27-30 September 2022, Geneva – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) participates in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum on “Towards a sustainable and inclusive recovery: ambition to action”, held at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. On this occasion, PAM was represented by Amb. Gerhard Putnam-Cramer, Permanent Observer at UNOG.
This year, the Forum brought together 3.200 participants from governments, the private sector, civil society, academics, and consumers’ organizations to consider how the international trading system can support and sustain an inclusive economic recovery. At the event, PAM attended the Plenary Session and the High-Level debate, respectively on 27 and 29 September.
The Plenary Session focused on climate change mitigation and adaptation and the risk of future pandemics, with key contributions from several experts, including Ms Bogolo Kenewendo, UN Climate Champions Special Advisor, and Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at the WHO.
In this context, Ms Kenewendo recommended a holistic and global approach to climate change and pandemic response, emphasizing the need for 1.3 trillion dollars of investments, on a global scale, to adapt and mitigate climate change, while Dr Swaminathan reminded that the pandemic is far from over, and that there are still two-thirds of Africans have not completed the primary vaccination course.
At the High-Level Segment, the WTO Director-General, Dr Okonjo Iweala, delivered introductory remarks, addressing the issue of “Breaking the glass ceiling in trade”, and highlighting the fact that “For every dollar a man makes, a woman earns 63 cents”. PAM is deeply involved in bringing innovative solutions to address gender equality issues, and has recently scaled-up its efforts through the newly established Women Parliamentary Forum (WPF).
Participants concluded that the proposed reforms for the WTO can strengthen the organization, support rapid economic recovery, and improve preparedness for future pandemics and other ongoing crises , such as the consequences of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, also in the framework of the historic outcome of the latest WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12), in which PAM participated.
PAM remains committed to bringing forward these stances to all the relevant international fora, including the COP27 in Egypt and the upcoming PAM Euro-Mediterranean and Gulf Economic Forum, to be held in Morocco on 7-8 December.//