BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 14. Speaker of the
Parliament o Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova has delivered a speech as a
guest of honour during the event “The Role of Youth in
Parliamentary Co-operation” at the Headquarters of the Non-Aligned
Movement Youth Organisation (NAMYO) on September 14.
This was announced by the Press and Public Relations Department
of Milli Majlis (Parliament of Azerbaijan).
According to the statement, the Speaker of the Azerbaijani
Parliament first acquainted herself with the arrangements in place
at the Headquarters.
In her following address to the youth, Gafarova talked about
Azerbaijan’s important contribution to the Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM) during the four-year chairmanship of this organisation. It
was remarked that the Azerbaijani chairmanship had coincided with a
period of grave global challenges, especially COVID-19. Led by
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan played an
important role in demonstrating solidarity within the NAM and
displaying its practical operation capabilities in the pandemic
spell.
She mentioned Azerbaijan’s initiatives to hold an online summit
of the NAM on COVID-19 and a Special session of the UN General
Assembly on COVID-19. At the same time, Azerbaijan helped ensure an
equal access to the vaccines and helped those countries which
needed help.
The parliament speaker also said that the Azerbaijani
chairmanship had been focused especially on strengthening the
international role and institutional growth of the NAM. The
emergence of the Non-Aligned Movement Youth Network and
Parliamentary Network at the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev
was one of the important areas of the institutional development.
The NAM Youth Network was transformed to a Youth Organisation
pursuant to the 2019 resolution.
According to the Speaker of Parliament, NAMYO and Parliamentary
Network (NAMPN) perform different but complementary functions. One
of them provides an international youth platform whereas the other
unites the NAM Member States’ Parliaments. Furthermore, Gafarova
stressed that those two institutions had expanded the institutional
foundations of the NAM and made its operations closer to
parliaments, youth and society. Those entities are amongst the more
important and long-term outcomes of the period of Azerbaijani
chairmanship.
Touching upon the establishment of the NAMPN in her address, she
pointed out that, established on the sidelines of the
143rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in
Madrid in 2021, the Parliamentary Network chaired by the Parliament
of Azerbaijan has formed its structure, broadened international
co-operation and held five conferences in various countries in the
elapsed period. The Parliamentary Network introduced the important
parliamentary dimension to the activities of the NAM and makes it
possible to underpin the obligations assumed internationally within
national parliaments, which is done through legislation and budget
and parliamentary control.
The speaker also addressed youth’s involvement in political and
public processes and accentuated the importance of them being
represented in various facets of life more actively. Besides,
Gafarova highlighted the significance of quality education,
professional skills, decent employment and access to digital
opportunities for youth development as well as on their engagement
in discussions about AI, data protection and digital economy.
She emphasized in the conclusion of her address that the NAMYO
and the NAMPN, the important legacy of the Azerbaijani
chairmanship, are the active bodies serving the future of the
Non-Aligned Movement.
