The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, said this Saturday, in Cape Verde, that the arms race is limiting financial support to developing countries in the fight against poverty, a “fad” that he hopes “will end soon”. .
“It is clear that we are witnessing a global rearmament trend, we are not witnessing a reduction, but an increase in military spending. And this is another factor that limits the ability to financially support developing countries, and I hope that this trend can finish soon”, said António Guterres, questioned by Lusa after meeting in Mindelo, São Vicente island, with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva.
Several countries have announced increases in the spending of the Armed Forces after the war in Ukraine, caused by the invasion of Russia in February 2022.
The Government of Cape Verde has set itself the goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2026, which affects around 13 percent of the population, and maintains a reduced Armed Forces structure, with the United Nations Secretary General pointing to the country as ” example” for Africa and the world.
“The most important of the Sustainable Development Goals is the eradication of poverty. Poverty reduction is a central issue because it permeates all areas of economic and social life. The eradication of poverty needs investment in education, it needs investment in health, you need investment in work And Cape Verde’s goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2026 corresponds to a strategic vision for development that is fully coincident with the vision of the United Nations 2030 Agenda”, said António Guterres.
António Guterres began today a three-day visit to Cape Verde, within the framework of the Ocean Race, the largest regatta in the world that, from January 20 to 25, calls at the Cape Verdean island of São Vicente, participating on Monday, also in Mindelo, at the Ocean Summit.
In statements to journalists, the Cape Verdean Prime Minister requested the support of the Secretary General of the United Nations for the group of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), impacted by climate change and the economic crises caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. and the war in Ukraine.
“We are one of them [SIDS] and one of the areas where Cape Verde wants to position itself so that we can increase our resilience and the recognition of the specificities of an island country”, said Ulisses Correia e Silva.
“Count on all your commitment, your specific knowledge of the reality of several countries, but of the reality of the island countries, so that you can be a great promoter of this cause of the Small Island Developing States, which deserve special attention. There are many of these reforming countries, whose impact of investments, financing, even in small volume, produces great results. And when they are democracies and when they have stability and good governance, they need even greater distinction”, appealed the head of the Government of Cape Verde. verdian.
Ulisses Correia e Silva pointed out that Cape Verde “is going through difficult times” in recent years: “The crises affect everyone a lot, in a very particular way small island states, developing African countries. We have given good responses in terms of management of the pandemic, Cape Verde reached high levels of vaccination [contra a covid-19]we protect companies, we protect and care for families, but all with a very high burden for the Cape Verdean economy.”
Even today, after the meeting with the head of the Government of Cape Verde, António Guterres still participates in the “Speaker Series” event, with the Prime Minister.
“More than Secretary General of the United Nations, an old friend from Cape Verde, who has a close relationship, but a relationship that, being Prime Minister of Portugal, he was one of the very strong promoters in 1997/98, of what until Today it is the biggest reform that Cape Verde has carried out, the linking of the Cape Verdean escudo to the euro, the Maastricht convergence criteria adopted by the Cape Verdean economy, which transforms, in fact, from structuring our economy until today”, he recalled.
“We hope that your visit to São Vicente and Cape Verde, as Secretary General of the United Nations, is also a sign that we can be installing here, in Cape Verde, with all our partners, a good system that will allow us to be in a good position as a small island country, in relation to the blue economy,” said Ulisses Correia e Silva.
Source: TSF
