Address to the 3^rd National Model United Nations Conference MilliMUN

UNDP Resident Representative a. i. Mr. Alessandro Fracassetti

(As prepared for delivery)

Opening Ceremony

Date: 5 April, 2019.

Time: 11.00

Venue: Pullman hotel, Baku

Distinguished guests,

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

HORMETLI Azad MUELLIM (Minister of Youth and Sports Mr. Azad Rahimov)

HORMETLI Elmir MUELLIM (Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies)  

Dear members of Parliament and international community,

SDG Youth Ambassadors and youth delegates,

I am heartened to see such a large and enthusiastic group of young adults engaged in global issues at this Third National Model United Nations in Azerbaijan –MilliMUN. Seeing all of you here is a timely reminder that the United Nations exists to serve succeeding generations.  

It’s fascinating to see how far we have come in Azerbaijan in what has now become a tradition of helping the young generation get into the shoes of a diplomat or a UN official.

We organised the first ever Model UN Conference in Azerbaijan together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports back in 2013, and this very first initiative was the International Model UN Security Council. That is how UNDP and the Ministry of Youth and Sports built the foundation of mutual partnership set in stone.

In the following two years, we launched a new project that helped create the national platform for the Model United Nations –now popularly known as MilliMUN. The first edition of MilliMUN took place in 2016 and the next one in 2017.

In 2018, we decided to go even further to promote and advance the Model UN traditions in Azerbaijan, with focus on strengthened youth participation and volunteerism.

Ove these years we jointly organised two national Model UN Conferences, a MUN Conference in Nakhchivan, two Model UN Summer Schools in Ismayilli and Dashkesan, and supported an impressive array of university-level MUN conferences, which –I am proud to add –are organised by enthusiastic groups of bright mind youth at various MUN Clubs that operate at universities.

And here let me say how very pleased I am to acknowledge our long-lasting cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports in this journey and in particular the personal commitment of Minister Azad Rahimov for being a strong champion of MUN.

I would like to commend his commitment and that of the government of Azerbaijan to youth issues and for creating such opportunities for young Azerbaijanis.

As UNDP, we are happy to walk alongside the Government to advance youth empowerment opportunities further.

UNDP is working with the Government also to improve living conditions through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, each of them covering one global challenge of our time, from poverty to poor quality of education, lack of access to healthcare, to gender inequalities, environmental pollution and climate change, and many more.

In all these areas, we can benefit from your enthusiasm and your ideas. Together, we can create a more compassionate, inclusive and peaceful world where No One is Left Behind.

In this context, the latest initiative in our renewed partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports was the selection of the first 17 Sustainable Development Goals Youth Ambassadors in Azerbaijan.

Graduates in a variety of fields such as medicine, economics, business administration, journalism, international relations and environmental sciences, in October 2018, these young women and men have been selected from a wide range of applicants to serve as the first SDGs Youth Ambassadors in Azerbaijan for the next two years. They are here with us today.

The fact that we are opening the 3^rd chapter of the MilliMUN today is testament to admirable dedication and strong interest demonstrated by the youth of Azerbaijan towards the UN values and the Model United Nations platform. What it tells us is that young people in this country care about the world affairs and development challenging facing the world.

Over the course of the next 4 days you will be put in a situation where you will have to make difficult but important decisions –life changing decisions even, I would say, such as bringing peace to Central African Republic, reducing the gender pay gap for men and men, transitioning to digital citizenry and measuring the impact of the textile industry on environment.

All of these issues that you will be working hard to solve with your full heart and sense of humanism, integrity and dignity –are central to the new Global Agenda for Sustainable Development and will require that you learn fast and use your knowledge to solve real-world problems. No matter how difficult and demanding the task, I hope you will enjoy these four days immensely, will learn and share as you step into the shoes of a diplomat. Use this opportunity to the fullest and enjoy it to the best you can.

Thank you!