Humanity’s solidarity can help the situation – OpEd – Eurasia Review

As COVID-19 does not recognize borders, we must build the fight against it on the basis of organization, solidarity, mutual aid, the use of positive experience, and it must not recognize borders.
2021 has been a year of continued pandemic control and the emergence of new variants of the virus. The South Caucasus was also not immune from COVID-19 and its variants. Azerbaijan continued its effective fight against COVID-19, making the most of the lessons of previous years and the opportunities for a rapid response. The vaccination campaign, which was carried out as well as in highly developed countries, is a real sign of performance in this sector. During the year, Azerbaijan provided humanitarian and financial assistance to more than 30 countries to fight the pandemic, made a voluntary financial contribution of US $ 10 million to the World Health Organization and donated 150,000 doses of vaccine free of charge to four countries.
The new head of the EU delegation to Azerbaijan, Petr Michako, also highlighted the high level of vaccination in Azerbaijan. The capital – Baku is working closely with the European Union in this direction. The European Union and the World Health Organization have supported the fight against COVID-19 in Azerbaijan with the necessary medical equipment. Medical personnel in Azerbaijan have repeatedly received respirators, goggles, transparent masks and coveralls for this purpose. All equipment sent for the safety of medical personnel fighting the virus on the front line has been tested for compliance with quality and safety standards. Kestutis Jankauskas, Head of EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, said his organization, as “Team Europe”, is helping to prevent, detect and combat the COVID-19 pandemic. “Healthcare workers are at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which increases their risk of contracting the virus,” he said. -These are our heroes and they need protection. “As part of the Team Europe initiative, the EU has launched an individual COVID-19 package with a budget of around € 32 million to support urgent needs and socio-economic recovery.
In 2021, Azerbaijan made major progress in the fight against the pandemic and the global economic crisis and in mutual cooperation. As chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan presented an initiative to establish a United Nations high-level group on global recovery after COVID-19. The member states of the Non-Aligned Movement have unanimously decided to extend the Azerbaijani chairmanship of the movement for another year, until the end of 2023.
Azerbaijan proposed a resolution to the United Nations Human Rights Council on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement on Equal and Universal Access to Vaccines for All Countries and the resolution was unanimously adopted in March 2021. This resolution showed Azerbaijan’s stance on growing vaccine nationalism around the world and became an international success.
As a result of all the measures, the number of people receiving the second, third and other doses of the vaccine in Azerbaijan exceeded 40 percent. Azerbaijan is one of the countries on the continent where the number of viral infections is declining rapidly. Azerbaijan is doing its best to observe this trend in the world. Solidarity can help the situation.
*Ilham Nagiyev is the chairman of the organization “Odlar Yurdu”, economist and entrepreneur in Azerbaijan, chairman of the main agricultural enterprise “Bine Agro”.