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By Mazahir Afandiyev

After the international conference held in August 1998 in Lisbon with the participation of ministers for Youth Affairs, every year August 12 is celebrated as International Youth Day all over the world in order to pay proper attention to young people, increase their inclusiveness, promote their achievements, and encourage youth participation in all spheres of society. In accordance with United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 54/120, the international agreement governing the commemoration of that day was adopted on December 17, 1999.

In general, a nation's ability to ensure a sustainable and happy future is largely dependent on the younger generation's proper upbringing and their deep regard for cultural, spiritual, and national traditions and native languages. As National Leader Heydar Aliyev noted, "The youth of every people, every nation, and every country is their today, tomorrow, and hope."

The youth of Azerbaijan have always been a driving force in the country's social and political life. By contributing their knowledge and skills to these processes during the establishment, strengthening, and development of statehood, they have mastered their allegiance to the motherland and state, as well as the fact that the preservation of the motherland has always been the foremost goal.

The Azerbaijani youth, which has huge and unique traditions of volunteering, has been making every effort for many years to keep the national moral values of our people alive and strengthen our national unity.

In 1999–2001, the United Nations project based on the principles of voluntariness was implemented for the first time in Azerbaijan with the support of National Leader Heydar Aliyev. This approach, which laid the foundation for the UN Volunteer traditions in Azerbaijan, has created the basis for the volunteer activity of our youth in the country.

President Ilham Aliyev has successfully continued National Leader Heydar Aliyev's youth policy at a new level since 2003, and much work has been done to organize young people's cultural and social lives as well as to adapt their scientific and patriotic knowledge to the needs of contemporary challenges. In particular, the participation of Azerbaijani youth in global political debates as well as their active role on new platforms confirm the existence of the great potential of Azerbaijani youth today.

Azerbaijan has been closely involved in the identification of world youth policy for more than a decade. The global youth institutions operating all over the world highly appreciated the successful experience of our country in this area and supported the holding in 2014 in our country of the 1st Global Forum on Youth Policies with the participation of experts from all over the world, including UN member states, state and non-state experts, and ministers on youth policy.

This global forum, with the participation of the Youth Office operating under the UN Secretary-General, the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, UNESCO, the UN Development Program, and the regional offices, was held on October 28–30 in Baku, and the document called the "Baku communiqué" on youth policy was adopted. During this meeting, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a substantial and comprehensive speech. The President said, "The younger generation is actively involved in issues related to innovation. The younger generation is very creative and dynamic." His words were clear proof that Azerbaijan's youth is always ready for innovation and modern challenges.

Recently, Azerbaijani youth have been able to present themselves on international platforms at a higher level. The creation of the National Model UN (MUN) movement in Azerbaijan creates direct access for educated, knowledgeable Azerbaijani youth to progressive institutions and organizations around the world, not only preserving the volunteer movement that existed even in Soviet times in the modern history of independence but also ensuring its participation in the country's development process in its newest form.

Today, the volunteer army in Azerbaijan is mainly composed of young people. Our young people are closely involved in each area and contribute to the development of these areas, including a number of prestigious and large-scale international events in our country. The highest endorsement of this activity was given by the First Lady of Azerbaijan, MehribanAliyeva, chairman of the Organizing Committee. "I want to thank our wonderful volunteers. We could not hold this event without you. Our country has such talented young people with a great future," First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva said at the closing ceremony.

Young ambassadors were selected as part of the project "Creation of new platforms to support the active participation of Youth in global political discussions" which was carried out by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani representative office of the United Nations Development Program in 2018–2022. This became one of the main initiatives that ensured the active participation of youth in global issues as well as the successful realization of global challenges at the local level.

On July 18–22, the world witnessed a new, great historical Solidarity Initiative, hosted by Azerbaijan on the Global Youth Platform. A summit of the Youth Network of member states was organized at the initiative of Azerbaijan, which currently holds the Presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement. Today, the creation of the NAM Youth Network is also a result of Azerbaijan's initiatives in response to the call for fostering international cooperation, which is the primary challenge of the 17th goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the most significant contemporary document in the field of development.

It should be noted that along with their involvement in the implementation of universal decisions, Azerbaijani youth have recently shown a very high level of patriotism, dedication to the nation, and engagement with sociopolitical concerns. A striking example of the struggle of Azerbaijani youth is the victory of the Azerbaijani army in the 44-day Second Karabakh - Patriotic War.

It was this generation of Azerbaijani youth, who grew up during the independence period, who dedicated their lives, showed courage, and, at the cost of their blood, conquered the Azerbaijani lands occupied for 30 years, as President Ilham Aliyev, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and the Great Commander highlighted.

Our youth, along with the struggle for the Motherland, is currently very active in the diplomatic struggle, actively contributing to the dissemination of information about our nation, the acts of vandalism carried out by aggressive Armenia on our ancestral lands, and showing great perseverance in realizing the de jure victory of Azerbaijan.

In this regard, I sincerely congratulate all Azerbaijani youth on the occasion of August 12—International Youth Day. I believe that the participation of our youth in global challenges and the implementation of the global agenda will continue in the form of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Mazahir Afandiyev is the Member of the Azerbaijani Parliament

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