As part of the working visit to the Swiss city of Geneva, Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of the IDEA Public Union, met with Gian Carlo Cirri, Director of the Geneva Global Office at the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), and Arnold Kreilhuber, the new Regional Director of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Europe Office.

During the meeting with the WFP official, discussions revolved around the joint collaboration between the IDEA and WFP in ending world hunger, which is one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, as well as providing food to people suffering from conflicts, natural disasters, and climate change.

Leyla Aliyeva highlighted IDEA’s successful multifaceted cooperation with various UN agencies in Azerbaijan and outside the region, emphasizing the readiness for a closer partnership with WFP. Leyla Aliyeva proposed involving the Azerbaijani volunteers in the WFP’s activities in different regions of the world, taking into account that the volunteer movement in Azerbaijan has gained momentum in recent years, accumulating a wealth of experience both inside and outside the country.

During the meeting with the regional director of the WFP, the sides referred to various projects implemented by the IDEA Public Union in Azerbaijan with the UN WFP program, highlighting the successful cooperation in the projects to fight for species protection, as well as initiatives to protect and restore the environment of the Caspian Sea. Leyla Aliyeva particularly noted that forests were cut down, water basins were polluted, natural resources were ruthlessly exploited in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories during almost 30 years, which resulted in serious damage to the environment of the country. In this regard, the meeting highlighted the significance of cooperation with the WFP to restore natural environment and ensure sustainable development in the occupied territories.

Head of the IDEA Public Union Leyla Aliyeva invited the representatives of both of the UN programs to participate in the COP29 conference, scheduled to be held in Baku this November, noting that they are ready to discuss the possibilities of holding joint events within this process.