The next plenary meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement/UNESCO chapter, chaired by Azerbaijan, was held in online format. The Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO Gabriela Ramos, as well as the heads of Permanent Delegations and representatives of the UNESCO Secretariat attended the meeting.

Permanent Delegate of Azerbaijan to UNESCO, Ambassador Elman Abdullayev, opened the meeting and presented its Agenda.

After the adoption of the Agenda, Assistant Director-General Ms. Ramos noted the successful chairmanship of Azerbaijan in the Non-Aligned Movement and conveyed her sincere congratulations. She spoke about the important role of NAM at the international arena.

Touching on the importance of promoting intercultural dialogue to build the better world in the post-pandemic era, ADG/SHS shared her views on the topic, noting that discrimination is exacerbated by COVID-19 in a world dominated by insincere relations between nations.

Afterwatds Ambassador Abdullayev presented a report on the activities of our country during its chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement and informed about the work done.

The Permanent Delegate spoke about the Online Summit level Meeting of the NAM Contact Group in response to COVID-19, under the theme of “United against COVID-19 pandemic”, held on 4 May 2020 at the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev.

"Drawing attention to the fact of unfair and unequal distribution of vaccines against COVID-19 on a global scale, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said that as Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan will not be indifferent to this issue," Abdullayev said. He noted that within the 46th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, our country, as the Chair of the Movement, proposed a draft resolution. As the Azerbaijani project was similar to the one proposed by Ecuador, the two projects were combined and submitted to the Secretariat of the Human Rights Council and adopted.

Then Ambassador stated that during its chairmanship, our country based its priorities and activities on the historic Bandung Principles, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, non-interference in internal affairs, protection of mutual interests and promotion of cooperation.

The comprehesive information was provided on the projects implemented by our country in the fields of poverty reduction, science, education, culture, health, development of information technologies, and the fact that Azerbaijan offers scholarships to citizens of the members of the Non-Aligned Movement to study at the various universities in our country.

In addition, there were discussed the online meetings chaired by Azerbaijan, the mobilization of countries in the joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the convening of a special session of the UN General Assembly in this regard and etc.

E.Abdullayev also informed about the joint statement agreed with the members of the Movement/UNESCO Chapter to be presented at the 211th session of the UNESCO Executive Board in April, noting that NAM plays a key role in strengthening international peace and security in accordance with the Bandung Principles.

At the end, there was an exchange of views on the celebration of April 24 – the Day of Non-Aligned Movement (Multilateralism). The plenary session continued with discussions and successfully concluded its work.