`Never again must we be victims of vaccine nationalism’
environment and climate change should be agreed on, he asserted.
“This approach must speak to issues of access to resources, to address adaption and mitigation, establishment of a climate vulnerability fund, and fulfilment of pledges made by the developed world”, the President declared.
Ali also said that Guyana supports the establishment of a voluntary fund to facilitate a regional disaster response. With the combined effect of the pandemic and climate change hampering the developing world’s progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030, President Ali urged that the region “must therefore champion the call to address this through debt rescheduling and access to soft financing.”
Ali, the release said, emphasised that food security is vital to the post-pandemic recovery. He added that Guyana strongly supports regional cooperation in ensuring a more food secure Latin America and the Caribbean.
The President also told the Summit that peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean must be founded on political systems in which democracy, the rule of law and human rights are upheld, and in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and the sanctity of treaties are respected. This latter statement would be taken as a reference to the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy and the intransigent behaviour of Caracas.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro was present at the summit.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International
Cooperation, Hugh Todd and the Director of Projects in the Office of the President, Marcia Nadir-Sharma accompanied the President to the meeting.