Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Recent social, economic and political achievements under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev have turned Azerbaijan into a significant actor of the international system, Head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev has said.

Mehdiyev was speaking at a conference dedicated to the national consultations of Azerbaijan and the UN on post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.

According to him, the essence and goals of President Aliyev's political strategy go beyond the national framework and serve long-term development for the sake of the future of humanity.

The discussion of the national consultations on post-2015 sustainable development is a clear example of the priorities of Azerbaijan's comprehensive activities, he said.

Mehdiyev went on to say that Azerbaijan faced civil war, deep economic crisis and military aggression of Armenia during the first years of its independence. 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory is under Armenian occupation and more than 1 million Azerbaijanis were driven out of their homes. However, after National Leader Heydar Aliyev returned to power Azerbaijan became one of the first post-Soviet countries which achieved the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Mehdiyev also said Azerbaijan has successfully implemented its obligations in the education, healthcare, gender equality, management and economic development. According to the World Bank's Gross National Income per capita, Azerbaijan falls under the group of upper-middle-income countries and in the UN Development Program report the country is in the group of "high human development" countries.

Mehdiyev said that Azerbaijan on the one hand has established a competitive economy in the Commonwealth of Independent States and on the other hand directed the achieved results to the improvement of social welfare of the population and brought the human development index to a high level.

This policy provides the transition of the social-economic development of Azerbaijan to a new level. This will allow maintaining the current trends of socio-economic development of the country after 2015, he added.

Mehdiyev said that Azerbaijan would not lose its significance as an energy country. On the contrary, Azerbaijan has defined new basis for development and will improve the economy based on the knowledge and innovations and meeting the requirements and challenges of the globalizing world.

According to him, Azerbaijan is one of the 80 countries selected to hold National Consultations on Sustainable Development Goals.

Coincidence between "Azerbaijan 2020: Vision of the Future" Development Concept adopted on the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan in 2012 and UN Sustainable Development Goals indicates that Azerbaijan is developing taking into account the global challenges and tendencies.

"Azerbaijan 2020: Vision of the Future" concept is not limited to the economic aspects of development. It also envisages the establishment of an efficient social protection system, institutional capacity building, development of civil society, protection of the cultural heritage, and environmental protection. Azerbaijan's future development policy does not cover only UN Sustainable Development Goals, it is at the same time a comprehensive concept for Azerbaijan to hold a decent place on the global scale, Mehdiyev said.

Speaking at the conference, UN Resident Coordinator Antonius Broek said Azerbaijan has set out two main goals for the period after 2015: to contribute to global development until 2030 and to contribute to ensuring sustainable development in Azerbaijan.

According to Broek, over the last three months the UN in Azerbaijan, partnering with the government, local supporters of international development and other interested circles, conducted broad consultations and expressed opinions on further global developments.

"Intensive consultations have brought together representatives of all sectors, think tanks, the private sector, as well as young people, women, children, the disabled and refugees," Broek said.

Broek said the tendencies of development of the Azerbaijani people after 2015 would be considered at the conference.

The UN Resident Coordinator pointed out Azerbaijan's dynamic development in the last 10 years. He also said there are suitable conditions and the strategy for sustainable economic development in Azerbaijan.

"The poverty rate was reduced in Azerbaijan ahead of time," he stressed.

Azerbaijan joined 87 countries that initiated national dialogue on development after 2020, Broek said.

"237 meetings have been held with more than 2,400 people over the last three months to determine what world the Azerbaijani people want to live in," Broek said. "Their views and proposals on the development after 2020 were heard."

Broek said the Millennium Development Goals significantly affect the development of international relations. Such important issues as the reduction of poverty, hunger and child mortality rates and encouraging primary education were addressed within the program.

"You can say that most of these goals have been achieved," Broek said. "As for supply of drinking water, around 2 billion people have already been provided with it."