As reported, Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova is in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on a working visit to take part in the 14^th Summit Parliamentary Leadership: Anticipating Risks to Deliver Sustainability and Prosperity Better of Women Speakers of Parliament.

Sahiba Gafarova delivered a speech titled Addressing the Risks of the Post-Pandemic Global Recovery at the first session of the summit held on 8 September.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis greeted the parliamentary delegations taking part in the 14^th Summit.

‘Today, we, women speakers of parliament, have the opportunity to discuss the issues of global concern. It is known that COVID-19 had a devastating impact on world community in all respects. It exposed serious shortcomings in terms of social justice, equal economic opportunities and gender equality. COVID-19 has also negatively impacted the achievements of our societies,’ Mrs Gafarova was saying.

The global community slowly enters the post-pandemic recovery period; this is the moment when we have to act jointly, according to Mrs Gafarova, the time we strengthened the mechanisms that will deliver a socially inclusive economy based on equal rights, opportunities and protection.

As a bridge between the governments and societies, parliaments have an important role to play; it is imperative that they should be working hand-in-hand for the common goal and acting as a focal point of concerted efforts of elected representatives, government and civil society.

‘I believe that one of the important lessons that COVID-19 taught us is the significance of identifying risks pre-emptively and working on them… the climate change has already been turning into one of the most acute challenges of our time. We have to deal with it now. Another demand of today is the wide use of green technologies. And we should act adequately. It should be taken into consideration that the use of green technologies will provide environmental protection and create new perspectives. No doubt, it will have a positive effect on all dimensions of sustainable development.

‘COVID-19 taught us another valuable lesson. Global challenges require global solutions. Collective efforts and joint actions are of utmost importance,’ Mrs Gafarova continued and, in this respect, recalled the relevant initiatives of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, which he had put forth as Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement seeking to address the negative consequences of the pandemic as well as the post-pandemic global recovery.

‘The initiatives such as ensuring equitable, affordable, timely and universal access for all countries to vaccines, establishing the UN High-Level Panel on Global Recovery from COVID-19 were intended to strengthen international solidarity and cooperation in the fight against the pandemic,’ Sahiba Gafarova said, adding that those initiatives of our head of State had received broad recognition and support.

‘Azerbaijan acknowledges the importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation on a global scale. As the chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan put forward the initiative to develop parliamentary dimension of the Movement. Thus, the Parliamentary Network of the NAM was inaugurated in Madrid in November 2021.

‘The Parliamentary Network is ready to contribute to common goals. It is going to actively engage with other parliamentary organisations, first and foremost with Inter-Parliamentary Union, in finding solutions for the issues of global concern. As Chair of the Network, I voiced this position at the Baku Conference of the Network in June this year.

‘It is undeniable that without peace and security, it is impossible to speak about sustainable development and prosperity… 20 per cent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognised territories were held under occupation by our neighbour Armenia for 30 years. All our cities and villages, historical, cultural and religious sites were destroyed in these territories. About 1 mn of our compatriots became refugees and IDP’s. 52 per cent of them were women. After liberating its territories from the Armenian occupation in 2020, Azerbaijan started the large-scale restoration and reconstruction works in these territories. Liberated territories are declared a "green energy" zone. Smart cities and smart villages are being built. It is in line with the above-mentioned comment on the use of green technologies,’ Mrs Gafarova said further in her speech.

The Chair of the Milli Majlis remarked with regret that large number of mines planted by Armenia in these territories is a serious impediment to the process.

‘Today, the lives of our returning IDPs, including women and children are under serious threat. In the case of Azerbaijan, as in the case of many other conflict-affected countries, the problem of mines, being a humanitarian issue, represents a serious challenge to the efforts of economic recovery and sustainable development. I strongly believe that our inter-parliamentary dialogue should also focus on these issues,’ Sahiba Gafarova said in concluding her speech.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis