BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 10. Azerbaijan should prepare a unified statistical report covering international assistance and development programs implemented not only by the Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA), but also by various state institutions, universities and companies, Azerbaijani MP Fariz Ismailzade said, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
He made the remarks during the panel session titled “Partnerships for Sustainable Development and Effective Humanitarian Assistance” held as part of the conference “Advancing Global Solidarity Through Humanitarian Assistance and Development Cooperation” dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA).
The MP said that seeing the results of AIDA projects during visits to different countries provides grounds for pride in Azerbaijan’s international efforts. He cited the work carried out by ASAN service in Ethiopia, the countries that received vaccine assistance from Azerbaijan during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as students who completed projects and programmes financed by AIDA as examples.
According to Ismailzade, these programmes and projects contribute not only to strengthening Azerbaijan’s international image and promoting its foreign policy priorities, but also to building people-to-people ties between different societies, non-governmental organizations and other non-state actors. “All of these are positive aspects. However, based on my observations, we can do more and do it better,” the MP said.
He noted that statistical data sometimes reflects only the activities of individual institutions. “We saw AIDA’s statistics today. However, Azerbaijan is doing much more and on a larger scale. For example, some universities provide individual scholarships. At ADA University, where I work, there are hundreds of students who have completed various programmes. Some of their education was financed by ministries, while others were supported by Azerbaijani companies,” Ismailzade said.
The MP stressed that in this regard, it would be appropriate to prepare a unified statistical report reflecting Azerbaijan’s overall contribution to international development cooperation rather than the efforts of a single institution. “There are numerous programmes implemented by different ministries and institutions. Therefore, we should try to bring together overall figures and create unified statistical reports,” he said.
Ismailzade also suggested increasing the number of joint projects in the future by using the experience of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA). “In the future, we should seek to implement joint projects not only with Turkic states and our Turkic partners, but also with Central Asian countries, as well as countries in Eastern Europe that are priorities for us,” he said.
The MP noted that some of these projects could be implemented not only at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but also through an open application mechanism. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs could announce calls for priority projects and then accept applications from different parts of the world. This could increase AIDA’s visibility and expand ties with various societies and regions,” Ismailzade added.
He said that such an approach could help establish relations with communities that may not be visible from the perspective of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and contribute to expanding bilateral dialogue.
Moreover, the official emphasized the importance of continuing some assistance and development projects at the level of official bilateral negotiations. “Although some projects are charitable in nature, they should also be used in official bilateral discussions. Some countries in need of assistance may provide certain support to Azerbaijan in return,” he said.
According to Ismailzade, Azerbaijan is a relatively small country on the global scale and needs the support of its neighbors and international partners within the United Nations and other multilateral platforms. “Sometimes we should not forget to include assistance and development programmes in the format of official bilateral negotiations,” he said.
The MP congratulated AIDA on its 15th anniversary and highly praised the agency’s activities. “Although AIDA is still in the early years of its development, it has achieved remarkable results. I believe that Azerbaijan will continue this great legacy of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, one of the major philanthropists in our history who also provided assistance to other countries,” Ismailzade added.
