Georgetown: President David Granger on Monday further internationalised Guyana’s protest against Venezuela’s claim to this country’s maritime space at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which is being held in Ethiopia. He told the gathering of world leaders that security is indispensable to any country, and as such, Guyana will reject any threat to it.
President Granger was accompanied by Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador George Talbot and Guyana’s Ambassador to Suriname, Keith George.
“Security and stability are indispensable to sustainable development and the pursuit of prosperity. We resent, reject and resist the threat or use of force or any unilateral coercive attempt by one state against another in order to frustrate the legitimate aspirations of our people to enjoy a good life,” President Granger said.
While he only made the comment in passing, the President said that the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and the tenets of international law must be guaranteed to all states and peoples in the quest for secure livelihoods and sustainable development. To this end, he said that Guyana, “on the strength of this conviction, therefore, emphasises the primacy of international cooperation even as we embrace fully our primary responsibility for national development.”
He told those gathered that they too shared in the responsibility of rejecting this threat and they must ensure that they participate in fostering international cooperation among all countries. “This Third International Conference on Financing for Development, therefore, must make a fundamental contribution to the thrust towards greater global cooperation as we embark on an ambitious and transformative post-2015 development agenda that will seek to ensure that no country or no community is left behind,” the Head of State shared.
In the meantime, President Granger renewed Guyana’s solidarity with Africa and all other countries in what he said was their “quest for sustainable development and to provide a good life for their peoples.”
“We renew our country’s commitment to cooperation with other states in the search for solutions to the challenges that beset us. We also renew our aspirations for prosperity, equality, dignity and security for all people everywhere. Guyana has had the honour of working with Norway and our hosts, Ethiopia, as well as with the entire international community, on the preparation for this momentous conference. The draft outcome document submitted for our consideration is the result of painstaking labour to build a forward-looking framework and a solid foundation for global development efforts,” said him.
The President said that the meeting was in testing times for the international community which is being overshadowed by the lowering of global growth prospects by the IMF and the rising of political and humanitarian crises affecting millions of people across the globe.
“Our efforts here today are part of a continuum. This Third International Conference on Financing for Development is more than merely a meeting to mull over the modalities of financing. It is about strengthening our confidence in the efficacy of multilateralism; it is about the collective exercise of our political will for the benefit of our peoples and our planet, now and in the future. It is about shaping the future we want for our peoples for generations to come,” the Guyanese leader told his counterparts.
Noting that Guyana is a small state that is committed to sustainable development, Granger said that the country’s growth has been a long and arduous quest to secure a good life for all with the country’s experiences reinforcing the resolve to build a more resilient economy, a more inclusionary democracy and a more cohesive society, one in which crime, disease, ignorance and poverty can be defeated.
He further told the conference that they must renew global solidarity and use collective will to resolve global problems in a timely and effective manner stating that if they were serious about sustainable development then they must be serious in the quest for mitigating the effects of climate change.
He further intoned that while Governments must exercise leadership, the requisite actions and investments cannot be executed by Governments alone and all other stakeholders must realise that their efforts will also be essential to delivering the future they envision, with the youth, women and local communities fully involved.
As he acknowledged that the achievement of the sustainable development goals will place heavy demands upon all countries, he said that efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals can teach that the significant progress is possible when the international community works together.
“Developed countries must continue to exercise real leadership in fostering international development cooperation. Developing countries must continue to intensify their own efforts. We applaud those countries that have been unstinting in their support and encourage others to do likewise. We all must be ready to respond to the demands of our times. This requires making the investments to incentivise an irreversible paradigm shift in favour of sustainable development. It requires, also, a commitment to complete the unfinished work of the MDGs, including in education, health, water and sanitation and food security,” the President told the conference in his address.
“Guyana welcomes the emphasis of the draft outcome on these areas as well as the attention given to bridging the infrastructure gap, fostering sustainable consumption and production patterns and promoting micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises,” he added. The conference which will run from July 13-16 is being held under the theme “Time for Global Action.” The conference gathers high-level political representatives, including Heads of State and Government, and Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, as well as all relevant institutional stakeholders, non-governmental organisations and business sector entities.
The Conference will result in an inter-governmentally negotiated and agreed outcome, which should constitute an important contribution to and support the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.
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