The opening ceremony of the G77+ China Summit has been held in the Republic of Cuba.
Azerbaijan was represented at the event by Speaker of the country’s Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova.
Addressing the discussions on roles of science, technology and innovations arranged as part of the Summit, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova noted that though a relatively new member, Azerbaijan attaches great importance to G77 and is ready to contribute to the group’s work actively.
“The Sustainable Development Goals are of special importance to Azerbaijan as well. Azerbaijan remains committed to implementing the SDG Agenda for until 2030. Suffice to say, Azerbaijan was the first country in its region and one of the 12 countries in the world to submit three voluntary review reports to the UN,” Gafarova mentioned.
“A clean environment and green development are two of the five priority areas within the new socio-economic development strategy of Azerbaijan for until 2030. Our country ratified the Paris Climate Accords committing herself to the voluntary reduction of hothouse emissions by 35% by 2030, by which year, incidentally, renewable sources are expected to have exceeded 37% of the total energy capacity of the country thanks to the relevant projects that are afoot currently,” the Speaker underlined.
“I should like to note that Azerbaijan has offered to host the 29th conference of the parties to the Convention on Climate Change. We stand ready to make a contribution of our own to implementing the global climatic agenda and share our experience,” Sahiba Gafarova noted.
“President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made two global calls: to support the post pandemic revival of Africa and to do the same to the small island developing countries. Those calls were made at the summit meeting of the COVID-19 Contact Group of the Non-Aligned Movement in Azerbaijan in March this year. Those calls envisage a direct financial support, provision of greater education opportunities, capacity-building and other tools. Azerbaijan as the first donor released $1 million towards both calls’ implementation. It is vital for those countries’ sustainable development that the calls in question be supported by the international community,” Gafarova said.
“The official development aid was one of the mechanisms used by Azerbaijan to promote the international development agenda and to address development problems around the world more efficiently. The international aid from Azerbaijan’s International Development and Promotion Agency to more than 130 countries is intended to support sustainable development and eradicate poverty through building up the human and institutional potentials as well as via exchange of experience and advanced experience,” Sahiba Gafarova underscored.
“Sustainable development is unobtainable without peace and security today. Azerbaijan has launched the large-scale restoration of its formerly occupied lands following their liberation from the three-decades-long occupation in 2020. It is now one of the key development priorities of Azerbaijan. The country is facing a rather serious task to tackle, not least of building eight towns and hundreds of villages from scratch given the devastation that the occupation left behind. None the less, Azerbaijan is making great steps forward, the former IDPs are returning to their homeland after only a relatively short period of time since those lands were liberated,” Gafarova emphasized.
