NAM summit to be held in format of Contact Group on Azerbaijani president’s initiative

By Trend

A summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the format of a Contact Group will be held May 4 on the initiative of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who is the NAM Chairman, said the Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev, Trend reports.

The summit on the theme “We are together against COVID-19” will be held in the format of a video conference, he said.

Hajiyev noted that strengthening international solidarity, mobilizing the efforts of states and international organizations in fighting against the coronavirus pandemic is important.

Members of the Non-Aligned Movement unanimously supported the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev, Hajiyev said.

Given that there are 129 member countries in the Non-Aligned Movement, the summit will be held on the principle of regional geographical representation in the format of the Contact Group, he added.

The leadership of the United Nations (UN), the African Union, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international organizations will also take part at the summit, noted Hajiyev.

The 18th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement was chaired by President Ilham Aliyev in Azerbaijan on October 25-26, 2019.

With the unanimous support and consent of member countries, Azerbaijan assumed the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement in 2019-2022.

The promotion of multilateral diplomacy, the strengthening of cooperation and solidarity among member countries were determined by President Ilham Aliyev as one of the priorities of the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement.

In accordance with the resolution of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) dated December 12, 2018, April 24 is celebrated as the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy. As a member of numerous international organizations, Azerbaijan actively supports multilateral diplomacy and multilateralism.

Extraordinary Summit of the Turkic Council was held in the form of a video conference on April 10 on the initiative of Azerbaijan’s President, the chairman of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states Ilham Aliyev.

In order to support international efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic, Azerbaijan voluntarily made a $5 million financial donation to the WHO’s coronavirus response fund.

“We hope that the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in the format of the Contact Group will make an important contribution to mobilizing efforts, strengthening solidarity and multilaterialism of the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement in the fight against coronavirus,” said Hajiyev.