Speaking at the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit in New York on Monday, Andrzej Duda said: “In times of crisis, investing in social resilience and social safety nets is particularly important to ensure that no one is left behind. In Poland, our priority is to provide support especially to persons in vulnerable situations, as well as families, children and older persons."
'Remarkable assistance to Ukrainian refugees'
He added: "Poland’s solidarity and social resilience was best manifested by the remarkable assistance to the Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian aggression. We have made every effort to integrate refugees into our national systems of healthcare, education and employment."
He told the gathering that "the resilience of Poland is also embodied by transitions and adaptation."
'The war in Europe exposed ... many challenges'
"The war in Europe exposed, among many other challenges, the necessity for enhanced and trust–based collaboration in energy sector," Duda also said. "Our answer to this has been investing in diversification of energy supplies and promoting just transition," he added.
He argued that "on top of solidarity and the adaptive capacity, resilience also manifests itself by connectivity" and that "infrastructure connections remain the backbone of socio–economic progress everywhere."
Earlier this year, Poland "tabled the UN General Assembly resolution on the topic of building global resilience and promoting sustainable development through regional and interregional infrastructure connectivity," Duda noted.
He told his UN audience that resilience "is not possible without technological progress" and that "digitalization of healthcare in Poland serves as one example of how new technologies can be used to positive effect."
'We are ready to share ... solutions with our partners'
He stated: "I am convinced that digital government initiatives such as e–health, e–administration and e–taxes will be further developed as they help our people in everyday life. We are ready to share these solutions with our partners in the spirit of solidarity, as we already do in the field of tax systems."
He declared that Poland "will spare no efforts to reduce the rates of poverty nationwide, including poverty in families, especially those with many children."
Poland will also "continue to strengthen policy coherence, governance and institutional capacity for sustainable development," according to Duda.
"Furthermore, we will continue to advance a fair and just energy transition, including the development of renewable energy sources and nuclear energy," the president pledged.
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Source: IAR, PAP, president.pl
Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.