President of Uzbekistan Meets UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — In Samarkand, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting with Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The discussions focused on the further development of multifaceted partnership between Uzbekistan and UNESCO.

Audrey Azoulay congratulated the President on hosting the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference, which is being held outside the organization’s headquarters in Paris for the first time in 40 years. She highly praised the extensive preparatory work carried out by the Uzbek side and the rich conference program, which includes the launch of the UNESCO Regional Center for Early Childhood Education, the award ceremony for the Biruni Prize, events commemorating the 3,000th anniversary of Samarkand, as well as forums dedicated to museums, artificial intelligence, and gender equality.

It was noted that in recent years cooperation between Uzbekistan and UNESCO has reached its highest level. Notably, the World Conference on Early Childhood Education was successfully held, the 1,050th anniversary of the great scholar Al-Biruni was solemnly marked in Paris, and an international prize in his name was established. At Uzbekistan’s initiative, three significant UNESCO resolutions were adopted, and a number of the country’s new cultural sites and intangible heritage elements were added to UNESCO’s special lists.

Both parties confirmed their readiness to further strengthen cooperation and implement new joint projects in priority areas.

At the conclusion of the meeting, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev awarded Audrey Azoulay the “Dostlik” (Friendship) Order for her contribution to the development of cooperation in science, education, and culture, as well as for promoting Uzbekistan’s rich cultural heritage internationally.