UNGA adopts Azerbaijan-initiated resolution on COVID-19 vaccines
By Ayya Lmahamad
The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution on equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, initiated by Azerbaijan and co-sponsored by 126 countries.
The Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations made the remarks on its official Twitter page on December 17.
"Azerbaijan, Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement [NAM], continues spearheading COVID-19 response," the mission tweeted.
As chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan continues its global leadership in mobilizing the international community to fight the pandemic.
Last year Azerbaijan initiated two summits of Turkic-speaking countries’ Cooperation Council and the NAM in April and May, particularly addressing COVID.
At the NAM summit, Azerbaijan launched an initiative to hold the UN General Assembly special session on COVID which was supported by an absolute majority of the international community. At the same time, Azerbaijan launched the initiative in United Nations Human Rights Council, with respect to equal and universal access to vaccines and fair distribution of vaccines.
Speaking at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2021, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev once again criticized "vaccine nationalism," inequality in access to vaccines between rich and poor countries, and called for the equal use of vaccines for all countries.
It should be noted that on November 18, 2021, within the framework of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, the UN member states adopted a resolution "Ensuring equal, affordable, timely and universal access to vaccines against COVID-19", put forward on behalf of the NAM members at the Azerbaijani president's initiative, as the Chairman of the NAM. The document placed emphasis on the importance of multilateralism, as well as international solidarity and cooperation in the fight against COVID-19.
Azerbaijan launched an immunization campaign in mid-January 2021. The socio-economic stimulus package worth almost $2.7 billion had been released to support the pandemic-affected people and businesses. The country also made a voluntary financial contribution to the WHO in the amount of $10 million, provided financial and humanitarian assistance to more than 30 countries, and more than 150,000 vaccine doses to four countries free of charge.
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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad
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