The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson) of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sabina Aliyeva participated in the international symposium organized by the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkiye (HREIT) in Ankara, Turkiye. Hilal Elver, United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, Nevenko Vranjes, Ombudsman of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, representatives of law faculties of various universities and other guests attended the event.
S. Aliyeva, making a speech on the topic «The right to food in the context of climate change and human rights», emphasized that the preservation of the ecological balance, the protection of the environment, and the efficient use of natural resources have become the subject of serious research in recent years. She also added that national policies, programs, strategies, and action plans are being adopted by countries to combat climate change and its consequences.
The Ombudsperson spoke about the work done in the field of combating climate change in the Republic of Azerbaijan over the past years, especially the important achievements in ensuring environmental sustainability, eliminating poverty and hunger.
S. Aliyeva, gave information about the activities carried out by institution in the relevant area in order to increase attention to the solution of environmental problems, prevention of environmental pollution, protection of nature, and to increase the awareness of the population on the environmental issues. She also talked about the policy of aggression, terrorism, including eco-terrorism, carried out by Armenia based on ethnic hatred against Azerbaijan with groundless territorial claims. Later, reports sent to relevant international organizations, ombudsmen of foreign countries and national human rights institutions, as well as statements and appeals addressed to the world community, on the collected facts regarding environmental crimes committed deliberately by Armenia by using banned chemical weapons during the Second Karabakh War and the post-war period were brought to the attention of the participants.
During the speech, the Ombudsperson emphasized that the Armenian government did not hand over the accurate maps of the mined areas to our country, moreover, it continues the process of mining through subversion groups in the territories of Azerbaijan recognized by the UN and currently liberated from the occupation.
Addressing issues of the right to food, which is one of the factors negatively affected by climate change, S. Aliyeva said State Program on ensuring food safety in the Republic of Azerbaijan for the years of 2019 -2025″ was approved with the aim of providing the country’s population with safe and quality food products, increasing the efficiency and transparency of the food safety system and ensuring its compliance with international requirements.
Furthermore, she brought to the attention of the participants of the symposium that the measures implemented by the government of Azerbaijan are aimed at reducing the level of absolute poverty in the country and improving the quality of nutrition, and that the reliable food supply of the population has become one of the main directions of the state’s socio-economic policy.
In the end, the Ombudsperson expressed her interest in continuing cooperation on the issues of climate change and the right to food, and called on everyone to solidarity in this direction for the sake of protecting human rights.
