On March 5, 2021, within the framework of Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Organization’s Coordination Bureau unanimously adopted a communiqué on ensuring timely, equal and universal access to the COVID-19 vaccine for all countries on favorable terms.
According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, the communiqué pays attention to ensuring equal and fair access of countries to the COVID-19 vaccine, which is one of the most important issues on the international agenda, and inequality between developed and developing countries in this regard. p>
NAM members expressed grave concern about deepening inequality between countries and increasing poverty due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, highlighting the important role of the Movement in strengthening global efforts to respond to the impact of the pandemic.
Creation of the NAM Contact Group in response to COVID-19 and the holding of the summit on May 4, 2020, as well as the creation of a database on the medical and humanitarian needs of the member states based on the decision of the summit and the holding of a special session of the UN General Assembly on combating COVID-19 at the initiative of the Movement, was noted as a valuable contribution of the organization to strengthening multilateralism in response to global threats.
Bureau members have expressed strong concerns about inequalities in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines between high and low income countries. Thus, since the beginning of vaccination, 90 percent of all vaccines have been concentrated in high- and middle-income countries, while low-income countries lag behind in access to the drug. In this regard, the Bureau called for the provision of vaccines to developed and developing countries on favorable, equal and fair terms.
The Movement’s Coordination Office also called on all international organizations and stakeholders to ensure transparency in the production, distribution and fair evaluation of vaccines.
The adoption of the communiqué by the Coordination Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement is an important contribution of Azerbaijan’s chairmanship to the efforts of the international community to combat the pandemic that the world is currently facing.