Azerbaijan, a full member of the Non-Aligned Movement since 2011, took over the chairmanship at the 18th summit of the movement, which was held on 25-26 October 2019 in Baku. In 2023, the Azerbaijani chairmanship was extended for another year by a unanimous decision of the NAM members.

Azerbaijan took a number of initiatives during its chairmanship to coordinate cooperation amongst the member states, strengthen the values of multilateralism and international cooperation, and revitalize the institution. The first year of Azerbaijan’s chairmanship (2020) coincided with the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Baku made various efforts to bring the member countries together in the fight against the crisis’ ramifications for their economies and prosperity.

At the initiative of the Azerbaijani government, for the first time in the history of the NAM, the movement held an extraordinary summit of member states on May 4, 2020, virtually attended by more than forty-five members states and international organizations. The president of the seventy-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, and the director-general of the World Health Organization were among the leaders who addressed the summit and endorsed the initiative.

As the chair of the movement, one of Azerbaijan’s major goals was preparing the basis for the eventual institutionalization of the NAM that would make it a well-established international organization. Baku put forward some successful initiatives toward this end. The launch of the NAM’s parliamentary network and youth network at Baku’s initiative was a significant move on this path. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, with the support of member states, also endorsed the creation of a NAM support office in New York.

Throughout this period, the AIR Center successfully navigated the relations between Azerbaijan and the NAM, generated ideas for policymaking, assessed existing policies, drawn attention to neglected problems, convened experts for discussion, and engaged with the media. As part of its activities devoted to Azerbaijan’s chairmanship from the early 2020 until the end of Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in January 2024, the AIR Center prepared a comprehensive report titled “Azerbaijan’s Non-Alignment” which examined various topics related to Azerbaijan’s Non-Alignment strategy and its participation at the NAM.

The AIR Center also held an international webinar on the topic “Non-Aligned Movement and the COVID-19 Pandemic,” an international conference titled “Empowering Africa in the Age of Global Challenges and Promoting Multilateralism: The Role of the Non-Aligned Movement,” a symposium titled “From Bandung to Baku: The Non-Aligned Movement in a Changing and Challenging Global Context,” and a roundtable discussion on “Towards Complete Elimination of Colonialism” on the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in July 2023.