POLITICS
Azerbaijani ambassador to present her credentials to President of Swiss Confederation
Baku, September 18, AZERTAC
Azerbaijani ambassador Hanum Ibrahimova will present her credentials to President of Swiss Confederation as President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree appointing her as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to the Swiss Confederation.
The decree of the head of state is especially significant because Hanum Ibrahimova is currently the second woman-ambassador representing Azerbaijan abroad. This once again shows that Azerbaijan is one of the few countries where the representation of women in state structures is given a special attention. To date, women in Azerbaijan are represented in the cabinet, are heads of Azerbaijani missions abroad, and 16 per cent of the Azerbaijani parliament, consisting of 122 deputies, are made up by women.
The newly appointed ambassador Hanum Ibrahimova is a career diplomat with 20 years of experience in the sphere of international affairs. She is one of the most active diplomats who constantly defended Azerbaijan's interests within the UN walls. Ambassador Ibrahimova holds three Masters degrees in finance, economy and recent one from Columbia University in New York in international social development.
Before her appointment by President Ilham Aliyev, Mrs. Ibrahimova served as the Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations in New York. During her tenure, she was elected by the UN Member States for the position of Vice-Chair for a number of UN committees. In recognition of her vigorous and effective negotiating skills, on the UN declaration that reached consensus with 150 UN Member States, Ibrahimova was awarded the Medal of Distinction in Civil Service by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
Hanum Ibrahimova served at the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Austria and Permanent Mission to OSCE. During her posting, she built new partnerships with top economic structures, including the Austrian Federation of Industries and Austrian Chamber of Commerce. She successfully organized the First Austria-Azerbaijani Business Forum headed by President Ilham Aliyev.
Supported by the Azerbaijani FM, Hanum Ibrahimova conceptualized and initiated the foundation of the Foreign Aid Agency – AIDA within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Today AIDA is the major channel of international aid distribution of Azerbaijan. She drafted and successfully executed the first pilot technical assistance project together with the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy for Afghanistan based on the funds she raised from the UNDP Afghanistan office. Mrs. Ibrahimova was also actively involved in initiating and successfully executing many projects at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy.
Before joining the Foreign Service of Azerbaijan, she worked for a number of years at the UNDP Headquarters in New York and Geneva at a managerial level in one of the biggest and most influential bureaus "Crisis Prevention and Recovery".
Mrs. Ibrahimova also worked in the UNDP field country office in Azerbaijan on a joint Disaster Management project with the Azerbaijani Government.
Hanum Ibrahimova was born in Baku, Azerbaijan. She is married and has two children.