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The United Nations contributes to sustainable development in Azerbaijan

24 October 2010 01:23 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Sixty-five years ago on this date, the founding Charter of the United Nations entered into force, engaging the UN and its family of agencies in a vast array of work that aims to improve peopleâ€™s lives all over the world. The world still looks to the UN for solutions of emerging challenges, e.g. food and energy crises, a global recession, climate change, pandemic flu, as they cannot be met by a single nation, APA reports.

In his speech at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2010, President Ilham Aliyev highlighted that â€œAzerbaijan demonstrates full support and undertakes ceaseless efforts for promotion of sustainable development and global prosperity for all. Azerbaijan will continue to contribute for the realization of the development goals and objectives agreed within the United Nationsâ€.

In 2000, at a summit in New York, Azerbaijan signed the Millennium Declaration where the world leaders promised to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the areas of health, gender equality, education, and the environment sustainability by 2015. Over the last few years, Azerbaijan has enjoyed a rapid economic growth driven by a large increase in oil and gas revenues, and subsequently made a tremendous success in reducing poverty from 49 percent in 2001 to 11 percent in 2009, in addition to the prospects of achieving most of the MDGs.

As the Government continues to be resolute in its efforts to diversify the economy, focus on employment-centered growth, introduce market-based policies and strengthen social services, the United Nations will remain committed to strengthening the partnership geared towards meeting national development priorities.

In July 2010, the Government and the United Nations in Azerbaijan launched the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), a five-year collaboration (2011-2015) that aligns the UN prospective development activities with the State Programme for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development (2008-2015). With this UNDAF, the UN is committed to support Azerbaijan’s vision of peace and recovery, sustainable growth and prosperity. The UN will further fortify its partnership based on the remarkable gains of the Government in strengthening economic and social development in Azerbaijan to deliver better results, more efficiently and effectively, in support of nationally-led and demand-driven development programmes.

Azerbaijan joined the United Nations in March 1992, and the UN established its presence in the country in November 1992 by opening the office of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), followed by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and World Food Programme (WFP). Currently, the UN family in Azerbaijan embraces seventeen UN agencies represented by either offices or projects .

Based on the resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council (822, 853, 874, and 884) and the General Assembly (49/13, 60/285, and 64/243) regarding the the conflict in and around the region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the Republic of Azerbaijan, the UN organizations initially responded with providing humanitarian assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons, followed by post-conflict recovery, such as supporting the government in the area of mine clearance, whilst building national capacities.

With the political stability attained in the country in the mid-90s, the Government of Azerbaijan and the United Nations have been cooperating to address long-term national development goals, including, but not limited to, enhancing the countryâ€™s economic opportunities and improving living standards, reforming education and health systems, promoting good governance and use of information communication technologies, protecting environment, fighting drug abuse and trafficking, increasing HIV/AIDS awareness, bettering family planning, and initiating youth volunteerism. Working on many fronts, the United Nations has supported Azerbaijan to cement its independence. The work of the UN in the country would not be as successful without the close partnerships built with the government, development partners, donors, and civil society organizations.

This year, the UN system in Azerbijan will mark the UN Day by raising the national and UN flags in front of the UN Compound on Monday, 25 October. Throughout the prevoius week, high school students in Baku were meeting with representatives from different UN agencies to gain a deeper understanding of the work of the United Nations, both globally and in Azerbaijan. The regions including Ganja, Mingechervir, and IDP settlements in Fizuli will continue with the educational outreach programme.