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Bridge builder
At a time when nations have been competing with one another to stockpile vaccines for their own populations, a strong push for inclusiveness among the world’s richest nations could be one way to ensure no one is left behind.
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Meet and greet: French President Emmanuel Macron (right) and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo greet during a meeting at the Royal Splendid Hotel in Rome, on Oct. 30, 2021, as part of the G20 summit. (AFP/Eliot Blondet)
On Sunday, Italy passed the baton of the presidency of the Group of 20 leading economies to Indonesia.
What the nation will do with this new authority will be worth watching in the year ahead. Officials made it abundantly clear in the run-up to the Rome summit that Indonesia would take charge of the forum’s activities with the fate and welfare of nonmember countries also in mind, particularly as it relates to dealing with the pandemic.
Indonesia’s program does sound encouraging and the timing could potentially make it a big deal, considering how often G20 members have put their interests first above the rest of the world. But the nation must still prove its mettle.
During the handover ceremony, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said that Indonesia’s presidency would encourage joint efforts for global economic recovery, summarized roundly in the theme “recover together, recover stronger”.
Now more than ever, it is important that this phrase does not simply become another tired cliché.
As president, Indonesia will host the next G20 summit in October 2022 in Bali – an optimistic goal considering that an increasing number of countries are experiencing an uptick in infections despite relatively successful COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and the gradual reopening of borders.
Indonesia itself has been vocal in calling for equal access to vaccines over the past two years amid a global rush for COVID-19 jabs, including when Jokowi addressed the United Nations General Assembly in September online.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has set out to vaccinate 40 percent of the global population by the end of this year and 70 percent by the middle of next year.
And while G20 leaders have agreed to fulfil the global COVID-19 inoculation target, access to vaccines among less fortunate countries still remains one of the biggest stumbling blocks to a truly inclusive recovery. According to the WHO, poor countries have only administered around four doses per 100 people.
At a time when nations have been competing with one another to stockpile vaccines for their own populations, a strong push for inclusiveness among the world’s richest nations could be one way to ensure no one is left behind.
Already we have seen proof of what could be in store for Indonesia’s G20 presidency. Indonesia is one of the G20 countries that have backed the establishment of the G20’s joint health and finance task force, which would be responsible for drafting a road map for assistance funding primarily geared toward poor developing countries.
Jakarta has also accommodated the interests of poor and developing countries in the drafting of the G20 Leaders Declaration, including support for vulnerable countries through special drawing rights, financing facilities from multilateral development banks and debt restructuring.
As such, we should applaud the President’s call to go beyond business as usual, for “inclusive, people-centered, environmentally friendly and sustainable growth”, precisely because COVID-19 has exposed the lack of preparedness among countries and the limits of global cooperation.
Here’s hoping that Indonesia may become a potent bridge builder between the world’s richest and poorest.
