Dhaka initiates D-8 meeting over COVID-19

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DHAKA, April 13, 2020 (BSS) – Bangladesh has taken a lead to organize a meeting among the D-8 nations in line with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s directive to engage at regional and global platforms for exploring collective solutions to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.

As per Bangladesh’s initiatives, the D-8 Health and Social Protection Programme (D-8 HSP), based in Abuja Nigeria, has decided to hold a virtual working meeting of the D-8 HSP focal persons on April 16, a foreign ministry press release said here today.

Earlier, foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen wrote a letter to his Turkish counterpart, as Ankara is the current Chair of D-8 to explore options how the D-8 member states activate and utilize the D-8 HSP window to support each other during this crisis.

At the meeting, the D-8 nations – Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey – are likely to agree on a research methodology to measure the health and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic, said the release.

Realizing the need for cooperation and solidarity of this economic-bloc of geographically dispersed eight countries to fight this pandemic, the meeting of the focal persons is expected to come up with mechanisms to lessen the hardship through sharing best practices and resources.

It is also anticipated that the meeting will also find means to share number of developed and home-grown health innovation ecosystems and exchanges within or between the D-8 countries.

Bangladesh delegation will be led by officials from the DG Health Services and allied institutions who are part of the Covid-19 response team.

The D8 HSP virtual meeting will be supported by Global Health experts from partner organisations like Chatham House, World Health Organization, ILO, IsDB, Global Women Leaders in Health and CHESTRAD International.

In his letter, the Foreign Minister Momen also proposed to postpone the D8 Summit, which was scheduled to take place in Bangladesh towards the end of May 2020.

He further proposed that Bangladesh and Turkey can take joint initiatives, engaging the D-8 Secretariat and other appropriate entities like UNCTAD and UNIDO in this crisis moment.

The joint initiatives can explore ways and means for concerted efforts to restore confidence and devise strategies regarding potential negative consequences of the Covid-19 crisis on overall economy, growth and jobs of the respective member countries, Momen wrote in the letter.