be realized through genuine, durable and effective partnerships and sustainable development financing that take account of the context of SIDs, and respect regional and national policy coordination mechanisms and systems.

Moreover, the lack of capacity of the Pacific Island countries at all sectors including data and statistics continue to be a challenge to respond effectively and efficiently to COVID-19 and the achievement of the SAMOA Pathway and 2030 Agenda implementation. So capacity building at all levels is required by PIF countries to build back better.

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Mr. Chairman

We have demonstrated strong, global leadership in calling for urgent action on oceans, which led to the adoption of SDG14 and its targets. The ocean is inseparable from Pacific peoples, cultures, economies and societies. Indeed 98% of our region is ocean, and together Pacific island countries are custodians to over 40 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean. So the implementation of SDG 14 remains a priority for our group to advance the health, productivity and resilience of our Ocean.

Mr. Chairman,

The strengthening of the Regional Coordinators which as part of the UN development system reforms has proven that the reforms work effectively and will fit for purpose. For instance, during the COVID-19 the United Nations through its RCs was able to respond immediately to assist member countries in our region to mitigate and contain the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, we applaud the Secretary General’s efforts in accelerating the process to establish a Multi-Country Office in the Northern Pacific and we look forward to its full implementation.

One of the major undertakings of the Second Committee in this session is the resolution on QCPR. This will provide directions for the further implementation of the comprehensive reforms for the next four years. We call on development providers to ensure the specific vulnerabilities of SIDS inform access to concessional finance. In particular we urge the reform to incorporate an economic vulnerability measure into the official development assistance eligibility criteria.

Mr. Chairman

We must come out of this pandemic more unified, safe and resilient.

I end my intervention by reassuring you Mr. Chairman of our group’s unwavering support as you steer our work in this session.

I thank you