Gobierno de Reconciliación y Unidad Nacional
Unida Nicaragua Triunfa
SPEECH BY AMBASSADOR LUIS ALVARADO AT THE JOINT VIRTUAL SESSION OF THE PERMANENT COUNCIL AND THE INTER-AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR THE INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES ON THE “CREATION OF RESILENCE AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC”
HELD ON JUNE 17, 2020
Thank you very much Mr. President.
We extend a cordial greeting to the distinguished Permanent Representatives, Observers and Panelists Invited to participate in this event and we take due note of their presentations.
We are currently living in a world where the global perspective of development and economic growth has been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which added to the various previous adverse impacts and crisis that have their origin in the maintenance of wars, destabilizations, food and citizen insecurity, natural disasters, energy crisis, climate change, cyclical economic and financial crises, among others, have caused profound effects on international peace and security, health, trade and the world economy of nations.
Building a new international economic and financial order that is fairer and more equitable is also among the many challenges that we are facing, since the current scheme of globalized society has become unfeasible for not solving the growing inequalities in the world.
Another challenge is how to build resilience between the crisis generated by the coronavirus and the aggressions of great powers, against various countries of the world, including Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, manifested through economic and financial blockades and the aggressions wrongly called sanctions, which have been condemned and rejected by numerous world leaders and the free and sovereign nations victims of these aggressive policies.
These illegal policies, which are in violation of international law, hinder the development of the necessary resilience that these countries require to effectively deal with the Corona Virus pandemic and its consequences in the short, medium and long term. The People of Nicaragua continue to demand the cessation of aggressions against our nation.
FAO indicates that, in the past decade, natural disasters have caused damage worth approximately USD 1.3 billion and affected 2,700 million people. With climate change, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, intense and costly. The most vulnerable populations are poor families suffering from food insecurity, whose livelihoods depend on agriculture.
Dr. Guillermo González, head of SINAPRED (Nicaraguan Preparedness to Disaster System), informed that, the COVID-19 pandemic will be considered as part of the risk scenarios of the second multi-threat drill that the Nicaraguan Government will held in the month of June of the current year, in order to do everything possible to take care of ourselves, and at the same time, to ensure that there is no transmission. We will continue to reinforce the comprehensive response plans concerning landslides, floods, earthquakes and other nature events, in the face of the rainy season and in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
We agree with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, that the agricultural sector in the Americas will play a decisive role in the economic recovery after COVID-19 and in the search for food security, both during and after the emergency of the coronavirus, as malnutrition rates and food import expenses continue to rise.
According to projections of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean countries will cause approximately 14 million people, who are already in vulnerable conditions, to experience a serious condition of food insecurity, which constitute a real challenge for all the countries of the region, therefore, social protection will be a key aspect.
The global crisis that the coronavirus has generated, has highlighted the central role of national governments in ensuring health systems with universal access for the population, the importance of socio-productive development, environmental protection, resilience improving and implementing strategies to get out of the crisis as soon as possible with a view to reducing inequality, poverty, social exclusion and food insecurity.
That is why the strengthening of cooperation and solidarity between the States is of vital importance to face the scourge of COVID-19.
Nicaragua will continue to strengthen its re-silences and its public policies focused on strengthening our health system with free national coverage, the protection of life, food and citizen security of its population in the face of the effects of natural disasters. We will continue promoting the development and unity of the Nicaraguan people so that together, with the help of God, we can get out of the current crisis generated by COVID-19.
Thank you very much Mr. President.