Press Release
Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Mr. K P Sharma Oli has said that Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), as a group of 120 countries, must use its numerical and moral strength to unite the world at this critical moment of human history. The Prime Minister was addressing the virtual Summit of the NAM under the theme of “United against COVID-19” today.
The Prime Minister said that the humanity is at stake now and we are fighting a common but invisible enemy.
He further said that the virus has tested our ability and exposed our vulnerability. Global trading and travel linkages are disrupted, businesses have collapsed, jobs are vanished, education systems are disrupted, and millions risk relapsing into poverty making the realization of SDGs even harder, said the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Oli emphasized that in such a situation, there is nothing more important than the protection of human life and saving of humanity which is the supreme duty of Governments.
We can revive economic loss, reinvent technology, 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, said the Prime Minister.
Stressing that the human health must be our topmost priority, the Prime Minister shared with the NAM member States the measures taken by the Government of Nepal to respond to the crisis and informed that there is no death from Covid-19 in Nepal as of now.
The Prime Minister also underlined the unprecedented economic impact on remittances and tourism and the hardship that our people face, in particular the small enterprises, peasants and daily wage earners.
While expressing Nepal’s determination to face the challenge, the Prime Minister called for the robust global response to such a crisis of large proportion and highlighted the indispensable role of the United Nations and its specialized agency, WHO. Those institutions must be strengthened and supported to promote cooperation, collaboration and synchronize global response against the pandemic, he said.
The Prime Minister further underlined that the NAM must remain united and support multilateralism and global cooperation to defeat COVID-19, consolidate the voice of the poorest and most vulnerable, scale up South-South Cooperation by way of sharing experience, transfer of technology, medical logistics and equipment, coordinate and advocate for a robust recovery package from the international community.
The Prime Minister said that NAM must promote regional initiatives as building blocks for global efforts and recalled the video conference of the leaders of SAARC countries to promote cooperation and find solution to the challenges posed by COVID-19.
Saying that humanity must come together to fight against the challenges of poverty, illness and under-development, the Prime Minister said that this is not a time to engage in insurgencies and wars. Therefore, Nepal supports UN Secretary General’s Appeal for Global Ceasefire, he said
Stating that the pandemic has exposed the inadequacies and fragility in existing economic system, the Prime Minister called for reorienting economic arrangements and redeploying 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, he said.
Prime Minister Oli welcomed the proposal to establish the NAM Task Force to work out a database that will include requirements of NAM Member States and appreciated the initiative to establish the NAM Contact Group for collective fight against the pandemic.
The Summit adopted an eighteen-point declaration.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Singh Durbar
Kathmandu
04 May 2020