Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan joined UNESCO on 3 June 1992.

The country’s programme of educational reform is a priority area of cooperation between Azerbaijan and UNESCO. In August 2005, a Conference on Educational Reform in Azerbaijan took place in Baku.

Azerbaijan helps UNESCO preserve the heritage of the Silk Roads within the framework of the Digital Silk Roads initiative, based on advanced image processing technology and cultural heritage exchanges. An unprecedented regional workshop on Preservation of Images of Carpets as Sustainable Open Resources (PICASOR) was held in 2004 in the Azerbaijan State Museum of Carpet.

UNESCO proclaimed the Mugham of Azerbaijan a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003, leading to a conservation campaign of different interpretations of Mugham in the form of sound archives. Considered Azerbaijan’s classical music, the Mugham is a traditional musical form with a large degree of improvisation that draws upon popular stories and local melodies.

Mehriban Aliyeva, the First Lady of Azerbaijan, was named as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for oral and musical traditions.

• Workshop on Digital Preservation of the Silk Roads Heritage
• Traditional Medicine and Pharmacy in Medieval Manuscripts conference in Baku (2006)
• UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Mehriban Aliyeva: 
• Oral and Intangible Heritage, Azerbaijani Mugham: