Together We Stand

[ 137 ] US$2 million cost-sharing agreement for technical support to relevant institutions in 45 African countries. Azerbaijan, which has successfully managed its own chal- lenges related to about 1 million refugees and internationally displaced persons caused by the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh conflict, has recently become a donor country. The Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA), estab- lished in 2011 under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, provides humanitarian, technical and financial assistance in 40 coun- tries, strengthening its global partnership while it contributes to the development of south-south cooperation. Thanks to its achievements in such a short time, AIDA was elected as a member of the Advisory Group of the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund in 2015. Despite all the economic challenges it faces, Kyrgyzstan works hard on improving its humanitarian and development capacity. For instance, although it remains one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world with its mountainous nature, in close cooperation with UNDP, Kyrgyzstan has taken a leadership role in the development of regional coop- eration with regard to disaster risk reduction. Moreover, the country intensively cooperates with its regional and inter- national partners to achieve the targets and priorities of its National Sustainable Development Strategy for 2013-2017. Putting people and their dignity, culture and full development at the heart of its efforts, the Turkic Council takes landmark steps to make positive changes in the lives of people in and around its region. Through its working group and ministerial meeting mechanisms in each topic of cooperation, it formulates regional solutions to global challenges. Its Heads of States Annual Summits concentrate on a specific topic of cooperation each year, provid- ing a suitable platform to materialize this approach. While doing so, the council involves all stakeholders from public and private sectors and collaborates with relevant regional and international organizations to frame a more liveable world, considering effec- tive partnership as a key for success. With this in mind, as an observer to the Economic Cooperation Organization, the partners of the Turkic Council include the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, the World Customs Organization, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the International Centre for Sports Security. Meanwhile, it collaborates with specialized United Nations agencies including UNDP, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and United Nations Economic Cooperation for Europe on areas of mutual interest, believ- ing that timely and fruitful partnership will be a panacea to possible humanitarian and developmental crises. The Turkic Council believes that making national economies more resilient will play a preventive role in regional empowerment to face economic or political turmoil. Therefore, diversification of economies, entrepreneurship, enforcement of connectivity and development of transport corridors are high on the coun- cil’s agenda. In this regard, the Turkic Council considers the tourism sector, among others, as an important means for regional economic development. Through its Modern Silk Road Joint Tour Package Project, the vocational training programmes and the implementation of its memorandum of understanding for coop- eration with UNWTO, the Turkic Council works on turning the Silk Road into an attractive tourism destination. Vocational train- ings on the service sector, conducted through the Turkic Council by the Ministry of Culture and Tourismof the Republic of Turkey for tourism employees of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, transfer rich knowledge, know-how and experience of Turkey in the tourism sector to the benefit of other member states. FromDecember 2013 to December 2015, 835 tourism employ- ees participated in trainings held in different cities of Azerbaijan ( ˙Ismailli, Xachmaz, Mingachevir, Baku), Kazakhstan (Astana, Almaty) and Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek). In total, 835 tourism employ- ees (almost 50 per cent of whom were female) benefited from Image: Turkic Council The international conference on ICT for Development enabled knowledge-sharing to promote e-transformation and open data T ogether W e S tand