By Sabina Mammadli
Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva and UN Resident Coordinator Vladanka Andreeva have signed a memorandum of understanding on the mutual partnership, the ombudsman's office has reported.
The signing ceremony of the memorandum was attended by delegations of both organizations.
The memorandum is aimed at promoting universal human rights awareness at all levels, the rule of law, gender equality, prevention of discrimination and good governance, as well as strengthening cooperation with civil society institutions, the report added.
The sides planned to establish a joint working group to implement the abovementioned points.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding, measures will be taken to strengthen the institutional capacity of the ombudsman, support the development of national strategies for the protection of human rights, and implementation of the Framework Document on Sustainable Development Cooperation between the UN and Azerbaijan for 2021-2025.
Among these, special attention will be provided to the implementation of joint projects in the education sphere in the field of human rights, to further expand relations with UN human rights mechanisms in order to evaluate and apply the recommendations made within these mechanisms.
It should be noted that the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2021-2025 was signed on March 1 by Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov and UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan Ghulam Isaczai. The Cooperation Framework, fully compliant with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is based on the principles of human rights, gender equality, sustainable development, resilience and responsibility, including the priorities of socio-economic development, and will cover entire Azerbaijan’s territory.
The main goals of the Cooperation Framework are to transform the economy, meet the needs of vulnerable groups of the population, minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and eliminate the consequences of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, emphasize the role of the document in accelerating the implementation of the SDGs.
The UNSDCF is the fifth UN-Azerbaijan cooperation framework and is based on an analysis of Azerbaijan’s progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The implementation of the Cooperation Framework puts the UN development system reform into practice, emphasizing transparency, accountability and joint action in the delivery of all development results.