The declaration also stressed the importance of solidarity and cooperation in ensuring the supply of medicines and medical equipment and preventing the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The virtual Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit that brought together 39 member states, including Indonesia, on Monday night, agreed on a joint declaration echoing concern over the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This summit produced a declaration whose main message, among others, expressed concern over the spread and impact of COVID-19," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi stated during a video press conference from the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java on early Tuesday after accompanying President Joko Widodo during a virtual NAM Summit.

In the declaration, the NAM member states were on the same page that the COVID-19 pandemic had hit the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society the hardest and expressed concern over the COVID-19 pandemic causing a setback to development projects being implemented by developing countries and making it more challenging for the world to attain the sustainable development goals, she pointed out.

In the declaration, NAM member states affirmed their support for multilateralism and the WHO's efforts to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. In this connection, NAM member states warmly welcomed the UN General Assembly's Resolution No. 74 of 270 on Global Solidarity to Fight COVID-19.

Indonesia is one of the initiators of the UN General Assembly's resolution.

"The declaration also stressed the importance of solidarity and cooperation in ensuring the supply of medicines and medical equipment and preventing the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy," she stated.

The NAM declaration underscored the significance of information exchange and test practice as well as implementation of the WHO guidelines to handle COVID-19 cases. The declaration also called to lift the unilateral mechanism that runs counter to the international law and the UN Charter to ensure the effective handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The declaration also contained an agreement to establish a NAM task force that would draft a database pertaining to medical and humanitarian needs of NAM member states and submit the database to donor countries and organizations," she added.

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Translator: Rangga Pandu Asmara Jingga/Suh
Editor: Sri Haryati
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