Paris, May 14 (AZERTAC). First Lady of Azerbaijan, UNESCO goodwill ambassador, MP, Mehriban Aliyeva participated in the annual meeting of UNESCO goodwill ambassadors, which has taken place here.

Mehriban Aliyeva was warmly welcomed by UNESCO top officials at the organization`s headquarters.

These Annual Meetings bring together outstanding personalities from the worlds of arts, business, charity and diplomacy. They serve as a means for the Goodwill Ambassadors to discuss the work they have been doing on behalf of the Organization, to share best practices and to discuss with the Secretariat the priority programs for future advocacy. The meeting provides forum for informing the participants on the programs and projects implemented in Azerbaijan.

In his opening address UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura briefed goodwill ambassadors on the projects realized.

UNESCO Director General said he visited Azerbaijan in March this year where he, together with President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, inaugurated the International Mugham Center and first International mugham festival. Matsuura pointed out that Heydar Aliyev Foundation`s efforts are important to develop mugham art. According to Matsuura, mugham was included into the UNESCO World Heritage List. Director General said the meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Abu-Dhabi slated for October will discuss inclusion of ashug music - another musical art of Azerbaijani people – into the list.

Director-General commended all the Goodwill Ambassadors working to raise awareness of UNESCO’s activities and exhorted the Goodwill Ambassadors to continue to support UNESCO’s efforts “to maintain the global momentum at this crucial juncture”.

UNESCO Goodwill ambassador, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva addressed the meeting.

Mehriban Aliyeva noted the Heydar Aliyev Foundation successfully implemented a number of huge projects in the cultural, educational and social fields.

“We marked the 5th anniversary of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation a few days ago. On this occasion, we published a book featuring the work done by the Foundation over the past five years,” said Mehriban Aliyeva.

First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva touched upon the international mugham festival and opening of the international mugham center in Baku. Mehriban Aliyeva noted the festival will be held once every two years

UNESCO goodwill ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva pointed out the Foundation is willing to provide financial aid to the intangible cultural heritage conservation project in African countries. According to her, the four-month project aims at forming 26 specialists from African states to protect cultural heritage. The aim of the projects is to train highly qualified specialists to protect and bolster cultural heritage of Africa.

In conclusion, Mehriban Aliyeva thanked UNESCO Director General Matsuuara for good conditions created here and his personal efforts to promote UNESCO principles and ideas.

UNESCO goodwill ambassadors came to a conclusion to realize projects in the fields of education, healthcare and conservation of cultural heritage in the post-conflict and natural disaster zones. They stated they support the idea of overcoming crisis in the fields of healthcare and education in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza strip and some African states.

Upon completion of the meeting, goodwill ambassadors posed for photographs.

The UNESCO publications provided information about the activity of Azerbaijan and First Lady of Azerbaijan, goodwill ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva. These publications feature rich culture, historical heritage of Azerbaijan and Heydar Aliyev Foundation`s activity.

Following the meeting, UNESCO Director General Matsuura hosted a lunch in honor of goodwill ambassadors.

During the lunch time, a film on the activity of UNESCO Director General and his visits to Azerbaijan was demonstrated. The film presented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation featured the activity of Matsuura and stressed his services in developing UNESCO.

After that, UNESCO Director General thanked Mehriban Aliyeva.

Mehriban Aliyeva presented a keepsake to Matsuura.

First Lady of Azerbaijan also gave him a CD collection of the first international mugham festival in Baku.