On November 19, Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov met with Hans Kluge, the Regional Director for Europe of the World Health Organization (WHO), who is visiting the country to participate in the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Press Service, the meeting focused on Azerbaijan-WHO cooperation and the country’s COP29 presidency.
They emphasized that Azerbaijan has been working closely with the WHO, particularly in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the joint efforts in this area are commendable.
They highlighted the importance of Azerbaijan's initiatives during the pandemic, particularly in terms of strengthening international efforts to combat COVID-19, supporting developing countries, and ensuring access to vaccines. The initiative of the Azerbaijan’s Non-Aligned Movement chairmanship to adopt the resolution titled “Ensuring equitable, affordable, timely, and universal access to COVID-19 vaccines” was especially highlighted.
The continued collaboration within international organizations in the field of medicine and health was discussed, with an emphasis on the importance of mutual connections and experience exchanges between medical universities.
The meeting also dealt with joint projects implemented by Azerbaijan and WHO, especially initiatives supporting psychological health services in the post-conflict period in the liberated territories. In addition, the role of healthcare in combating landmine threats during post-conflict rehabilitation was highlighted, along with the importance of cooperation in this area.
Minister Jeyhun Bayramov provided detailed information about Azerbaijan's COP29 presidency, the ongoing negotiations, and the achievements thus far. On the first day of COP29, the approval of the session agenda, the agreement on Articles 6.4 and 6.8 of the Paris Agreement, and the increase in climate finance commitments by financial institutions from $75 billion to $170 billion annually were particularly emphasized. He also touched upon the important decisions taken regarding the full readiness of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage.
Considering the inherent link between climate change and health, Bayramov noted that Azerbaijan is ready to collaborate with WHO within the framework of its COP29 presidency on this issue.
During the meeting, there was also an exchange of views on other bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.
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