September 16, 2005

New York - Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today is a truly significant moment in the history of multilateialism. We have gathered here to reaffirm our faith in this House and unyielding commitment to its Cha rter. We have pledged to contribute to a shared vision of global solidarity and collective security with a strong United Nations at its core.
We have recognized the valuable contribution of major United Nations Conferences and Summits in mobilizing the efforts of the Member States for achieving the United Nations Development agenda.

Yashar Teymur oglu Aliyev, Azerbaijan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, was elected Chairman of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) on 13 June.
Having served as his country's Permanent Representative since January 2002, Mr. Aliyev was also Vice-President of the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly, Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council in 2004-2005, and Vice-President of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects in 2001.

AssA-Irada, September 21, 2005

$600 million will be allocated from the state budget for military purposes in 2006. The figure is close to Armenia's state budget, which makes up $700 million, vice-speaker of the Milli Majlis (parliament) and chairman of the parliamentary commission on security and defense Ziyafat Asgarov told a news conference on Wednesday.

September 27, 2005

A sharp drop in US dollar’s value against the Azerbaijani manat has rattled nerves as the country prepares for parliamentary elections.
On September 17, the exchange rate experienced its greatest period of volatility in over a decade, plunging in a matter of hours from a rate of roughly 4,500 manats per dollar to approximately 4,000-to-one. The drop caused many Azerbaijanis – who tend to keep their savings in dollars, and who often receive salaries that are pegged to the US currency – to panic.
Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) were inoperable throughout Azerbaijan on the day of the crisis. On September 18, the country’s largest private bank, BankStandard, and other smaller concerns resumed ATM operations, but the network of the state-run International Bank of Azerbaijan, the country’s largest, remained inoperable a week later.

BakuTODAY.net, October 1, 2005

The same rule applies to securities and advertisements, according to the country's central bank, the National Bank of Azerbaijan (NBA).
1 Manat (national currency) will equal 5,000 Manats currently being used. For instance, the price on a loaf of bread currently selling for 1,000 manats should also be indicated as 20 Gapiks (hundredth factions of 1 Manat), while public transport fare costing 500 manats - as 10 Gapiks, and a liter of AI-93 gasoline - 32 Gapiks.

On 7 September 2005, United Nations Development Programme launched its Global Human Development Report 2005.

According to this year's report, Azerbaijan's HDI rank is 91 in the HDR2004 and 101 in HDR2005. The authors of the report in their explanatory note on the change in Azerbaijan's HDI explain that the contributing factors to this change include:

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EBRD press release, September 29, 2005

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is making a $100 million sovereign loan to Azerbaijan to rehabilitate and upgrade a section of the main north-south road that links Russia and Iran with the capital, Baku.
The loan follows the Bank's first road project with Azerbaijan - signed in July last year - to finance improvements to the main east-west highway across the country, which forms part of the historic east-west Silk Road to Central Asia.

AssA-Irada, September 16, 2005

The Azerbaijani government and the World Bank institutions signed two agreements at the Finance Ministry on Friday.
According to the first document, concluded with the International Development Association (IDA), the latter will allocate $20 million as the first portion of a loan under the state program on economic development and poverty reduction.

Turan, September 26, 2005

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved the $1.5 million grant of the Japanese Poverty Reduction Fund for a rural poverty reduction project in Azerbaijan. This is an income generating project. The Japanese fund affiliated with ADB is financed by the Japanese government.
ADB reports that, despite the high opportunities of rural production in Azerbaijan, the development of this sector faces problems because of the limited access to funds, agricultural markets, business knowledge and information of market conditions and opportunities.

UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE VIENNA, September 16, 2005

VIENNA, (UN Information Service) - The Subcommission on Illicit Drug Traffic and Related Matters in the Near and Middle East of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs today approved the Baku Accord II, setting out new actions to combat drug trafficking in Member States of the Subcommission, at its annual meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The Subcommission is a subsidiary body of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and meets annually in a country of the Near and Middle East region in order to discuss ways of enhancing drug control efforts and cooperation.

AssA-Irada, Sept 27, 2005

A two-day international conference, "The role of competition policies in achieving UN Millennium Development Objectives in countries with transition economies", started in Baku on Tuesday. About 100 representatives from 20 countries are attending the event organized by the Ministry of Economic Development with the support of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Minister Farhad Aliyev told the conference that the poverty level in Azerbaijan has decreased from 49% to 40% as a result of the measures taken by the government. He said that programs on socio-economic development of the regions and small and medium entrepreneurship are being implemented in the country.

CBN Extra, September 28, 2005

The Ministry of Education, jointly with UNICEF, suggested that a new child friendly model be introduced in Azeri schools. The internationally accepted and applied child friendly school model that follows such principles as effectiveness, inclusiveness, health, protection and the involvement of parents and the community will be introduced into two regions of Azerbaijan as a pilot project before the scheme, in five years time, develops into a national program.
The new approach was introduced through a workshop on child friendly schooling last week.

Turan, September 7, 2005

The U.S. Agency for international Development (USAID) announces a civil society project agreement as part of its expanding technical cooperation with Azerbaijan.
USAID is launching a five year $15,5 million project to strengthen civil society organizations' ability to bring the benefits of economic growth and political pluralism to the Azerbaijan people.

AssA-Irada, September 22, 2005

The United States plans to allocate $135 million to Azerbaijan as part of the Caspian Guard initiative. The program is aimed at strengthening the navy of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, US ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish said in an interview with AFP news agency.
USA has spent $30 million so far on providing Azerbaijan's coast guard with the up-to-date radar system. It intends to provide the same volume of assistance for the country's fleet, Harnish said.

U.S. Department of State, September 29, 2005

Import of threatened beluga sturgeon caviar and meat was ordered suspended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) September 29, a move that will affect Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan.
USFWS has considered all beluga sturgeon populations endangered since October 2004. In March, the agency set conditions to allow limited foreign and domestic trade in sturgeon products, including caviar and some cosmetics. That special rule required the affected nations to submit explanations of the policies they would implement to preserve the species while still allowing some harvesting.