First of all, I would like to thank the President of the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF), Umud Mirzayev. At the same time, I would like to convey my greetings and kind words to all participants, as well as to my close friend Azay Guliyev.

I would also like to express my satisfaction that you are all participating in this webinar to discuss the benefits and opportunities for NGOs to obtain the United Nations Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) Consultative Status, as well as to encourage NGOs in Azerbaijan to become members.

Dear Umud Mirzayev, therefore, I thank you and your team for this initiative. I know that every year you not only encourage the Azerbaijani society and NGOs to apply for the Consultative Status of the UN ECOSOC, but also do a lot of educational work in this sphere.

The participants in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (STG) are based on a vision that addresses some of the world's most pressing issues, which require close collaboration and partnership with citizens, local, regional and national governments, parliamentarians, academia, the private sector and others.

The importance of involving stakeholders in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in a shorter period of time was noted in the agenda. This cooperation is based on the 17th and seven other goals of the STGs. The UN has a key role to play in ensuring the transparent participation of stakeholders in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Azerbaijan. I would also like to note that the broad conditions and environment for the participation of civil society mean national development.

Today, the threat of the coronavirus is still on the agenda, and we must all come together to solve this global problem. The UN is committed to developing a sustainable development programme in Azerbaijan for the next five years. The cooperation framework is an important tool for planning and implementing government activities.

I reminded that many of you took part in the workshops organised in Baku on January 16-17 this year to determine the strategic development priorities supported by the UN for the next 5 years. The workshop brought together governments, civil society, the private sector, academics and international partners.

Thank you all for participating and contributing and shaping our cooperation. I would also like to emphasise that the UN is determined to continue this practice. We are currently working to develop a number of interesting partnerships to strengthen the relationship between the civil society organisation and to support the implementation of monitoring and evaluation in the framework of further cooperation. We are working with the State Statistics Committee to strengthen the SDG database and improve communication with low-income groups and civil society organisations.

Finally, I would like to emphasise the importance of the Civil Society organisation's close ties with the UN. The fact that Azerbaijani non-governmental organisations have Consultative Status under the ECOSOC is an incredible opportunity to participate in many important UN events. Consultative Status allows you to participate not only in the UN ECOSOC, but also in many special events organised by the President of the General Assembly. Therefore, I strongly invite all non-governmental organizations to obtain Consultant Status.

Finally, I wish you all a fruitful webinar, and I hope that at the end of this conference, NGOs in Azerbaijan will work more closely with the organisation to obtain consultative status with the UN ECOSOC. 

Thank you again.