Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNDP have Signed Memorandum

The signing ceremony of the project 'Mobilizing Azerbaijani Youth for Action in Preparation for the 'Rio+20' Summit in 2012' implemented between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and UNDP took place in Hilton Baku hotel on 21 October.

First Lady of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva also attended the ceremony.

In his address to the event, UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan Fikrat Akcura thanked Mehriban Aliyeva, First Lady of Azerbaijan, Good-will Ambassador and Vice-President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva. Noting that the event was a great opportunity to announce national position, Akcura emphasized the particular importance of International Dialogue on Environmental Action (IDEA) announced by a representative of the Azerbaijani youth Leyla Aliyeva.

Expressing confidence that the cooperation will expand even more till the conference to be held in Rio de Janeiro next year, the UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan said the idea of creating an international camp for youth in November this year is also of great interest.

Stressing that Azerbaijan has always made initiatives in environment-related matters, Akcura noted that this country which faced big environmental challenges in the Soviet period currently spends a lot of money to maintain ecological balance. He also stated that Azerbaijan demonstrates a special position on sustainable development in the world.

Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev also addressed the ceremony.

Stressing importance of the memorandum on Mobilizing Azerbaijani Youth for Action in Preparation for the Rio+20 Summit in 2012 which was signed as part of the ceremony, Leyla Aliyeva said cooperation with UNDP in this field was crucial.

'Rio+20' conference will be organized to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the historic United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in 1992. We will discuss pressing issues of our time, in particular, environmental issues, sustainable development and poverty reduction at this important conference to be held in Rio de Janeiro. Of course, we will also discuss appropriate responses to hardships that we face. We will try so that UN member states demonstrate a political will, Leyla Aliyeva said.

Leyla Aliyeva also spoke about the measures taken in the country to protect environment and settle environmental issues. Stressing that Azerbaijan pays special attention to environmental protection and the many accomplishments have been made in this direction, the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation said:

'One of the challenges facing us is a camp that will be created in Gabala. We can achieve a better level of preparation for Rio +20 conference this way. As for Azerbaijan, we have announced November Month of Ecology and therefore we have a number of related initiatives. They include a friendly attitude towards the environment. We want to organize volunteer clean-ups, mass tree planting, renovate parks, build houses for birds in the city, return endangered animals to the nature and clean contaminated areas and supply pressing water to the regions.

We also have a great initiative. It was launched jointly with the Federation of Mountaineering of Azerbaijan. We will encourage mountaineers from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Iran and Russia to conquer unnamed peak as an expedition. The height of this peak is about 3,600 meters. During the expedition they will clean territories while passing through mountains, gorges and villages. Collecting garbage and other wastes from these areas, they will install trash cans here and report to people living nearby about it.

Later Leyla Aliyeva and Fikrat Akcura signed a memorandum of understanding between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the UN Development Program entitled “Mobilizing Azerbaijani Youth for Action in Preparation for the 'Rio+20' Summit in 2012.”

The website of the International Dialogue on Environmental Action (<a href="../">www.ideacampaign.org</a>) was also presented as part of the ceremony.

One-year project to be implemented in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2012 aims to encourage youth to participate in preparations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development and provide conditions in which views to eliminate shortcomings in achieving sustainable development goals in the country are taken into consideration.

The initiative International Dialogue for Environmental Action, IDEA, announced by Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva on 12 July 2011 will serve as a platform for active involvement of the youth with the global movement on sustainable development.

The signing ceremony was attended by state and government officials of Azerbaijan, Milli Majlis (Parliament), foreign ambassadors in Baku, representatives of international organizations and the public.