President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Anaklaudia Rossbach, Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), on May 16.
Modern.az reports that Anaklaudia Rossbach said that she was deeply impressed by the work she saw in Baku related to the 13th Session of the UN World Urban Forum, and emphasized that she welcomed the innovative approaches applied by our country in organizing this prestigious event, noting that they created a basis for a more meaningful session. The guest, who thanked the Azerbaijani side for all this, expressed confidence that our country will host this event magnificently.
Anaklaudia Rossbach recalled that COP29 was held at a high level in Azerbaijan and then touched upon the importance of organizing an event like WUF13 in our country. She said that COP and WUF are considered the biggest events in the UN system and emphasized that, in essence, Azerbaijan has created a connection between these events.
The guest highly appreciated our country's voluntary financial contributions to the activities of the UN Human Settlements Programme and expressed her appreciation for the Azerbaijan-UN-Habitat cooperation, including the tradition of National Urban Forums held in our republic. She expressed hope that cooperation will continue successfully in the future.
Expressing his gratitude for the kind words, the head of our state emphasized that all necessary steps have been taken by our country to hold the event at a high level. President Ilham Aliyev recalled that he had personally familiarized himself with the work related to WUF13 in the territory of the Baku Olympic Stadium a few days ago and expressed his hope that this event would be results-oriented.
The head of our state stated that Azerbaijan's experience in the World Urban Forum, as well as the innovative approaches applied in the field of urban planning in our country, and the large-scale restoration and construction work carried out in our liberated territories in post-conflict conditions, are exemplary for other countries, and said that our country is ready to share this experience.
During the conversation, it was noted with satisfaction that Azerbaijan supports the activities of the UN Human Settlements Programme, and discussions were held regarding the prospects of cooperation between our country and this organization.
After the meeting, a Letter of Intent was signed between the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to cooperate in the joint preparation of operational guidelines for hosting future sessions of the World Urban Forum based on the WUF13 Baku standards. The document, intended to support the decision-making process for parties hosting future sessions, aims to increase the operational efficiency of subsequent events, building on the successful preparatory phase of WUF13 held in Baku.
