UN office announces agenda of special session of General Assembly on COVID-19 initiated by Azerbaijani president

3 December 2020 14:15 (UTC+04:00)

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The agenda of the special session of the UN General Assembly on COVID-19, which will be held at the initiative of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, has been announced, the UN representative office in Azerbaijan told Trend on Dec. 2.

The world leaders, officials, and UN experts will discuss key aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine distribution, and socio-economic issues during the 31st extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly chaired by UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir, which will be held on December 3-4.

"COVID-19 is a global health crisis," Bozkir added. “It is also an economic and humanitarian crisis, a development crisis, and a human rights crisis. This has exposed structural inequality and disproportionately affected the most vulnerable members of our society."

"The special session gives us a historic opportunity to come together to gain a victory over COVID-19," Bozkir said. "The world expects leadership from the UN. I think that the General Assembly will pave the way and put an end to the suffering of people to whom we serve."

The two-day special session will include general discussions on December 3 and interactive dialogues with the experts, UN agencies, and leading scientists on December 4.

On the first day of the session, the President of the UN General Assembly, UN secretary-general, the presidents of the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council, chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement will make speeches.

Then the statements of the world leaders about the pandemic and the needs in connection with COVID-19 will be heard.

A three-panel discussion will be held on the second day of the session, during which the WHO director-general will make a presentation. The issues related to the health care sector and humanitarian measures, vaccine development, and socio-economic recovery will also be discussed.

The current chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev voiced the initiative to hold a special meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic at the UN General Assembly.