As prepared for delivery

HORMETLI Intigam MUELLIM (Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Mr. Intigam Babayev)

HORMETLI Tahir MUELLIM (Head of Executive Power of Shamakhi) 

Distinguished guests,

Dear young delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to see you all in this fascinating city of Shamakhi, at the heart of Pirgulu where the science, technology and art coexist in harmony, where the history is in the air and modern times accompany it. Another remarkable moment of us gathering here in Shamakhi is that this town is the youth capital for 2019 in Azerbaijan which makes this event even more important and impactful.

First and foremost, let me congratulate you all for being selected and given a chance to become delegates at the third Model UN Summer School for the upcoming 4 days. It is especially heartwarming to see a lot of familiar faces here today –those that have been part of previous Model UN initiatives who decided to join this year’s edition of the summer school as well. That just tells how much interest these unique platforms like Model UN spark among you. Seeing all these enthusiastic and curious faces is yet another proof of youth being very engaged and involved in the UN activities.

As UNDP, we are happy to walk alongside the Government to advance youth empowerment opportunities further. Over these years, jointly with the Ministry of Youth and Sports we organized 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 organized by enthusiastic groups of bright mind youth at various MUN Clubs that operate at universities. Within our joint projects with the Ministry of Youth and Sport, we supported many aspiring young diplomats in Azerbaijan to participate in various international Model UN Conferences, including fascinating platforms like RomeMUN, ViennaMUN, ParisMUN and EurasiaMUN.

Model UN is a great opportunity that helps to learn more about United Nations, its procedures and rules, to develop your public speaking, communication, official writing and team working skills, to observe how international relations work and how challenging the diplomacy is.

We at UNDP put youth engagement at the forefront of our development work. Since you are here to get into the shoes of a UN diplomat, I trust you know that in 2015 the countries around the world came together in a united ambitious response to tackle today’s most pressing global challenges. That’s how the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its accompanying 17 Sustainable Development Goals -or simply SDGs were brought to the table.

One thing I want you to know is that right from day one, our vision was to work with you and for you in this journey. Young people, in fact, played a key role in shaping this new global Agenda 2030. In the days and months that preceded the adoption of the SDGs, there have been a lot of policy consultations with youth communities. We’ve been reaching out to people like you –young, smart, eager to change the world and as we say at UNDP - to #HACKTHELIMITS. Why do you think we thought it was absolutely crucial to involve youth in shaping a better future for all of us? Because we know you understand the stakes: you experience first-hand many of the issues that the SDGs are aimed to address.

As the Head of UNDP Achim Steiner says: “Young people are our great allies in achieving the SDGs and our greatest hope in tackling our shared global challenges.”

In Azerbaijan, young people between the age of 14-29 make up close to one third of the population. Half of them live in rural areas. We owe them an open mind and a platform to perform, to build, to co-create.

In a spirit of partnership for this vision, together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports we started the first Sustainable Development Goals Youth Ambassadors initiative in Azerbaijan. in 2018, for the first time in Azerbaijan, we introduced the first ever cohort of 17 young ambassadors –each of them representing and advocating for one select SDG. They all come from a diverse array of expertise and background, they are graduates in a variety of fields such as medicine, economics, business administration, journalism, international relations and environmental sciences and will serve as Azerbaijan’s first Youth SDGs Ambassadors for the next two years on a voluntary basis.

Their main aims include promoting Sustainable Development Goals in Azerbaijan, encouraging youth participation in reaching the SDGs, assisting in spreading the information about actions taken in the local, national, and international scale as well as supporting all relevant stakeholders in their activities. I hope in the days and weeks to come, you will get a chance to get to know these Youth SDG Ambassadors and will be able to exchange ideas, learn and network to offer a different perspective on how development should be done. In this regard, we can all benefit from your enthusiasm and your ideas.

Today, the 3^rd Model UN Summer School brings together more than 100 young participants. I hope you are as excited to start this interesting journey living the life of a UN diplomat as I am to see so many young enthusiasts in one room! During the following 4 extremely busy, but I trust that also fully rewarding and exciting days, some of you will serve as delegates, some will take the role of UN committee chairs and directors and let’s also not forget the amazing team of volunteers and organizing teams who are here to support the smooth operation of the summer school. Let’s give them all a round of applause as they step into an unfamiliar world of politicians and decision makers who have the responsibility to make decisions that are ethical, fair and contribute to global development.

Trust me in saying that during these next couple days you will be challenged by situations where you will have the last word –deciding word on such topics as impact of current trade situation on global economy, tourism in non-recognized and disputed territories, the situation of being on the verge of the World War III.

Speaking of tourism, I want to specifically note that as we gather today in Shamakhi to convene the 3^rd Model UN in Azerbaijan, the countries around the globe celebrate today the World Tourism Day which in 2019 focuses on topic of ‘Tourism and Jobs: a better future for all’. According to UN forecasts, by 2020 there will be almost 300 million international youth trips per year while the tourism sector, you’ll be surprised to know, employs more young people than most other sectors. In recognition of this important international date, I hope you will have a chance to tackle these aspects during your committee work more closely and I look forward to hearing your insights about these later.

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. I can’t wait to speak with you more closely during our Q&A session this noon and I welcome your questions which I will gladly respond to with all my heart!

Thank you! Chokh sagh olun!