Official: Youth participation in COP29 is extremely important for their future development

COP29 is an international event and youth participation in such events is extremely important for their future development, Atif Gambarov, Director of the Workforce Department at COP29 Operating Company, said in his interview with Report.

Gambarov noted that it's difficult to imagine organizing large-scale international events without volunteer participation:

"COP29 is an international event. Youth participation in such events is extremely important for their future development. Our volunteers get the opportunity to work directly in organizational matters alongside professionals in different fields as part of the same teams. Undoubtedly, creating such an opportunity for young people at the beginning of their careers is important for both their personal and professional development. It's no coincidence that young people who have been involved and trained by our team are now working as professionals in different fields, which is a real indicator of our work's effectiveness."

Gambarov also emphasized that volunteers at COP29 will work side by side with the organizers in both dealing with matters related to guests and organizing work with staff and UN representatives.

The COP29 Operating Company official added that volunteering activities in Azerbaijan have developed to a high level, and the approach to volunteers and experience in this field has interested foreign colleagues:

"As you know, COP is a world-scale event organized in different countries each year. During the planning phase, we studied the experience of previous COP conferences. We discussed with our UN colleagues about the work volunteers did in previous COP events and learned about their expectations from volunteers."

He noted that volunteering activities in Azerbaijan have developed to a high level, and the approach to volunteers and experience in this field was very interesting to foreign colleagues.

"Our team implemented a volunteer program that hadn't existed in any previous COP event. Special attention was paid to volunteers' personal and professional development, and volunteers were professionally prepared for this global conference. Additionally, our volunteers participated in various environmental events and training, which are important steps for their personal development and social responsibility. Another important factor that distinguished us was the COP29 Volunteer Center. All operations related to volunteers were managed from this center. I can confidently say that the COP29 Volunteer Program has set new standards in this field, and Azerbaijan's volunteer program legacy will be used in future COP events," he said.