NTUC President Mary Liew has called for the international community to do more to support least developed countries in their fight against COVID-19.
She was speaking as a worker-delegate of Singapore at the 110th International Labour Conference in Geneva on 7 June 2022.
One area the international community can do more is to “collaborate to the fullest extent possible” to ensure least developed countries benefit from the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Waiver negotiations, said Ms Liew.
The negotiations sought to waiver the implementation and enforcement of Intellectual Property rights when it came to the prevention, containment, and treatment of COVID-19.
The waiver was first submitted by South Africa and India to the World Trade Organization in October 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a series of deadlock negotiations, it was agreed on 25 May 2021 that the waiver will be applied to “health products and technologies” for COVID-19 prevention, treatment, and containment.
As at end-2021, the waiver was officially sponsored by 62 governments and supported by over 100 countries.
Ms Liew also urged high-income countries to donate more vaccine doses to least developed countries, citing that only 5 per cent of people in low-income countries are fully vaccinated.
According to the United Nations (UN), least developed countries exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development.
These countries rank poorly in the Human Development Index, a metric used by the UN to measure three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.
In the Asia-Pacific, they include countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.
Additionally, she urged developed countries to hold on to their promise on delivering the goal of raising US$100 billion as part of the Green Climate Fund.
The amount raised will go towards financing poorer countries in switching to clean energy and tackling challenges brought about by climate change.
The commitment to raise the amount by 2020 can be traced to a UN meeting in Copenhagen in 2009. It was reaffirmed at the 2016 Paris Agreement.
According to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the amount raised stood at US$80 billion in 2019 – some US$20 billion short of the goal.
With COVID-19 sending countries into economic turmoil over the past two years, the goal of raising the amount has yet to be realised.
In his report, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Guy Ryder focused on the importance of helping least developed countries recover from the recent economic recession.
He noted that what happens to these countries will affect the entire international community.
In his address at the conference, Singapore Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said that Singapore agrees with the ILO’s call for international solidarity and global partnerships.
Mr Tan said: “This is one of the key focus areas under the Doha Programme of Action, which aims to strengthen commitment between Least Developed Countries and their development partners over the next decade.
“Such international cooperation is also important in ensuring that countries remain on track to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.”
Touching on the issue, Ms Liew said that while the global economy has shown signs of improvement, recovery has been uneven, with the more advanced economies bouncing back faster.
“As director-general has rightly pointed out, what happens to the least developed countries matters to the entirety of the international community. The ILO has strived 'to leave no one behind' and member states would be wise to follow its call to cooperate so that we leave no country behind,” she said.
The 110th International Labour Conference began on 27 May 2022. The conference, which took on a hybrid format this year, will continue till 11 June 2022.
