The permanent observers and the response to the pandemic

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Honorable Chair of the Permanent Council; honorable Assistant Secretary General; dear fellow ambassadors. First, I would like to thank the Permanent Observers of Spain, France, Italy and the Holy See, and the other observer missions, for the presentations they have made at this special meeting of the Permanent Council, in which we are addressing the valuable relations of our Organization with the permanent observers and the post-COVID-19 challenges.

The Dominican Republic wishes to reiterate its gratitude and appreciation for the important cooperation that has taken place in recent decades between our Organization and the permanent observers. This support is present in important initiatives and projects related to the fundamental pillars of the Organization of American States (OAS): the strengthening of democracy, respect for human rights, multidimensional security and integral development.

Mr. Chair, at present, and after great efforts on the part of the Dominican Government, our country has vaccinated more than 5 million Dominicans against COVID-19, at least with the first dose, under our National Vaccination Plan, which seeks to vaccinate 8 million people in this year of 2021. As we have said on earlier occasions, we believe that, like the Dominican Government, all Member States and permanent observers of our Organization are making great sacrifices to bring the COVID-19 vaccine to their respective populations. Nevertheless, we reiterate that, if the distribution of vaccines is not carried out through an equitable and non-discriminatory process, those efforts and sacrifices, especially those of developing countries, could be gravely affected. In this regard, we reiterate our call to vaccine manufacturers, developed countries, international organizations, international financial institutions and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to continue deepening their efforts so that the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is carried out equitably throughout our Hemisphere and throughout the world.

As regards the subject before us, we believe that the role and solidarity of the permanent observers is vital in ensuring that their respective governments and the multilateral financial institutions take into consideration the short-, medium- and long-term needs of all our countries, chiefly the developing ones, so that they can have at their disposal, as required, the resources needed to continue their economic recovery through innovative mechanisms of cooperation and investment that do not significantly increase the level of our countries' external indebtedness.

The cooperation of the OAS Member States, together with the current seventy-one States and the European Union (EU) as permanent observers, has a strength and an international dimension that should continue to be reinforced every day. It is a cooperation of some one hundred five nations that have decided to work for their common values and principles regarding the importance of having democratic systems that are the product of free and fair elections, with separation of powers, freedom of expression, transparency in the conduct of public administration, respect for human rights, the strengthening of citizen security and the fight against organized crime, as well as attention to sustainable development and to natural disasters, to name only a few.

The COVID-19 pandemic will continue to pose great challenges of a health nature, but also social and economic ones, throughout our Hemisphere and the world. In this regard, as far as we are concerned, solidarity and cooperation between our countries and the permanent observers must continue to be strengthened and their ties deepened, always for the benefit of our populations and of regional stability.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.