Jokowi: Various Progresses Eroded By The COVID-19 Pandemic

President Joko Widodo (Photo: Twitter @jokowi)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that the COVID-19 pandemic had eroded the progress that had been made by various countries.

This was conveyed in a speech at the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council Session on Tuesday, July 13 yesterday.

"The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world has made it even more difficult to achieve the SDGs targets, even the various progress we have made so far have been eroded due to the pandemic," Jokowi said in a video uploaded to the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Wednesday, July 14.

The SDGs are Sustainable Development Goals which are global plans that have been agreed by world leaders, including Indonesia. This plan was created to end poverty, reduce inequality, and protect the environment.

Returning to Jokowi, he revealed that around 255 million people in the world have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Where 110 million of them return to poverty.

In addition, 83 million to 132 million people worldwide are at risk of starvation and malnutrition.

Thus, under these conditions, cooperation and solidarity between countries must be strengthened. Because, in this kind of condition, things that are usually done cannot be continued.

"Cooperation and solidarity must be strengthened and innovation must be increased. No country can progress untill all country progress," said the former Governor of DKI Jakarta.

Furthermore, Jokowi also revealed a number of Indonesian thoughts in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are four thoughts, where the first is to make the world recover quickly from the pandemic by giving vaccinations.

"A vaccine is the hope of speeding the world out of this health crisis," he said.

However, access to the COVID-19 vaccine must be given fairly and equitably because currently access gaps still occur. "Vaccine as a global public good should not just be a slogan," he said.

"Indonesia encourages us to accelerate the realization of equal access to vaccines for all countries, including through dose sharing through the Covax Facilities," he added.

Jokowi said that fulfilling vaccine funding needs, increasing production and strengthening the supply chain of vaccine doses must also be carried out. "This includes eliminating export barriers and barriers to vaccine raw materials and increasing the diversification and volume of vaccine production in developing countries," he said.

The second thought, Jokowi said that attention and assistance to vulnerable groups due to the slowdown in economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic must be increased. This has been done by Indonesia by allocating funds amounting to 28.5 billion US dollars for social assistance received by 9.85 million micro business units as business sustainability assistance.

Third, he said the world economy must recover together. According to Jokowi, this is necessary because economic growth can only be beneficial if it occurs together.

"The wheels of the world economy must begin to move together without compromising the health aspect. Accelerating economic recovery must be carried out while prioritizing health and sustainable development. In the future we must encourage investment in sustainable, just and green recovery," he said.

However, the green economy transition in developing countries must be supported by developed countries. So that development can be sustainable.

Finally, Jokowi reminded that global partnerships must be strengthened and strengthened. "No one left behind must be shown in real form," he said.

"We must be committed to avoiding the 'me first policy'. Let's build trust and solidarity to achieve common goals," he concluded.