“Azerbaijan is advocating for a stronger global solidarity to overcome the pandemic,” said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the theme “Building resilience through hope - to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainability, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalize the United Nations”, APA reports.
The head of state said: “In its capacity as the chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan has put forward a number of global initiatives. In May 2020, Azerbaijan held Summit-level Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement’s Contact Group in response to COVID-19. During the Summit, I suggested, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, the convening of the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in response to coronavirus at the level of the heads of state and government. This initiative was supported by more than 150 UN Member States and the Special Session took place on 3-4 December 2020. I express my gratitude to the Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres and all States supporting our initiatives.”
“On numerous occasions, Azerbaijan has publicly expressed its discontent with stockpiling of vaccines by some wealthy countries. We reiterate our dismay on the persistent “vaccine nationalism” and deepening inequality in access to vaccines between developing and developed countries. Such actions prevent developing countries from protecting their populations. According to international reports, so far, more than 75 percent of the world’s vaccine doses have been purchased by 10 wealthy countries, while vaccine coverage of low-income countries is less than 2 percent,” President Ilham Aliyev emphasized.
“To call international attention to this challenge, Azerbaijan, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, initiated a resolution on ensuring equitable and universal access for all countries to vaccines in the UN Human Rights Council, which was unanimously adopted this March. Azerbaijan plans to initiate a resolution at the UN General Assembly on the same topic during this session,” the head of state added.
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