Agency of State Support to NGOs and UN Office in Azerbaijan sign joint declaration to promote 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Aygun Aliyeva, Executive Director of the Agency for State Support to NGOs, and Vladanka Andreeva, UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, signed the document.

According to the Declaration, the NGO Agency and the UN Office in Azerbaijan will cooperate among others in mobilising the NGOs around the promotion and implementation of the 2030 Agenda, building the institutional capacity of NGOs operating in the regions of the country, as well as enhancing their  access to technical and financial resources. Moreover, the parties will try to facilitate the participation of the NGOs in recovery, reconstruction, and peacebuilding initiatives, as well as the safe and voluntary return of IDPs to the conflict-affected regions of Azerbaijan.

Executive Director Aygun Aliyeva stated that within the framework of the signed Declaration, the NGO Agency and the UN will work together to increase accountability and transparency of NGOs and enhance the institutional capacity of the State Agency to support the NGO sector in Azerbaijan. “We will collaborate to support the achievement of the SDGs, and the “Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development,” adopted by a Presidential decree of 2 February 2021, and to continue to make progress on recovery and resilience in the post-COVID-19 era, specifically along with key cross-cutting areas of common interest,” Ms Aliyeva added.

Emphasizing the key role of the non-governmental organisations in the delivery of the UNSDCF, UN Resident Coordinator Vladanka Andreeva said that the Declaration of Intent would embark on a new era of strengthened partnership between the UN and the NGO Agency. “We look forward to establishing the joint task force with representatives of the two institutions, which would work on developing a workplan for the coming year to concretize our joint work,” Ms Andreeva concluded.