Addressing COVID-19 through solidarity and multilateralism

Challenges can always become opportunities for all of us to strive for positivity and hope.  The past six months have become a time to bond together in the spirit of solidarity.

Solidarity is one of the six principles on which the European Union is founded and it is a mechanism to address inequality and social injustice to achieve sustainable development. The approach towards solidarity is made more complete when coupled with international cooperation and multilateral solutions.

The EU and the Philippines are connected through a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement that provides us with a forum to engage with each other. As it is among partners, we may not agree on each and everything and we sometimes have to deal with complicated issues.  Engagements with the Government confirm that our relationship is mature enough to also deal with different views. Because we both know that we can benefit more from constructive cooperation than from lack of engagement. Come to think of it, this pandemic has allowed us to strengthen our partnership.

“Team Europe” was developed based on the values of solidarity and multilateral cooperation as it generates resources from the EU, its Member States and financial institutions to support partner countries to cope with COVID-19. I do not want to recount all what we have done in the “Team Europe” approach in support of the Filipinos during this pandemic. It is not a beauty contest but again a token of friendship and solidarity. I would like however to signal the importance of multilateral institutions in these times. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been the centerpiece of the world’s efforts to combat the pandemic and this is why we provide support to this UN organisation. Of the more than €150 million allocated to the WHO, €20 million have been set aside for supporting a systemic response in eight ASEAN countries, including the Philippines.

In addition, the EU has spearheaded efforts towards the development of a safe vaccine that protects us against the coronavirus. At the end of June, the EU and Global citizen organised a pledging conference that mobilised €6.15 billion to develop and ensure equitable access to coronavirus vaccines, tests and treatments. Just last month, the European Commission has concluded exploratory talks with CureVac to purchase a potential vaccine against COVID-19. This contract with CureVac would provide for the possibility for all EU Member States to purchase the vaccine, as well as to donate it to lower and middle income countries. An initial purchase of 225 million doses is foreseen, once a vaccine has proven to be safe and effective.

In the spirit of cooperation that inspires our relations, it is of utmost importance that the EU and the Philippines as well as ASEAN as a whole have committed to keep their markets open for trade and investment. Trade should flourish to allow a full recovery of the hard-hit economies. This will help us more than all the assistance packages. This will also be key to maintain jobs and create new employment opportunities.

Finally, another illustration of solidarity and multilateralism in action is our support to lasting peace and development and support partners when terrorism hits as it did on 24 August in Jolo.

It was heart-warming to hear from Secretary Dominguez who cited the EU for its “unwavering commitment to the attainment of genuine and lasting peace and development in Mindanao along with the speedy recovery of conflict-devastated Marawi City.” He said this during our ceremonial exchange of documents providing for €85 million for the Mindanao Peace and Development Programme and Bangsamoro Transition. During this occasion, I announced that up to €15 million of this package can be reoriented to addressing the socio-economic impact of COVID-19.

Solidarity is also expressed with small deeds and that is why, together with colleagues from the EU Member States, I had the pleasure to donate my blood to the Philippine Red Cross which had called for more donations to address scarcity of blood because of COVID-19.

This pandemic has been a challenging journey for all of us. The EU experience has shown that solidarity and multilateralism are most effective means to address worldwide crises.

May these values which hinge on inclusion, partnership and cooperation live on even after the pandemic.

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(Mr Thomas Wiersing is Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the EU Delegation to the Philippines.)