New York: The United Nations (UN) and the Islamic Development Bank have launched an initiative to assist finance efforts to recover better as the world continues to grapple with the covid-19 pandemic.
Coming at a time when the global health and economic crisis have pushed millions of people into extreme poverty, Islamic social financing has the potential to provide urgently needed support for poverty alleviation, economic recovery, pandemic response, and sustainable development.
"Standing in solidarity with those in need means exploring how Islamic social financing can support the pandemic response through the ACT-Accelerator and its COVAX Facility, as well as other initiatives and vehicles to ensure equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics," said Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, in a press release on Tuesday.
According to the latest UN economic forecast launched Tuesday, economic recovery, despite indicating modest progress compared to 2020, remains under threat amid surging covid-19 cases and lagging vaccination in poorer countries, widening inequalities and setting back further progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the global blueprint for ensuring a better future for all by 2030.
The world’s only vaccine equity mechanism, COVAX, led by the World Health Organization (WHO), GAVI and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has so far shipped nearly 60 million COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 participating countries, in an unprecedented global vaccine roll out in history.
COVAX still needs US$ 2.8 billion to meet its goal of ending the acute phase of the pandemic by year end.
The initiative will include the International Dialogue on the Role of Islamic Social Financing in Achieving the SDGs, which will launch critical discussions including with global leaders and Islamic institutions on the role of Islamic social financing.
"As the world comes to terms with the evident fragility of our socioeconomic systems, especially during the current pandemic, the tools of Islamic social financing provide an opportunity to usher in much needed resilience," said Bandar Hajjar, the President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, highlighting the significance of the International Dialogue on the role of Islamic social financing.
"I am confident that zakat, sadaqa, waqf and Islamic microfinance can help bring a grass-roots, inclusive and more resilient approach to development, and I look forward to working with our partners at the United Nations to mainstream these tools to meet pressing needs and achieve the SDGs," he added.
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