#BTEditorial – Crying in the global wilderness

Who will stand up for small island developing states (SIDS) during this COVID-19 pandemic? It was an important question raised by Prime Minister Mia Mottley during her address to the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) last week.

It was a speech which garnered much attention from the global media in a way that not many leaders were able to receive.

The UN, which has undertaken significant development work across the globe, and continues to this day, is still being questioned about its relevance in the global circumstance.

It would be fair to suggest that the current crop of world leaders from developed countries appear less empathetic to the concerns facing poor and developing nations.

Political leaders of countries which were traditionally viewed as champions for the developing world and sought to bring global attention to righting historical wrongs, have seemingly turned their backs, and have retreated to a focus on retention of personal political power.

When the global body, which is headquartered in New York City was formed in 1945, after the second world war, its objectives were “maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights”.

However, Mottley’s recent missive at the UN raises very serious questions about countries’ commitment to the ideals of the UN of seeking to keep peace throughout the world; develop friendly relations among nations; help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease, and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms; and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals.

“We must lead, and we must act. How many variants of COVID-19 must arrive before a worldwide vaccination plan is implemented? How many deaths must it take, before 1.7 billion excess vaccines are shared?

“How much must global temperatures rise before we end the burning of fossil fuels? How much must sea levels climb, before those who profited from stockpiling greenhouse gases contribute to the loss and damage they caused?

“And yes, how much must hurricanes destroy, locusts devour, and islands submerge, before we recognise that US$100 billion is not enough? The answer Mr President is that we are waiting for urgent leadership,” Mottley stated.

Yes, it was a powerful speech that caused some of us to stop and ponder. But how much has it moved the needle in activating change?

Was Mottley successful in pricking the collective conscience of the Europeans, Canadians, Australians, and Americans to release the billions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines which they have hoarded from earlier this year?

It has been reported that in some cases, these countries have in storage about six and seven times their populations’ vaccine needs, while in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and some parts of Asia a tiny percentage of the populations have received and or even have access to vaccines.

According to Reuters, about 35 per cent of people who have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine were from high-income countries, and at least 28 per cent were from Europe and North America.

Meanwhile, vaccination rates in some countries, including Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo, are less than one per cent.

But Mottley was not alone in her plea to the industrialised world that vaccinating their own populations will not protect them from COVID-19 when the rest of the world is left open and vulnerable to the disease.

Colombian President Ivan Duque, who also addressed the UN General Assembly said COVID-19 vaccines must be equitably distributed to avoid the creation of new, more fearsome variants of the coronavirus.

“If delays in the equal distribution of vaccines continue in all countries, we humanity, are exposed to new variants attacking us with greater ferocity. Global immunity requires solidarity, so hoarding cannot exist in the face of others’ needs,” Duque added.

As countries grapple with a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic, fuelled mainly by the highly infectious Delta variant, and the torrent of vaccine and virus misinformation, it is becoming increasingly difficult to properly manage economies and quell disquiet in the populations.

In fact, it is now accepted that the misinformation about COVID-19 is the other parallel pandemic that the world is confronting.

Countries like Barbados must do more to confront the paranoia and confusion that have been created by social media and the mass media about COVID-19 vaccines.

It would make a nonsense of our arguments to the UN if the vaccines that we have been able to procure at great expense, and those gifted by friendly nations, must be discarded because they have expired, while too many of our people refuse to take the proven treatment.

It will take some heavy lifting, intensive messaging, and an authentic, convincing call to action to make a difference.