Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addresses, from Ganabhaban, the first high level meeting of the Champions of 'Global Crisis Response Group-GCRG' held on virtual platform on Friday. -PID
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has shared four ideas with world leaders to tackle the global crisis created by the Russia-Ukraine war amid recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, emphasizing the need for addressing supply chain issues.
"Bangladesh is a strong believer of multilateralism. We have always responded to the UN's call to contribute to global peace, stability, and development. Our commitment to support this Group stems from that conviction," she said in a virtual address to the meeting of Champions' Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance, hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, bdnews24 reports.
Hasina said the war in Ukraine has added serious stress to the already fragile global economy when the world is still struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. She said Bangladesh's pandemic recovery efforts were marked by a careful balance between protecting lives and livelihoods. "We put the most vulnerable people at the forefront of our recovery efforts." "We widened the coverage of social protection to support those who are the furthest behind. Timely measures to procure vaccines helped us avert a major health crisis and saved lives.
"We also took pragmatic initiatives to support our export sector and SMEs. Stimulus packages worth $23 billion were rolled out. And these measures helped us achieve a 6.94 percent GDP growth rate in the last fiscal year."
However, the Ukraine war has made the situation "extremely volatile", the prime minister said. "Short supply and unusual price hike of food, fuel and other commodities have already put serious strain on the lives of the common people."
She said the poor and developing countries bear the heaviest brunt due to the war. They need immediate and targeted support measures to overcome this situation, Hasina said.
To tackle this crisis, her proposal is to strengthen global solidarity and adopt a well-coordinated response. She noted the G-7, G-20, OECD, and international financial institutions have a crucial role to play."I am happy to see that the Steering Committee of this Group comprise of all the major financial institutions. We will lend our full support to their efforts for tailoring actionable recommendations to tackle the crisis."
Secondly, she said, the immediate need is to address disruptions of global logistics and supply chains. "This will help control the rising commodity price. There must also be targeted international support to revitalize global trade and export earnings, especially of the LDCs and other vulnerable countries."She urged the advanced economies and multilateral financial institutions to come forward and grant duty-free-quota-free market access, and more accessible financing.
In her third proposal, she called for more focus on increased technology support and investments for agricultural sector, for effective food storage and distribution systems.Finally, Hasina said, as the president of the 48-member Climate Vulnerable Forum, Bangladesh has had the opportunity to work with many small island developing nations and low-lying climate vulnerable countries. In those countries, agro-food system is under serious stress, she said.
"Our national development journey has led to many innovative climate actions. We wish to share our knowledge, understanding, and experience in addressing the challenges of climate change, bio-diversity loss and environmental degradation for the benefits of other."The prime minister said she looks forward to working with all to advance these agenda.
Latest News