(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) NEW YORK, Oct 11 (KUNA) -- The State of Kuwait has called for intensifying global efforts to eradicate poverty, achieve equitable development and sustainable financing, protect environment and expand social security networks.
This came in a speech delivered on Saturday by the Third Secretary of Kuwait's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Rashed S. Al-Abhoul, before the general debate of the Second Committee of the United Nations on Economic and Financial Affairs.
The Kuwait diplomat affirmed that eradicating poverty in all its forms will remain Kuwait's ultimate goal.
10 years after of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, only 35 percent of them have made tangible progress, while nearly half remain stalled and 18 percent have fallen below the 2015 baseline, Al-Abhoul regretted, noting that the annual financing gap has exceeded USD 4 trillion.
He added that climate challenges are more urgent than ever, as disasters such as floods, droughts, and forest fires have caused severe losses, leading to an annual contraction of about 5 percent in some economies.
Al-Abhoul called for the establishment of a flexible and accessible climate finance mechanism.
He also urged the establishment of partnerships to help achieve tangible development progress, promote facilitated financing, alleviating debt burdens, mobilizing resources for humanitarian priorities, and directing investments to strengthen sustainable agriculture, food supply chains, innovation, and digital infrastructure.
Al-Abhoul pointed out that the existing international financial system is simply no longer capable of keeping pace with the scale of current challenges, stressing that the time has come for a comprehensive reform to make it fairer and more transparent.
The Third Secretary highlighted the importance of institutional models for solidarity in development, pointing in this regard to Kuwait's establishment of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development in 1961 as an embodiment of this noble concept.
The Kuwait fund has offered finance to more than a thousand projects in more than a hundred countries, he said.
He touched on the situation in the Middle East and the grave violations of human rights and the environment that are taking place there.
The Kuwaiti diplomat underlined the need to take action and not "remain silent when we are all concerned in this committee with following up on development challenges."
He expressed Kuwait's condemnation in the strongest terms of the Israeli occupation's use of starvation of civilians as a weapon, and its strong denunciation of the Israeli occupation's terrorizing of unarmed civilians in flagrant violation of international law.
Al-Abhoul called, on behalf of Kuwait, for lifting of restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid, ensuring its safe delivery, and holding accountable all those who use food and life as a tool of war.
The Third Secretary emphasized that the next five years will be crucial and must be marked by tangible and measurable achievements. (end)
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