Azerbaijan has assisted more than 140 countries over 15 years, says FM

Azerbaijan has provided international assistance to more than 140 states over the past 15 years, allocating around $400 million through bilateral and multilateral channels since 2020, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stated.

He made the remarks at the conference “Strengthening Global Solidarity through Humanitarian Aid and Development Cooperation,” held to mark the 15th anniversary of the Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA), Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Bayramov said the beneficiaries of Azerbaijan’s assistance include 54 African states, 111 of the 121 member states of the Non-Aligned Movement, 52 of the 57 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, 43 of the 44 Least Developed Countries, and 28 of the 39 Small Island Developing States.

“Since 2020, about $400 million has been allocated for assistance through bilateral and multilateral channels. Our support takes a wide variety of forms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Azerbaijan provided assistance to 80 countries,” the minister noted.

He also highlighted Azerbaijan’s cooperation with African countries, including its support for efforts to combat the Ebola epidemic and participation in the Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness.

“Under this initiative, over 900,000 people underwent vision screenings, and more than 150,000 cataract surgeries were performed. Simultaneously, professional development training was provided to local medical specialists,” the foreign minister added.

Bayramov also said Azerbaijan intends to expand its support for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) by complementing sustainable development and climate projects with cultural heritage initiatives in cooperation with UNESCO.

He said Azerbaijan attaches particular importance to the development of SIDS and has allocated significant resources to strengthening their climate resilience through its partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The FM noted that the support includes projects on ocean protection, climate technologies and the implementation of national solutions.

"We expect to extend this cooperation to the protection of cultural heritage as well," the minister emphasised.

Bayramov added that relevant work would also be carried out under a recently announced joint initiative with UNESCO aimed at strengthening the capacity of SIDS to preserve and promote their heritage.

The minister also stressed Azerbaijan's efforts to align its assistance with international standards and improve transparency.

He said Azerbaijan has submitted annual reports on official development assistance to the OECD Development Assistance Committee since 2015 and has held participant status in the committee since 2019.

Bayramov also highlighted education as a significant component of Azerbaijan’s international assistance, noting that students from more than 120 countries have studied or are currently studying in the country.

He said that as Azerbaijan developed and its state institutions grew stronger, the tradition of individual charity gradually evolved into a systematic state policy of humanitarian assistance, knowledge exchange and development cooperation.

"This continuity is particularly evident in education. In the second half of the 20th century, tens of thousands of students from Asia, Africa and Latin America studied at higher education institutions in Azerbaijan," Bayramov said.

He noted that this tradition continues today through the Heydar Aliyev International Education Grant Program, programs for students from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Non-Aligned Movement countries, as well as training courses for foreign diplomats.

Bayramov also addressed climate finance, saying that expanding climate finance for developing countries was one of the key priorities of Azerbaijan's COP29 Presidency.

The minister recalled that COP29 in Baku established the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), which envisages mobilising at least $300 billion annually by 2035.

He also referred to the Baku to Belém Roadmap, aimed at scaling annual climate finance flows to $1.3 trillion by 2035.

"For developing countries, climate change is not only an environmental challenge. It is also a development, financial and humanitarian issue. Addressing it requires combining financial resources with technical expertise, stronger institutional capacity and investment in human capital," Bayramov said.

He added that another important part of Azerbaijan's COP29 legacy is the Baku Climate and Peace Action Hub, established to promote practical cooperation in support of climate-vulnerable and conflict-affected countries.

According to Bayramov, the hub is already bringing together governments, international organisations and financial institutions to mobilise support, strengthen national capacity and develop concrete pilot projects tailored to the needs of vulnerable countries.

By Jeyhun Aghazada