NAM must consolidate voice of the poorest and most vulnerable population

4 May Kathmandu :  has said that the Non-Aligned Movement must remain united at this critical hour and support multilateralism and global cooperation to defeat COVID-19 and to help achieve the shared aspiration of peace, stability and prosperity.

In a statement today at the Online Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Contact Group, Prime Minister Oli said the NAM must coordinate actions to help its Member States and consolidate the voice of the poorest and most vulnerable population around the world. “In this regard, Nepal welcomes the proposal to establish the NAM Task Force to work out a database that will include requirements of NAM Member States,” he said.

Pointing out the need to scale up South-South Cooperation by way of sharing experience, transfer of technology, medical logistics and equipment, he said the NAM must coordinate and advocate for launching of a robust recovery package from the international community to address the looming economic recession. The impacts are already massive worldwide and they are disproportionate to the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDs in particular. The crisis should not provide an excuse to retreat from existing commitments to the developing countries.

Furthermore, the NAM must promote regional initiatives as building blocks for global efforts. Prime Minister Oli said humanity must come together to fight against the challenges of poverty, illness and under-development. “This is not a time to engage in insurgencies and wars. Therefore, Nepal supports UN Secretary General’s Appeal for Global Ceasefire.”

As the pandemic has exposed the inadequacies and fragility in existing economic system, we must ensure that states reorient economic arrangements and redeploy resources for building and maintaining of basic social protection, health care and education. Pro-people policies stand better to deal with the crisis like this.

Sharing the efforts being made by Nepal to fight COVID-19, Prime Minister Oli said Nepal has deployed all political, economic, human and technological resources at her disposal to contain the spread of the virus. “Our focus has been on both the prevention and mitigation of the pandemic, for which we have upgraded health facilities, incentivized health care workers, and ensured accessible health services for all.”

Stating that Nepal has been pursuing combination of measures, such as, testing, contact-tracing, quarantine and social distancing, the Prime Minister said temporary measures, such as, nation-wide lockdown, suspension of international flights and restriction in cross-border movement of the people have also been adopted. “While we are determined to face the challenge, we believe that crisis of this proportion calls for robust global response. National endeavors must be complemented by international support measures.”

The Online Summit of the NAM Contact Group was held under the Theme: “United against COVID-19”. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement chaired the Summit.

Noting that the world was now fighting a common but invisible enemy, Prime Minister Oli believed that in such a situation there was nothing more important than the protection of human life and saving of humanity. This is the supreme duty of Governments. “We can revive economic loss. We can reinvent technology. We can build a prosperous society. But, we cannot revive the loss of precious human life, which is also the loss of human capital, talents, expertise and ideas. So, life comes first of all other considerations.”

Stating that the indispensable role of the United Nations and its specialized agency, WHO is warranted at this moment, Prime Minister Oli called for the UN specialized agency to be strengthened and supported to promote cooperation, collaboration and synchronize global response against the pandemic.

The Non-Aligned Movement, as a group of 120 countries, must use its numerical and moral strength to unite the world at this critical moment of human history. “If the world unites, we will win the war. If the world divides, virus will defeat us. It is this simple- choice is ours.”

On the occasion Prime Minister Oli also expressed his profound condolences to the countries and families for the loss of lives and wished for speedy recovery of those undergoing treatment.