Azerbaijan's top diplomat addresses high-level UN event on right to development

On behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov made an online opening speech at the "High-level meeting commemorating the 35th Anniversary of the Declaration on Right to Development" held within the framework of the high-level segment of the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The event was initiated by Azerbaijan as the chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement and was organized by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights together with the Azerbaijani chairmanship of the National Assembly in accordance with the resolution No. 49/8 adopted at the 49th session of the Human Rights Council.

In his speech, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov thanked the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for the cooperation in organizing the event on behalf of the NAM and emphasized that the 35th anniversary of the Declaration defines "development" as a human right.

He noted that, despite the unanimous recognition of the right to development as an independent human right in the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action adopted in 1993, attempts to misinterpret its concept and divisive international discourse have been observed.

Touching on the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeyhun Bayramov said that the wide economic and social costs of the uneven distribution of vaccines against Covid-19 around the world and the different situations in the states during the recovery phase further set back the development prospects and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

In addition, the weakening of the role of multilateral institutions, the slow progress of the recovery process from the pandemic, and the negative effects of climate change made it even more necessary to have a good-faith dialogue on existing inequalities.

For this reason, the NAM member countries attached importance to this measure and, referring to paragraph 10 of the Declaration, reminded that the international community bears joint responsibility for the implementation of the right to development.

On behalf of the NAM, he recommended to the UN agencies and international financial institutions that they include the right to development in their activities. In this regard, also referring to the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, he reminded that the High Commissioner is responsible for spreading the right to development within the wider UN system.