The 4th Baku International Humanitarian Forum has started at the Heydar Aliyev Centre.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva attended an official opening ceremony of the Forum.

The Baku International Humanitarian Forum represents an authoritative platform for the discussion of the most important issues of humanitarian cooperation. Azerbaijan, a country possessing a rich tradition of intercultural, inter-civilizational and inter-religious cooperation, is an ideal venue for events of this format.

The Forum is a high-profile global scientific and political platform for tackling the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century, holding dialogues, discussions and the exchange of views on a wide range of issues of humanitarian cooperation.

The head of state addressed the opening ceremony of the Forum.

Then, Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko read out President Vladimir Putin`s congratulatory letter to the participants of the Forum. She also made a speech at the event.

A video address by Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova was featured.

Other speakers at the event included Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Helen Clark and Director General of ISESCO Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri.

The Forum continued with a plenary session.

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