Micheál Martin has used our National Address to the UN this year to call on the international family to “leave no one behind” in the quest to vaccinate the entire world.
The Taoiseach was one of the last speakers to take to the podium on Friday afternoon, giving us close to top billing because we are President of the UN Security Council this month.
Mr Martin focused on three main issues in his speech, conflict, climate and Covid.
He had used our chairmanship of the Security Council on Thursday to put forward a Resolution to show that climate change can lead to conflict, and he reiterated those themes in his speech.
But he also used it to make an impassioned plea for vaccine equality around the world and he pointed to Ireland leading by example in our foreign aid policy.
The Taoiseach pointed to the fact that we have already donated over 1.3million vaccines to poorer countries overseas.
In his keynote speech, he said: “Today, the climate crisis threatens our very existence on this shared and endangered planet.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a shadow over our world.
“It has deepened global inequality, even as it has heightened our sense of interdependence.
“The people of the world now look to us, to this General Assembly Hall, to act and to lead.
“We cannot let them down.
“The simple fact is that we cannot succeed in addressing these global challenges without a strong, effective and fair multilateral system.
“As we begin to emerge from the shadow of the pandemic, let us do so more united in our resolve, and firm in our conviction that the United Nations delivers for those who rely on it most.
“Let us commit to tackling this pandemic together, to make “leave no one behind” more than a mere slogan.
“In our words, and, more importantly in our deeds.”
The Taoiseach then focused on access to vaccines for poorer nations.
He said: “Vaccine inequity is a moral test for our global community.
“The rapid establishment of COVAX and the ACT Accelerator represents multilateralism at its best.
“I urge all Member States to continue to support the COVAX mechanism.
“This is the only way we can meet the target of a fully vaccinated world by mid-2022.
“Ireland is in the process of donating 1.3 million vaccine doses to low income countries, mainly through COVAX, with a further significant donation planned in 2022.
“Our support to global health since the outbreak of the pandemic has reached over €200 million.
Mr Martin added: The World Health Organisation should remain at the heart of our global response to this and future pandemics.
“However, we must provide it with the political and financial support it needs to do this job. “In Ireland, we have quadrupled funding to the WHO in response to the pandemic.
“We must also consider change, where needed, to strengthen the multilateral architecture on pandemic prevention and response.”
