Paris Peace Forum: do not abandon the poorest, despite the coronavirus
Young refugees in Iraq.
“You cannot build a sustainable world by keeping entire communities in unsustainable living conditions,” says Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize winner.
REUTERS / Stringer
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The third edition of the Paris Peace Forum began on November 11 in a special atmosphere.
All the meetings are carried out by videoconference because of the Covid-19.
The pandemic is of course one of the most prevalent topics this year.
The health crisis is prompting some countries to withdraw into themselves, even if it means abandoning the most disadvantaged.
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Eighty million people in the world are currently considered "
displaced
", recalls David Miliband president of the International Rescue Committee.
On the ground, the disease in itself is not the most serious consequence of the pandemic: "
The health consequences apart from Covid-19 have been much more serious than we thought,
insists David Miliband.
Vaccination chains, malaria treatments, all of this has been impacted much more than expected and will have repercussions in the long term.
The economic consequences were also more serious than anticipated.
Of the amounts spent to support industrialized economies, only a fraction was spent on the poorest countries in the world.
"
"
An entire generation is growing up without a proper education
"
The same goes for Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize winner and member of the Yazidi community particularly affected by the abuses of the Islamic State organization in Iraq: "
For six years
," she said, "
Yazidi survivors of the genocide and sexual violence have been living in IDP camps.
An entire generation is growing up without a proper education or job opportunity.
We cannot build a sustainable world by keeping entire communities in unsustainable living conditions.
The best way to support marginalized communities is to empower them.
"
Nadia Murad calls on the international community to invest in helping to build a future for its populations in their country of origin and in the long term.
The Peace Forum will be held in Paris from November 11 to 13, 2020
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