Ms. Sahiba Gafarova, Chairperson of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network, spoke at the 14th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament

Ms. Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Chairperson of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network took part in the 14th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, dedicated to the topic "Parliamentary leadership: Anticipating risks to better deliver sustainability and prosperity".

At the first session of the Summit held on September 8, Ms. Sahiba Gafarova delivered a speech on the topic "Eliminating risks to global recovery after the pandemic".

The Chairperson welcomed the parliamentary delegations participating in the 14th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament and added that the women Speakers would have the opportunity to discuss issues of global importance during the event.

The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Network stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating effect on the world community in every way and noted that it revealed some shortcomings in the field of social justice, equal economic opportunities, and gender equality. She stated that the world community was entering the post-pandemic period and underlined the necessity of acting together today in response to it. The speaker then mentioned that for economic recovery it was vital to strengthen mechanisms based on equal rights, opportunities, and security.

Ms. Sahiba Gafarova said that parliaments played an important role in this context as a bridge between governments and societies. The joint efforts of elected representatives of the people, government and civil society in this direction were of great importance for the sake of common goals.

The Chairperson of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network mentioned that one of the important lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic was the importance of early detection of risks and taking preventive measures. She also noted that in the present world, climate change was becoming one of the most pressing challenges of the time and that this problem had to be seriously dealt with. Yet another requirement that the contemporary world had was the widespread use of green technologies. We must act adequately in these directions. It should be taken into account that the application of green technologies would ensure environmental protection and open new perspectives. Undoubtedly, it would have a positive effect on sustainable development in all areas.

The Chairperson emphasized that another important issue revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic was that global problems required global solutions. Collective efforts and joint actions were of extreme importance.

Ms. Sahiba Gafarova spoke of the initiatives of H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in this regard. She underlined that the initiatives put forward by H.E. President Mr. Ilham Aliyev as the Incumbent Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement were aimed both at eliminating the negative consequences of the pandemic and the issues of global recovery after the end of the pandemic. Initiatives such as ensuring equal, affordable, timely and universal access to vaccines for all nations, as well as the creation of a high-level UN global recovery panel were aimed at strengthening international solidarity and cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. These initiatives of H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, were widely supported by the international community.

The Chairperson of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network said that Azerbaijan had always recognized the importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation on a global scale. As the Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan initiated the development of the parliamentary dimension of the organization, and thus, in November 2021, the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network was established in Madrid.

Ms. Sahiba Gafarova noted that the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network was ready to contribute to the achievement of common goals and intended to actively cooperate with the Inter-Parliamentary Union and other parliamentary organizations in order to find solutions to global issues: "As the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Network, I have expressed this position at the Baku Conference held in June of this year.”