Online plenary meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) UNESCO Chapter was held on 30 November 2020

The online plenary meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) UNESCO Chapter was held on November 30, 2020 under the chair of the Acting Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Azerbaijan to UNESCO Ayaz Gojayev. The meeting was attended by the President of the 40^th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Turkey Ahmet Altay Cengizer, the representatives of the UNESCO Secretariat, the Permanent Delegates of the NAM Member States and the Observer States to UNESCO.

The Acting Permanent Delegate of Azerbaijan to UNESCO Ayaz Gojayev opened the meeting and presented the Agenda of the plenary session.

After the adoption of the agenda of the meeting, Altay Cengizer, President of the 40th session of the General Conference UNESCO, welcomed the successful chairmanship of Azerbaijan in the Non-Aligned Movement and congratulated our country on this occasion. Speaking about the important role of NAM in the international politics, A.Cengizer briefed regarding the ongoing process to the Draft amendment to Article V of UNESCO Constitution and answered the questions of the participants.

A. Gojayev presented the Annual report on the activity of Azerbaijan as a Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement and informed about the work done.

Then he underlined that under the Chair of Azerbaijan several online meetings were organized with the aim to mobilize all countries to eliminate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our lives. He also noted that a special session of the UN General Assembly will be convened in this regard.

A. Gojayev also informed about the statement of our country as the Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement at the 210th session of the UNESCO Executive Board to be held in December.

It was emphasized that NAM has historically played a key role in strengthening international peace and security in accordance with the Bandung Principles, and that the Movement has always called for the promotion of a culture of peace. The importance of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was also highlighted.

The member states expressed their readiness to cooperate with UNESCO to promote the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration in order to strengthen the measures taken in the field of cultural diversity, emphasizing the importance of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Additional Protocols. States that have not yet ratified were invited to ratify them.

In addition, the NAM states expressed their commitment to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage as an important contribution to the international community in the field of intangible cultural heritage.

Moreover, the Global Education Coalition, initiated by UNESCO to ensure the sustainability of the educational process in countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, was welcomed and supported.

At the end of the plenary meeting, the representative of Azerbaijan N.Omarov gave a comprehensive information about the last military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, as the result of what the civilians including children and elderly were killed, many civilians have been hospitalized with the serious injuries, a great number of the civilian infrastructures were damaged and became unserviceable. It was underlined that by doing so, Armenia blatantly violated its obligations under the international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions and its Additional Protocols. At the same time, he reported on the acts of vandalism against the cultural and religious heritage of Azerbaijan in the lands that were under the Armenian occupation over the past three decades.