Baku, May 8, 2024. Mr. Marcos Athias Neto, the UN Assistant Secretary-General, the UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, paid an official visit to Azerbaijan to participate at the 4^th SDG Dialogue – Stakeholder Consultation on the 4^th Voluntary National Review of Azerbaijan and Women’s Economic Empowerment for SDG5 Acceleration. During his speech, Mr. Neto underscored that UNDP supports Azerbaijan’s priorities on gender equality and economic empowerment of disadvantaged groups, digital solutions, climate change and energy transition. He highlighted the UNDP Azerbaijan's achievement of the bronze certification in Gender Seal, since it serves as a significant emblem of the country’s commitment to gender equality.

During the visit, a series of meetings with a specific reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the COP29 Presidency of Azerbaijan was held with the national authorities. The UN Assistant Secretary-General met with Mr. Hikmet Hajiyev, the Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration, productive discussions were held upon current issues. Another useful meeting was arranged with H.E. Ambassador Mr. Elchin Amirbayov, the Representative of the President on special assignments. Mr. Neto visited the COP29 Presidency Office taking the opportunity to have discussions with Mr. Yalchin Rafiyev, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and COP29 Lead Negotiator and Ms. Nigar Arpadarai, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP29 Azerbaijan. 

In the frame of the official visit, Mr. Neto also met with students at the ADA University. The UN Assistant Secretary-General lectured on the topic titled as “Linking financing for development and the Paris Agreement’s National Determined Contributions for Sustainable Development.” The sustainable finance ecosystem and other related matters were interactively discussed during the interesting session. 

Media contact: 

Jeyhun Alakbarov, UNDP Azerbaijan 

jeyhun.alakbarov@undp.org