El Movimiento de los No Alineados traza un plan contra la COVID-19

44 leaders, presidents, heads of government and foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement have met by videoconference convened by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. This "Virtual Summit" has culminated in a Declaration in which the Movement supports the United Nations and the World Health Organization in their fight against the VICD-19 pandemic, both in terms of the human toll and the devastating effects on the economy and society of all countries on the planet, particularly the most vulnerable. 

The Non-Aligned Countries have decided to set up a Task Force to prepare a common database on the health, social and humanitarian needs of the Member States to be submitted to international organisations and development finance institutions.

In his speech, in the name of King Mohamed VI of Morocco, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita reiterated the Moroccan proposal to create tools for analysis and coordination in order to face "the challenges arising from wars, internal conflicts, poverty, pandemics and terrorist threats". A proposal which is in keeping with the objectives set by the Non-Aligned Movement. Mohamed VI has five principles as his basis: solidarity, anticipation, prevention, holistic treatment and priority for citizens, particularly the most vulnerable.
Nasser Bourita pointed out three consequences to be faced in this pandemic:

• The first is that the health crisis will last for some time yet. Morocco is confident that a vaccine will be available, and hopes that it will be universally accessible and affordable.
• Secondly, it is a question of mitigating the socio-economic impact of paralysing entire sectors of the economy and the tens of millions of people who are left without work, which requires safeguarding the progress made in the battle against precariousness and poverty. 
• Thirdly, it should be noted that these challenges are crucial in a continent like Africa, where 85 per cent of people working are in the shadow sector. On this point, Nasser Bourita pointed out that the African Union has called for the cancellation or alleviation of the debt burden; and mentioned the proposal from the Moroccan head of state to create an operational framework for working with African countries in the fight against the pandemic.

The intervention of the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, which coincided with the general lines of the Declaration made by the Movement and even with the proposals made by its neighbour Morocco, was nevertheless surprising in that it introduced an element of division of the Non-Aligned countries into his speech, referring to the need "not to forget the occupied territories in Palestine and in Western Sahara", a mention which throws a bucket of cold water on international efforts to resolve these crises on the basis of dialogue and the common benefit of people. 

The mention of the Algerian head of state surprised his counterparts, for countries such as Cuba, represented by its President Miguel Diaz Canel, Madagascar, Angola, Egypt, China and India, and even Moussa Mahamat, head of the African Union Commission, headed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, made no mention of the conflict in the Sahara. 

The head of Moroccan diplomacy simply pointed out on this subject that "a neighbouring country (referring to Algeria) continues to feed separatism and acts of regional destabilisation, instead of devoting its means to the fight against the pandemic in the country".

There was no representation of the Polisario Front at this Non-Aligned Summit, unlike previous summits where it was "invited" and introduced to the meetings by some members such as Venezuela, South Africa or Algeria. The invitation made by the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, was this time to members of the Movement, which is the most important and numerous group of countries, 120, more than half of the world and three quarters of the population. The Polisario is not among them, although Palestine is, which through Yasser Arafat's PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), was one of its founders.