17.05.2023

The embassy participated in an international conference "Strengthening Africa in the Age of Global Challenges and Promoting Multilateralism: The Role of the Non-Aligned Movement" jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and the Center of Analysis of International Relations, dedicated to May 25 - Africa Day.

 

The conference was organized to discuss ways to strengthen Africa and the strategy to encourage multilateralism in light of global geopolitical changes, within the framework of the Republic of Azerbaijan's presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (2019 - 2023). The conference was attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, His Excellency / Araz Azimov, Head of the Center for Analysis of International Relations in Azerbaijan, His Excellency / Farid Shafiyev, heads and representatives of diplomatic missions accredited in Baku, as well as a number of academic circles and researchers from various think tanks and local and international institutes.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the event, Chairman of the Board of the Center of Analysis of International Relations Farid Shafiyev, spoke about the development of Azerbaijan's relations with African countries recently, with the opening of its embassies in those countries, especially in Egypt, Morocco, Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia, noting that these countries support Azerbaijan's positions within International organizations and stressed that African countries support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

African countries are of great importance in the Non-Aligned Movement, and Azerbaijan paid special attention to this point during its chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement," Farid Shafiyev added.

 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Araz Azimov, affirmed that Azerbaijan's growing cooperation with African countries has reached its highest level since its independence, and a new stage in relations with those countries began during Azerbaijan's presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement, indicating that Azerbaijan developed during its presidency ( 2019-2023) Africa's file is among its main priorities, and it is no coincidence that it has allocated a larger part of the financial assistance it provided to the World Health Organization in the context of confronting the effects of the Corona pandemic on African countries.

He pointed out the importance of organizing this conference in order to raise the sense of global responsibility towards existing issues in African countries, such as ensuring sustainable peace and security and continuous development.

Then the conference continued with a discussion session on "Supporting Africa: Strategies and Opportunities".

Professor of Mohammed V University of Morocco, Mr. Mohamed Zakaria, said that Africa possesses many elements and capabilities in various fields, but it is ravaged by conflicts and internal turmoil, and it is an arena of geopolitical competition between the major powers.

The head of the Modern Initiative Center for the Development of the State of Mali (NIDEM), Mr. Khalil Sisi, stated that Africa is the continent most threatened by problems and conflicts as a result of authoritarian and colonial policies by Western countries, which impedes the growth of the countries of the continent, stressing the need for international support to solve Africa's problems.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan launched a number of important initiatives to support peace and security in the world during its leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement. During the aforementioned period, the capital, Baku, hosted many conferences at various levels that strengthened Azerbaijan's global position and made it one of the active and pioneering countries within the movement.