Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel has delivered the statement of Maldives at the 78th Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The state minister delivered the Maldives’ statement on Monday, during the 78th Session of the ESCAP held in Bangkok, Thailand.

The statement was delivered under agenda item 2 (a) of the General debate, titled “A common agenda to advance sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific”.

Taking the podium at the event, Khaleel shed light on how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted lives across the globe, adding that despite the devastating impacts of the pandemic, the saying that “every cloud has a silver lining” is true.

Highlighting that Covid-19 gave the Maldives an opportunity to improve its healthcare system, Khaleel stressed that it also served as a reminder that “no one” is safe until “we all are safe”.

As such, he reiterated the Maldivian government’s full support for declaring vaccines as a global public good with equitable access to all.

In addition to this, he also shed the spotlight on the urgent measures required to tackle global warming in a bid to prevent the impending climate catastrophe.

He went on to shed light on the significance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in line with the Paris Agreement, adding that the target is “still” achievable but only with “immediate” and “deep” emission reductions across all sectors.

Quoting President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at the 26th Session of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC held in Glasgow, Khaleel said that “if the rise in temperature remains unchecked at 1.5 and jumps to 2 degrees; that would be a death sentence for the Maldives”.

The event also saw the Maldivian state minister conveying a message to the UNESCAP on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, congratulating the Commission and its secretariat for the “valuable” and “substantial” contribution made to the development of the Asia Pacific region throughout the past 75 years.

During his ongoing visit, State Minister Khaleel is joined by Permanent Representative of Maldives to the UN ESCAP Huda Ali Shareef, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Shiaan, First Secretary at the Embassy of Maldives in Thailand Fathimath Razana, Assistant Director at the Foreign Ministry Aishath Fareena and Second Secretary at the Embassy of Maldives in Thailand Hanan Rasheed.