Azerbaijani FM upbeat about Baku-chaired NAM event
By Vafa Ismayilova
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has hailed as useful the Baku-chaired Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Simulation Exercise for the youth to express their views about the post-pandemic recovery period, the Foreign Ministry reported on March 2.
Bayramov made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the International Model Non-Aligned Movement Simulation Exercise, which is being held on March 2-5, 2021 within Azerbaijan's chairmanship in the NAM.
"Speaking about the importance of the young people expressing their views on the post-pandemic recovery period, the minister said that it would be useful in this way at the current event," the ministry said.
The minister, who spoke on behalf of Azerbaijan as the NAM chairing country, informed the participants in the event about the initiatives in the fight against COVID-19 put forward by the Azerbaijani president as the NAM chairman.
Bayramov said that COVID-19 vaccines offer some hope for ending the pandemic, but the unequal and unfair distribution of vaccines globally is one of the main obstacles to this.
UN Secretary General's Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake also made a speech at the opening ceremony.
Wickramanayake, drew attention to the NAM role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, noted that the pandemic is a big obstacle to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
She stressed the importance of the role that young people will play during the post-pandemic rehabilitation period.
In this regard, Wickramanayake spoke about the UN Youth Strategy 2030, initiated by the UN secretary-general. In conclusion, she wished success to the participants in the simulation training and expressed readiness to work with the young people, participating in the training, after the event.
For the first time in the history of the NAM, hundreds of young people from the NAM member-states applied for participation in the event. As a result of the competitive selection process, 60 young people from 39 NAM member-states are entitled to take part in it. Acting as high-level officials from the NAM member-states, participants will develop recommendations for the NAM member-states in the period after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group discussions and plenary sessions are planned to be held with all participants at the next stages of the training, which will last until March 5, based on the regional distribution of participants (Latin America, Asia, and Africa / Europe). Afterwards, the final simulation document will be agreed upon and adopted.
--
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz