Since 2020, Azerbaijan has embarked on the development of its first Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) to manage and mobilize financing towards sustainable development and ensure inclusive and green growth that leaves no one behind. Supported by the UN Joint SDG Fund, the Government finalized the Development Finance Assessment (DFA) and initiated the SDG Investor Map and the Impact Investing Ecosystem Study in 2022. The studies help to identify investment opportunities and areas where private capital can be channeled to achieve SDG targets.

The UN engaged with private-sector stakeholders to promote the UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), a UN-convened network of banks, insurers, and investors accelerating sustainable development, in the framework of the conference on “Sustainability and the Banking Sector: ESG Banking” at the 2022 Baku FINTEX summit. Principles for Responsible Banking were introduced to 30 bank executives in Azerbaijan that encourage them to take action to align their core strategy, decision-making, lending, and investments with the SDGs and international agreements such as the Paris Climate Agreement.

Building upon the MoU signed earlier between the UN and the Entrepreneurship Development Fund of Azerbaijan, the Fund’s sustainability policy was reviewed and a round of bilateral discussions were held with the Azerbaijan Banks Association on the prospects of commercial banks mainstreaming environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards and Principles for Responsible Banking.

The first public budget brief was published by the UN as an entry point to the Public Finance for Children (PF4C) initiative. The brief explores the extent to which the national budget addresses the needs of children, based on datasets from 2018-2022 in the sectors of health, education, and social protection).

In support of the SDG acceleration agenda, the UN and the National Coordination Council on Sustainable Development (NCCSD) launched a multi-stakeholder high-level policy discussion platform, the SDG Dialogue series, in 2022. The First SDG Dialogue on Green Transformation was held in November 2022, and reviewed the country’s progress on green growth indicators. Building on the commitments voiced during the dialogue, a policy brief was produced that provides a summary of the analysis of green growth progress and offers a set of policy recommendations.

The UN also kick-started stakeholder consultations on the availability of SDG data for Azerbaijan and gaps in SDG progress, together with the NCCSD and the State Statistics Committee. A set of concrete actions were identified to address inconsistencies and methodological issues across global and national databases, improve data collection for the indicators lacking data, and achieve real-world progress on the indicators.

A regional roundtable on the SDGs was convened for South Caucasus countries via an inter-agency effort dedicated to women’s and youth empowerment and their role in peace. Representatives of civil society partners of three countries shared their experiences and best practices. The Peace Innovations Platform for the South Caucasus brought together young civil society representatives to carry out digital peacebuilding initiatives to explore responses to disinformation across the region, discuss new approaches to peacebuilding, and develop narratives that promote co-existence.

Azerbaijan was chosen as one of the UN Global Compact (UNGC) pilot countries in 2022, prompted by the persistent UN work on promoting corporate sustainability. In 2022, 14 new members joined the UN Global Compact.

Also in 2022, 10 new companies became signatories to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a primary vehicle for corporate delivery on gender equality. The UN provided technical assistance in preparation for Gender Gap Analyses and WEPs Action Plans to ensure the successful integration of the WEPs into company policies and operations.

Business and human rights was also on the agenda of the UN and the Ombudsperson’s office to identify key challenges and actions to advance social and economic rights, promote equality in the workplace, and expand access to justice in the business environment. A partnership was established with the Danish Institute of Human Rights to elucidate policies and regulatory frameworks to foster a dynamic and well-functioning business sector. An International Business Forum on Business and Human Rights provided a space for exchange of practices among 140 representatives of national and international human rights institutions, businesses, and other stakeholders.

In addition, 25 legal experts, lawyers, and human rights defenders were capacitated on preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity and promoting corporate responsibility to respect human rights. In addition, two guidance notes on “Gender Dimensions of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” and “Heightened Human Rights Due Diligence for Business in Conflict-Affected Contexts” were published in a local language to serve as tools for legal experts, lawyers, think tanks, and advocates on the business and human rights agenda.