Egypt has led an international action at the United Nations to alleviate the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak on women and girls, the foreign ministry said in a statement late on Sunday.

“The move is aimed at mitigating the negative social repercussions of the spread of the pandemic and taking preventive measures to reduce its effects on the most vulnerable social groups,” the statement read.

Egypt’s Permanent Representative at the UN, ambassador Mohamed Idris, said the Egyptian delegation addressed UN Women, the UN body in charge of promoting gender equality, and member countries to work to increase international cooperation to overcome the emergency challenge facing humanity.

The Egyptian delegation has circulated a report made by Egypt’s National Council for Women on proposed policies and programmes tackling the conditions of women in the face of the global pandemic.

Egypt, along with a number of other member states, has presented a draft resolution to the General Assembly of the United Nations demanding to support local and international efforts meant to immediately deal with the pandemic’s repercussions on women, Idris said.

Egypt was also among the signatories of a joint statement by the 63-member Group of Friends of Children and the UN’s SDGs calling for giving priority to children’s education, nutrition, health, and safety in the fight against coronavirus, he added.