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Eric LeCompte Addresses Special UN Session on COVID Response
Eric LeCompte Addresses Special UN Session on COVID Response
April 24, 2021
United Nations ECOSOC Special Session on Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing States:
Financing a resilient recovery from the cascading effects of COVID-19
23 April 2021
By Eric LeCompte, Executive Director, Jubilee USA Network
(Remarks as prepared for delivery)
Your Excellencies, it s good to be with you for this critical high-level event on COVID response for Small Island Developing States (SIDs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and some of the world s poorest countries or Least Developed Countries (LDCs). I d like to especially thank His Excellency, Munir Akram for focusing us on countries struggling with specific disadvantages from the crisis.
Global health challenges threaten
the United States’ health and economic security, a reality made painfully clear over the past 14 months. Many low- and middle-income countries lack adequate domestic resources to invest in public health and, at the same time, face mounting debt burdens that impede their ability to raise new funding for essential investments.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a call to action to rethink how the United States prioritizes pandemic preparedness and investments in public health. U.S. leadership will be essential to mobilizing investment from the official sector and private investors.
Introduction
Even after the Covid-19 pandemic is contained, the United States will remain vulnerable to global health security threats unless and until it prioritizes domestic and international investments in public health. Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) lack adequate domestic resources to invest in public health and, at the same time, face mounting debt levels
The EU’s fiscal rules have been suspended until at least the end of 2021. When they are reinstated, they will need to be modified, if only because of the high levels of debt. Proposals have been made suggesting various changes and simplifications. The gist of most proposals is to retain the 60% debt ratio as a long-term debt anchor and a dividing line between the fiscal rules that apply for countries with debts above and below, while replacing the plethora of existing rules and procedures with an expenditure rule that allows fluctuations in the deficit driven by cyclical changes in revenue.
Donors commit to highest-ever funding to UN rural development agency IFAD to tackle hunger and poverty for the world’s poorest
Format
Rome, 18 February 2021 – US$3.8 billion, that’s how much the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will now be able to invest in the world’s rural poor. This, thanks to an unprecedented record-high financing target set today by governments from 177 countries at IFAD’s annual Governing Council.
At a time when many nations are facing severe economic challenges, this move demonstrates the importance global leaders place on investing in effective long-term rural development as critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This strong vote of confidence significantly boosts IFAD’s capacity to address the devastating socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 and climate change. With this unprecedented funding, IFAD will reach approximately 140 million people in the world’s most fragile and remote areas over three