By Trend

Azerbaijan has been making extremely good progress on several of the Sustainable Development Goals, Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

“I am privileged to be here, in this great country, Azerbaijan. I am here as the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations. I came at the invitation of the government of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has been a country which is committed to multilateralism. This year Azerbaijan is marking 30 years of its membership at the UN. Azerbaijan has played an important role in promoting multilateralism. It has served as a member of the Security Council, as a member of the Economic and Social Council. At a time when the international community is experiencing a large number of challenges, it is an opportunity for me to discuss the leadership of Azerbaijan, the challenges that we’re facing, the pandemic, the energy crisis, the food crisis, the issues such as climate change and many others. I had a very good meetings with the foreign minister and also, I met the speaker of the parliament. Later I attended the ADA University, engaged with young people and finished my day with meeting with the UN country team to assess the relationship between the UN agencies and Azerbaijan,” he said.

Noting that Azerbaijan today is the chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Shahid recalled that under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev Azerbaijan convened the summit of NAM and discussed COVID-19 issues.

“After that meeting President Ilham Aliyev initiated the convening of the special session of the General Assembly on this issue. It was a very timely initiative, it assisted in bringing the matter to the attention of the international community, of the member states. The only way out of the pandemic is vaccine. It is important that all countries have equal access to vaccine. I convened a high-level meeting on February 25 on the same issue this year and I was very happy to receive message of support from President Ilham Aliyev as the chair of NAM. It is commendable,” said the president of the UN General Assembly.

Shahid pointed out that Azerbaijan has been making extremely good progress on several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“It is also important to note and it is a matter of great pride for Azerbaijan that it has been one of the few countries, which has submitted three times the Voluntary National Review (VNR). It showcases how engaged is the Azerbaijani government in formulation of the commission to review constantly the implementation of SDGs. It is also a clear indication of the SDG commitment of the government. We are here to assist in whatever the government would like the UN to assist – in climate change, gender issues and many other issues. The role of UN is highly valued by the people and the government of Azerbaijan and we will be ready to assist in whatever the people want,” he said.

Shahid noted that one of the factors of cooperation within the framework of UN is climate change.

“Of course, Azerbaijan is an oil producing country, nevertheless, it is of significant importance that at COP26 Azerbaijan pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2050. So, the commitment of Azerbaijan is clearly seen and UN will be working with Azerbaijan with regard to transfer of technologies, in switching to renewable energy.

I am impressed by the great strides that the people of Azerbaijan are taking in development of the country in spite of these very difficult times”,- Shahid concluded.