Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has met with the Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) at the HQ of the United Nations Organisation (UN) in New York during her working visit to the USA.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova mentioned Azerbaijan’s being an active OIC member and the Milli Majlis chairing the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States currently as she spoke at the meeting.

It was mentioned that the OIC unites under its aegis 57 African, Asian, Near East, European and American states. As was stressed, the Islamic world commands immense human, cultural and economic potentials. It was also emphasised that the region has young population, historical education hubs, major trade routes, considerable resources and deeply-rooted traditions of communality and solidarity. At the same time, it was remarked, many OIC Member States encounter conflicts and forcible population displacements. Poverty, the absence of food and water security and climate change put an added pressure on our societies; terrorism, extremism and islamophobia give birth to fear and distrust. Those challenges require that the Member States demonstrate solidarity through co-ordinated actions, powerful institutions and practical support.

According to the Speaker of the Milli Majlis, parliamentary diplomacy can support this work by co-ordinating international negotiations with national parliaments.

Also at the meeting were reviewed issues of co-operation in international parliamentary organisations and there was an exchange of views upon matters concerning the activities of international parliamentary organisations. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova remarked in this connection on the necessity of closer co-operation between the UN and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), adding that the international decision-making process is thus linked with activities of national parliaments, which fosters agreements’ conversion to results tangible for people.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis emphasised that either obligations are not honoured or some voices are considered more important than others when the principles of multilateralism are applied discriminatorily, which leads to multilateralism losing its authority. Equal respect, consistent actions and real participation are required for the confidence to be restored. According to her, when official relations become complicated, parliamentarians are still able to maintain contacts, mitigate misunderstandings and preserve dialoguing options.

It was said that the IPU should co-operate closer with regional parliamentary organisations including the PUIC. Such co-operation will make it possible to integrate the OIC priorities in the global discourse and reinforce our response to islamophobia, racism and religious hatred.

Going further, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis observed that many OIC countries experience difficulties with access to finances and technologies. Parliaments can underpin this work through streamlining of legislation, economic supervision, education and innovation investments, strengthening social protection and fair employment of public resources. Many countries which have to countenance the aftermath of climate change have at their disposal the least resources to react to these challenges. Therefore, climatic finance ought to be predictable, sustained and accessible.

We could see the parliamentary dimension of this challenge at the COP29 in Baku, the Speaker remarked. The Milli Majlis and the IPU brought hundreds of parliamentarians at it for the discussion of how global climate commitments could be transformed to national actions.

Concluding her speech, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis said that parliamentarians should exchange experience, avoid duplication and table regional priorities for discussion at the global level.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis