Azerbaijan's Baku set to host pivotal founding conference for Global South NGOs

Azerbaijan's Baku will host the founding conference of the Global South Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Platform on April 28, said Aygun Aliyeva, Executive Director of Azerbaijan's Agency for State Support to NGOs, Trend reports.

In a statement made during a press conference marking the fourth anniversary of the activities of the agency, Aliyeva recalled that during the COP29, with the support of the Agency, a free conference hall was made available for local NGOs in the Green zone, where 54 conferences were held. Over 2,500 NGO representatives participated in these events, with more than 70 percent being foreign NGOs involved in COP29.

Furthermore, the Agency organized five international conferences for NGOs within the framework of COP29, including a conference for Non-Aligned Movement countries on climate diplomacy, a forum for NGOs of Turkic states, and forums for the participants of COP28, COP29, and COP30. Additionally, there was a forum dedicated to the ecology of the Caspian Sea.

"It is a great honor for the Agency that, as part of COP29 in November 2024, during the Non-Aligned Movement NGO conference on South-South cooperation, foreign NGOs participating in the discussions agreed to establish the Global South NGO Platform. Over 1,000 NGOs from 137 countries joined the statement supporting the initiative of the Azerbaijan National NGO Forum. As a continuation of this process, the founding conference of the Global South NGO Platform will take place in Baku on April 28," said Aliyeva.