Ms. Rossbach, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), was one of the first high-level UN officials to visit the territories liberated from occupation. She brought UN-Habitat’s experience and vision to the post-conflict reconstruction and restoration process, Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, said at the event titled “WUF13 NGO Forum: Global Partnerships and Decision-Making,” APA reports.
According to Hikmat Hajiyev, without the gathering of the NGO community, this forum would have been incomplete in the full sense: “We also thank Ms. Rossbach. She and her team supported this initiative based on the extensive experience of the UN family in cooperation with NGOs. Without their support, it would not have been possible to implement this.”
The Presidential Assistant noted that not only the NGO Forum, but also the World Urban Forum in a broader sense, was organized in close partnership and cooperation with UN-Habitat: “Under the leadership of Ms. Rossbach, we are in the process of holding a successful World Urban Forum. The NGO community, civil society institutions and the Azerbaijani government attach special importance to the development of the NGO sector, cooperation and strengthening its potential. For this purpose, a State Agency supporting civil society institutions has been established. The Azerbaijani government allocates grants to NGOs, ensures their access to financial resources, and also implements various training, institutional development and capacity-building projects.”
The Presidential Assistant pointed out that civil society institutions in Azerbaijan are an integral part of the country’s development programs: “We are also cooperating closely with civil society institutions in the territories liberated from occupation, where large-scale reconstruction work is being carried out and the territories are contaminated with numerous mines.
‘Think globally, act locally’ is one of the main slogans of Azerbaijan’s civil society institutions. As a government, we support international cooperation and partnership.”
