President William Ruto now wants the world’s largest economies to extend debt relief to countries worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his inaugural speech at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, USA, on Wednesday, September 21, the Head of State said there is an urgent need for the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral lenders to extend pandemic-related debt relief to developing countries, especially those affected by the devastating combination of conflict, climate change and Covid-19.
He also urged the G20 to consider suspending or rescheduling debt repayment by the developing countries during the pandemic recovery period.
“I urge the G20 to extend and expand the scope of the common framework to suspend or reschedule debt repayments by middle-income countries during the pandemic recovery period,” the President said.
The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU).
The group, composed of the world’s largest economies, was founded in 1999 to respond to world economic crises.
The members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.
Kenya is among the countries worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa with nearly every sector reeling from the effects of the health crisis. Many people lost their jobs as the government imposed a partial lockdown to contain the spread of the virus. The hospitality and tourism sectors were among the worst-hit industries.
In his speech on Wednesday night, Ruto also called for the development of a legally binding World Health Organisation (WHO) to address health crises around the globe, especially in Africa where countries had a challenge accessing vaccines.
“Kenya will continue to strongly support the development of a legally binding World Health Organisation international instrument to anchor global solidarity and promote equity. The fact of the matter is that the Covid-19 pandemic exposed, for all the world to see, the severe deficit of these critical values in our present multilateral configuration,” he said.
“Global supply chains remained impervious to demand in the Global South generally, and Africa in
particular. Unequal access to vaccines underscored this unjust and unequal situation with unforgettable clarity.
“Whenever human life, security and welfare is in jeopardy, it is immoral to administer interventions through frameworks that are anchored on fundamental inequality. We are all witnesses to admirable demonstrations of effective solidarity in response to crises in various parts of the world. Our knowledge of the possibility of spontaneous yet resolute global solidarity reinforces the African exception as particularly repugnant.”
He also called for deliberate and joint efforts to deal with other conventional threats such as climate change, the global food crisis, terrorism, cybercrime and armed conflict.
