{"id":14674,"date":"2021-11-02T13:01:02","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T12:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/?p=14674"},"modified":"2021-11-02T13:01:02","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T12:01:02","slug":"kagame-blames-rich-nations-for-double-standard-hypocrisy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/kagame-blames-rich-nations-for-double-standard-hypocrisy\/","title":{"rendered":"Kagame Blames Rich Nations For Double Standard, Hypocrisy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

02.10.2021<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

President Paul Kagame has gone after wealthy nations, blaming them for their actions that contradict what they portray as their values in the current troubled world order.<\/p>\n

He accused rich nations of hording COVID-19 vaccines and at the same time slapping travel restrictions on poor countries because their citizens are not vaccinated.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026the double standards and hypocrisy that consistently applied to Africa, show that something else is going on,\u201d Kagame said while addressing the World Policy Conference, in Abu Dhabi on October 1. \u201cWe seem to be turning a corner on the pandemic, despite obstacles.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, Kagame said, \u201cCOVAX was supposed to be a solution to assist low-income countries to get access to vaccines and therapies. But Covax could not compete with wealthy countries for supply, and we saw examples of hoarding,\u201d the President noted.<\/p>\n

He accused the rich countries for contradicting themselves because \u201cthey are the ones who were offering vaccine doses through COVAX.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo add insult to injury, we now see some travel restrictions based on where people were vaccinated, even though the vaccines themselves are exactly the same. So we have now an issue of where you\u2019re vaccinated, something else that\u2019s about to come or is slowly coming is; what type of vaccine,\u201d Kagame said.<\/p>\n

Below is a whole speech<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am happy to be back to the World Policy Conference, and I wish to thank Thierry de Montbrial for the invitation to join you here in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

The past two years have been particularly consequential.
\nThe Covid pandemic is unprecedented, but it has exposed weaknesses, in both the national and global systems, that have been there all along.<\/p>\n

This includes insufficiencies in both public health and governance.
\nThe crisis has also revealed, quite starkly, the economic and power imbalances within the international community.
\nWhile major powers work to contain and constrain each other, Africa is at the receiving end, in all senses.<\/p>\n

That means, of course, that when vaccine supplies are scarce, Africa is last in line to get doses.
\nAfrica is also, almost as an afterthought, attacked for all sorts of things, in the name of so many things including democracy, human rights, as if these concepts or values are totally foreign to Africa.<\/p>\n

You could say that one function of Africa in international relations is to serve as a foil for the importance of universal values, precisely because so many states outside of Africa continue to fall short themselves.<\/p>\n

The unspoken assumption is that only rich countries and their political elites have interests.
\nPoor countries should allow their interests to be looked after by others.<\/p>\n

The rights and well-being of ordinary people are completely forgotten. We cannot talk about a theoretical democracy that is not built on what the actual citizens of that place desire for themselves, their families, and their societies.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the confusion, in some cases, for example, of contemporary liberal democracy with its singular emphasis on individual freedoms, identities, and desires, even at the expense of the common good.
\nThis is not to say that there are no serious shortcomings in Africa, like elsewhere there is a lot to address in Africa. That is not the point at all.<\/p>\n

But the double standards and hypocrisy that consistently applied to Africa, show that something else is going on.
\nHowever, where the main global players have stuck to certain principles, things can and do work.
\nWe seem to be turning a corner on the pandemic, despite obstacles. For example, COVAX was supposed to be a solution to assist low-income countries to get access to vaccines and therapies.<\/p>\n

But Covax could not compete with wealthy countries for supply, and we saw examples of hoarding. In actual fact, the rich countries are the ones who were offering vaccine doses through COVAX.<\/p>\n

To add insult to injury, we now see some travel restrictions based on where people were vaccinated, even though the vaccines themselves are exactly the same. So we have now an issue of where you\u2019re vaccinated, something else that\u2019s about to come or is slowly coming is; what type of vaccine.
\nDespite this, there is progress.<\/p>\n

Access to vaccines has begun to increase, both through donations and doses we purchase for ourselves.
\nIn Rwanda, we have administered more than 2 million doses, and 90% of residents of cities, especially the capital, Kigali, have received a dose.<\/p>\n

We see also cooperating with various commercial and development partners to launch an ambitious program to manufacture vaccines and other pharmaceuticals for the African market, beginning next year.
\nSo, even though things could have been better, we do appreciate the good cooperation that has been there.
\nAnother area where good partnerships can produce results is in the fight against insecurity, terrorism, extremist ideologies, including genocide ideology.<\/p>\n

There are cross-border challenges that require close cooperation. Rwanda\u2019s engagement in peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions in Africa falls under this rubric.<\/p>\n

Islamist insurgents are now on the run in northern Mozambique in the province of Cabo Delgado, because of a good program of cooperation between Rwanda\u2019s Defence Forces, and those of Mozambique and the region.<\/p>\n

Similarly, our commitment to the Central African Republic, which is both bilateral and multilateral, through the United Nations, aims to create the space for the country to chart its own path to political reconciliation, peacefully.
\nThe next step is to consolidate the gains and focus on providing services and guaranteeing rights for citizens.<\/p>\n

These are just two examples that might link to some of the themes under discussion at this event.
\nOnce again, I thank the World Policy Conference for this wonderful evening and opportunity. And thank you all for your kind attention and interest.<\/p>\n

I look forward to our discussions to take place immediately.<\/p>\n

Read the article on Taarifa<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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