INTERNATIONAL MISSION

Perhaps the main indicator of the openness of any organization is the work of its departments dealing with the public. But unfortunately it is not always possible to speak in flattering terms about the work of the information departments of various organizations. But, as we know, there are exceptions to every rule.

Under an instruction issued by the UN Secretary-General, who at that time was Kofi Annan, Envera Selimovic was appointed representative of the UN Department of Public Information in Baku. Since October 2006 Selimovic has been living and working in Baku.

Seven months is not such a long period. But over this time the UN Department of Public Information has managed to achieve substantial results, and attracted the cooperation of the country's state bodies, non-governmental organizations and various public figures. We managed to learn about the work carried out by the UN Department of Public Information in a conversation with Envera Selimovic.

- Did you know anything about Baku before you came here and what were your first impressions?

- To be honest, the information I had about the capital of Azerbaijan was not very extensive. But I knew that Baku and Sarajevo had a lot in common. The thing is that during my student years I worked in Sarajevo as a guide and I met Azerbaijanis among the tourists from the USSR. When talking about our culture, I often heard responses from your countrymen "Oh, things here are just like in Baku". And indeed, there is a very interesting aspect which makes these two cities similar, and that is the presence both in Baku and in Sarajevo of mosques, churches and synagogues, standing side by side.

Baku is a beautiful city with the most wonderful architecture. I myself am from a city which also unites East and West. So I don't feel like an outsider here. Baku differs from Sarajevo in its oil and the sea. Perhaps you have never heard that Baku and Sarajevo are twinned cities.

Both cities, Baku and Sarajevo, are full of contrasts. You can see a certain harmony of contrasts, on the one hand, ancient architecture, and on the other high-rises, modern buildings of glass and reinforced concrete. These two cities are undergoing renewal before our very eyes, but I have still formed the impression that both Baku and Sarajevo are somehow like a beautiful but somewhat untidily dressed woman. It is important, on the one hand, to preserve the city's original architecture, and on the other new areas have to be built according to a plan and not how and where people with big money would like. In my opinion such an approach is characteristic of Baku to a much greater extent than Sarajevo.

As regards my work, I can say with confidence that I feel very much at home in Baku, the whole point is that it is easier for me to understand the problems of the Azerbaijani people since the local mentality is very much like the mentality of my own country.

- You have been in Baku since October 2006, working in the UN system. Can you tell us specifically what the department you head deals with?

- I work in the UN Department of Public Information and, to answer your question, I can say that the main task of the department I represent lies in helping people to understand what the UN is and what the organization does both throughout the world and actually in Azerbaijan itself. Our office is a part of the great UN family which is represented in Azerbaijan by various agencies.

Even though our team here in Baku is small, it is quite busy. We are open to everyone and we are ready to cooperate. We are interested in promptly providing the media with the latest news, organizing press conferences and "round tables", and preparing, translating and circulating press releases, video and electronic material which might be of interest to anyone living in Azerbaijan.

So our main task lies in informing Azerbaijan, its state bodies and public about the activity of the UN in the political, economic, cultural and other fields with the single aim of developing your country. In our work we not only rely on various material which we receive regularly from headquarters but very often we independently plan our work taking account of the conditions, interests and needs of Azerbaijan.

We already have partners interested in cooperation in the government, in the non-governmental sector, in the educational system, among youth and civil society representatives and, of course, the media.

I would like to take the opportunity to express particular gratitude to all state bodies in Azerbaijan with which we work and jointly with which a number of events have been organized, from global road safety week to the organization of "round tables" and conferences on various subjects.

- What events have you already organized and what specifically has your department achieved over these seven months?

- Apart from the day-to-day work that I have already spoken about, our office tries to organize at least one major event each month. In particular, in October last year we held a conference along the lines of a session of the UN Security Council with students from Baku state university.

Students who had undergone preliminary training were able independently to model a meeting of the Security Council at a very high level. For me it was a great pleasure to see how well informed they were about the UN system and their ability to present facts and plan their time rationally. I would like to believe that their abilities and our training will help them in their future activities, wherever they work in the future.

In December 2006, on the occasion of celebrations to mark International Human Rights Day, we organized a discussion on human rights together with the ombudsman's office in Azerbaijan, and our main partners were youth representatives.

In January 2007 we marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and in February we marked International Mother Language Day for the first time in Azerbaijan at the Ataturk Centre together with the UNESCO National Commission. We chose these two dates because Azerbaijan is a country where there is a diversity of cultures and which is famed for its tolerance. Incidentally, on 16 May 2007 the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as International Year of Languages in the name of unity of diversity and universal mutual understanding.

In March 2007, to mark International Women's Day we organized a "round table" jointly with the women's group "Coalition 1325" on the topic of "Stop violence against women and girls". The "round table" passed an appeal to the government to pay greater attention to this important subject, and I hope that in understanding the relevance of this problem the government is taking specific steps on a daily basis to implement it.

On 3-4 April this year, on the occasion of International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, we made a trip to a mine-clearance zone in Fizuli with the help of the Azerbaijani national agency for mine action (ANAMA) together with representatives of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

On 23-29 April, we held the first UN Global Road Safety Week in Azerbaijan jointly with the World Health Organization (WHO), and also the ministries of internal affairs, youth and sport, education, health and transport. Incidentally, I was told subsequently by members of the state traffic police authority that during that week the number of road accidents went down by 20 per cent, the number of deaths fell by 35 per cent and the number of injuries by more than 15 per cent. And we are very pleased if just one life was saved as a result of our joint events.

On 19 May we held a "round table" at the Ataturk Centre on the topic of "The importance of a culture of dialogue to achieve a dialogue of cultures" on the occasion of World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. The aim was to raise public awareness of the role and significance of a culture of dialogue, both in our everyday lives and in the process of achieving a dialogue of cultures.

In short, we are like two sides of a coin - while acting as representatives of the UN in various countries, at the same time we seek to be an active link between our headquarters and the country in which we are working.

- Does your department have any priority areas of work and what are your working plans for the future?

- As regards the priority areas of our work, these are achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and also human rights issues, maintaining peace and security, and climate change. But for my part I would like to say that we constantly need to raise humanitarian issues, including those connected with the problems of forcibly displaced persons, gender equality, education and culture. We have to work together, using the generosity, strength and attention of everyone - the government, civil society and international organizations - to resolve the most pressing problems facing us.

Regarding plans, we certainly have them. We have already started organizing a number of events devoted to the environment, and we hope very much that as a result of this activity society, including young people, will be ready to undertake commitments to make their contribution to improving the ecological situation on our planet.

Another plan for the future is stepping up the efforts of the UN Communications Group under the new UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan Mr Bruno Pouezat. I would like this group to direct its future work towards creating a new culture of communications in the UN system.

- Do you have any spare time and how do you spend it?

- In my free time I like to read books, listen to music and watch films, but unfortunately I don't have much spare time for this. Azerbaijan is the homeland of a unique musical culture and I am glad of any opportunity to visit the numerous halls and theatres in your capital. I'm very lucky in that I work near the philharmonic, I live next to the opera and ballet theatre and I sometimes manage to attend orchestral concerts or plays. In the evenings I like to watch old Soviet and Azerbaijani films. They speak of the culture and traditions of the various peoples of the former Soviet Union, and that is very interesting. Especially as these films differ greatly from the output of the Hollywood "dream factory", to which I prefer European cinema.

As regards reading, I very much like the artistic depiction of historical events, just recently I have had a chance to read several books by an interesting author of Lebanese origin, Amin Maalouf, whose books I had never encountered before. Incidentally, Maalouf writes about these parts, including Baku. One of his heroes in the novel "Levantine Beads" is called Baku. Of course, I have read "Ali and Nino", and I am very pleased that a theatrical production of this well-known work has already been successfully staged in the city.

My immediate plans include a working trip to Kazakhstan, and from there to the town of Samarkand, where I have never been, but I have heard and read a great deal about the town since childhood. My interest in Samarkand grew even more after reading Maalouf's book "Samarkand".