UNITED NATIONS: Prime Minister Imran Khan presented a 10-point agenda for urgent action before the UN General Assembly on Thursday, underlining the measures the international community needs to take to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The first item on his list is a request for debt suspension till the end of the pandemic for low-income and most affected countries.
The second one is the suggested โcancellation of debt of least developed countriesโ that are no longer in a position to repay their loan.
Other items on the agenda include: restructuring of the public sector debt of other developing countries under an agreed inclusive multilateral framework; a general allocation of special drawing rights of $500 billion; expanded concessional financing to lower income countries through multilateral development banks; and creation of a new โliquidity and sustainability facilityโ, which should provide short-term loans at lower costs.
The agenda also includes a reminder to rich nations to fulfill 0.7 per cent of their official development assistance commitments and mobilising the required $1.5 trillion annual investment in sustainable infrastructure.
The 10-point agenda presented by Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI at #UNGASS31 for urgent action in order to prevent economic collapse in developing countries.#UNGASS pic.twitter.com/4RV1n1ILXY
— Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) December 4, 2020
The prime minister also urged the international community to help meet the agreed target of mobilizing $100 billion per year for climate action in developing countries.
He also called for immediate action to stop the massive illicit financial outflows from developing countries to rich countries, to offshore tax havens.
Mr Khan also suggested immediate return of assets stolen by corrupt politicians and criminals back to these countries.
The UN General Assembly held a special session on the Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday, as proposed by President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, chairman of the non-aligned movement.
Addressing the session, Prime Minister Khan described the Covid-19 pandemic as โthe most serious global crisis since the Second World Warโ.
The virus has infected nearly 65 million people and killed close to 1.5 million.
โToday marks an overdue and much-needed moment of reckoning. None of us could have imagined, this time last year, what was to come,โ said the General Assemblyโs president, Volkan Bozkir, while opening the two-day gathering.
UN Secretary-General Antรณnio Guterres said that โit is time to resetโ, the global response to crises like this. โAs we build a strong recovery, we must seize the opportunity for change,โ he added.