Paris Peace Forum: the president of the event takes stock of the issues
Kamala Harris and Emmanuel Macron in Paris this Wednesday, November 10, 2021. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
This Thursday, November 11, the fourth edition of the Paris Peace Forum opens, an annual international conference launched in 2018 to promote multilateralism.
Covid-19 requires, the event will be "
hybrid
", that is to say organized in part face-to-face, but also accessible by interposed screens.
Around 30 heads of state and government are expected, and 15,000 people will participate online.
Central theme: reducing “global divides”.
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Multilateralism is in bad shape.
This is the observation made by the director of the Paris Peace Forum, Justin Vaïsse.
North-South and East-West divides, for example the tensions between China and the United States, often prevent the establishment of collective actions.
According to Justin Vaïsse, it is all the more important to bring together representatives of governments, business leaders and civil society actors around a table.
Among the themes discussed this year at the Paris Peace Forum: the distribution and production of anti-Covid vaccines in southern countries.
"
Do we need a new treaty on pandemics to prevent the recurrence of what we saw at play in 2020
?"
“Asks Mr. Vaïsse.
A very concrete aspect, that of the distribution of vaccines.
Everyone is throwing numbers all over the place, you need a little accountability.
We will need long-term vaccines.
And then there is the production of vaccines, with the various initiatives that will be presented to install production sites in Africa, in particular Senegal, Kenya, South Africa.
Justin Vaïsse on pandemic prevention to plan for the future
Achim Lippold
What
about the waste problems that pollute the low orbit of the Earth?
An initiative in favor of the decontamination of space will be announced.
On this specific subject, the organizers also hope that the United States will participate in the collective effort.
► To reread: American Vice-President Kamala Harris visiting Paris
We've sent so many things into space and especially into low orbit, so many satellites, but also pieces of launchers ... You know, a rocket when it takes off, it leaves pieces behind.
And so we did it to such an extent that the orbital environment is polluted.
There are so many satellites and debris that there is a real threat to the sustainability of its use.
Waste in low orbit: the need for a rapid collective reaction, according to Justin Vaïsse
Achim Lippold
The Forum will be inaugurated by President Macron and US Vice President Kamala Harris.
The United States had shunned the first three editions.
Their return also reflects Washington's rapprochement towards multilateralism, rejoices the director of the Forum.
Donald Trump was present on November 11, 2018, he was there for the commemorations of the centenary of the armistice of the First World War, but he did not come to the forum.
There was Putin, there was Trudeau, there was Merkel, 65 heads of state and government, and he had sulked!
Justin Vaïsse on the visit of Vice-President Kamala Harris to the Paris Forum
Achim Lippold
► Latest info: Harris and Macron call for a new era in Franco-American relations
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Diplomacy
Emmanuel Macron
Kamala harris