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Speech
26 May 2023
Opening remarks by the UN Resident Coordinator at International Conference in Aghdam on humanitarian mine action
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Press Release
24 May 2023
IOM Azerbaijan provided cash and in-kind reintegration assistance to 147 returnees from January to April of 2023
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Video
22 May 2023
Video message by Vladanka Andreeva, UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan at closing ceremony of "Youth SDG and Finance Academy"
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Latest
The Sustainable Development Goals in Azerbaijan
Over the last eight years, Azerbaijan has demonstrated its firm commitment towards achieving the 2030 Agenda. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan issued the Decree in 2016, to establish the National Coordination Council for Sustainable Development - a key partner for the United Nations to channel its support to the Government of Azerbaijan since then.
Azerbaijan has been one of the first countries to undertake a MAPS mission (Mainstreaming, Acceleration and Policy Support for the 2030 Agenda) which outlined concrete policy and programming steps that could be taken to accelerate the goals nationally, the experience which was presented at the 2018 Baku Forum on Sustainable Development. This regional event also marked the adoption of the Baku Principles which established provisions for the integration of SDGs and acceleration of their implementation.
With UN support, the National Information Portal on SDGs was launched, which introduces an interactive dashboard, collects consolidated data, tracks and monitors progress towards the SDGs in real-time. UN provides continuous support to strengthen national statistical capacities to produce quality data while focusing on disaggregation to Leave No One Behind.
United Nations also makes special efforts to engage different groups including the private sector, media, parliamentarians, and the public, among others, in promoting the Goals.
Publication
16 May 2023
UN Azerbaijan - Annual Results Report 2022
We are pleased to share with you the UN Country Results Report for 2022. The report highlights the last year's results of our joint efforts with the Government, civil society organizations, academia, the private sector, and the achievements in in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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Press Release
18 June 2021
UNHCR commends Azerbaijan’s continued support to refugees and Asylum Seekers on the World Refugee Day
While many refugee emergencies are unfortunately becoming protracted, such as that of the Rohingya from Myanmar, new emergencies continue occurring, such as one in Tigray region of Ethiopia, which has displaced hundreds of thousands within Ethiopia and across the border in Sudan.
The global fight against the COVID19 pandemic and its consequences, has shown that we can only succeed if we stand together and this year’s World Refugee Day campaign calls for greater inclusion of refugees in host societies, with particular reference to health, education systems and sports with the key messages of “heal”, “learn” and “shine”.
Azerbaijan hosts 1,616 refugees in total originating mainly from Afghanistan and other countries in central Asia, the Middle East and eastern Europe. On the World Refugee Day, UNHCR Azerbaijan commends the authorities and people of Azerbaijan for granting access to healthcare and employment rights to refugees and asylum seekers living in the country. As we continue working and collaborating to achieve integration and inclusion of refugees, we also sincerely express our gratitude to the Government of Azerbaijan for the successful legal amendment on employment of refugees and access to healthcare insurance.
With growing forced displacement world-wide, it is important more than ever that refugees and asylum seekers receive our solidarity, compassion and support. They want nothing more than protection and the opportunity to make a decent living away from home to support themselves, their families and be part of their host communities. In that regard, UNHCR continues advocating for securing legal status for refugees and asylum seekers living in Azerbaijan, as well as ensuring durable solutions prospects in the form of voluntary return in safety and dignity for Internally Displaced Persons.
“Some of the refugees were born or arrived as small children in Azerbaijan and have a lot of potential to contribute to the development of Azerbaijani society if they are given the opportunity to integrate and therefore to secure a durable solution,” said Guido Ambroso, UNHCR Representative to Azerbaijan. “While progress has been made, more needs to be done to ensure legal status. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the people of Azerbaijan as, after nearly three decades, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons finally have the possibility to achieve a durable solution by returning to their lands.
World Refugee Day is the day to celebrate refugees’ contributions to communities, their unique experience, resilience and bravery in overcoming the toughest hardships the wars and conflicts can bring.
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Press Release
18 March 2021
ANAMA and UNDP join forces to support mine action in Azerbaijan
With USD 1 million from UNDP crisis response and UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, UNDP will provide support to ANAMA to train, equip and deploy emergency response teams to clear mines and unexploded ordnances which pose grave risks to local communities living in the conflict affected areas.
Mr. Suleymanov expressed his hope for future cooperation, emphasising the importance of this project.
Mr. Fracassetti stated that UNDP will scale up its support for mine action in Azerbaijan by supporting ANAMA with technical expertise, equipment, capacity development and funding which will help communities safely access water, build homes, schools and health clinics.
UNDP continues to support ANAMA in conducting a mine action needs assessment, provides international expertise and supports ANAMA in procuring personal protective equipment and mine clearing equipment.
Additional support will consist of prioritising mine clearance areas, developing heat maps for mine detection and procuring mine action equipment and mine detecting dogs.
ANAMA was established with UNDP’s support in 1999. Over the past 20 years, ANAMA and UNDP have helped clear over 806,000 mines and other explosive weapons in Azerbaijan, helping to ensure a safe return home for over 160,500 displaced people.
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Story
02 February 2021
UN releases USD 2 million to support emergency humanitarian response in conflict-affected areas of Azerbaijan
The United Nations has released USD 2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support the UN’s ongoing humanitarian response to temporarily displaced people in the conflict-affected areas of Azerbaijan.
Following the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement, UN resident agencies in Azerbaijan have been providing initial support in the areas of food, shelter, hygiene, preparation for winter, mine risk awareness, access to healthcare, psychosocial support, and education,
“The CERF funding will scale up UN agencies’ ongoing activities to help the conflict-affected people return to normal life ,” said Ghulam Isaczai, UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan. “We will continue working closely with the Government of Azerbaijan, civil society, and other stakeholders to meet the urgent needs of the highly vulnerable population, especially women and children.”
The CERF allocation builds on the results of a rapid inter-agency assessment that the UN Country Team conducted in the conflict-affected areas with the support of the Government of Azerbaijan. The funding will help to provide shelter and non-food items to the affected population; assist in the coordination of demining activities; and deliver essential medicines and medical equipment, as well as mental health and psychosocial services.
The UN Country Team in Azerbaijan in partnership with government agencies carried out several preliminary needs assessment missions in conflict-affected areas and has been providing its assistance in the following areas:
Health: WHO and UNFPA have delivered personal protective equipment and emergency kits to families in conflict-affected areas, as well as supported the continuation of primary healthcare services despite the COVID-19 and conflict-induced strains on 60 medical facilities.
Shelter and core relief items: UNHCR mobilized USD 1.5 million to secure non-food items, including tents, blankets and mattresses, and is currently mobilizing USD400 thousand to provide as cash-based interventions.
Psychosocial support: Most of the 40,000 temporarily displaced people have suffered immense stress and anxiety, especially children. Given the severe shortage of medical staff and absence of psychology professionals in the conflict-hit areas, both WHO and UNICEF are training psychology counsellors to support mental health services at hospitals and schools.
Mine risk action: A joint UNDP-UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) assessment mission was undertaken recently in close coordination with ANAMA, the national mine action agency, to assess mines and unexploded ordinance contaminations in several of the conflict-affected districts. UNDP, UNMAS, and UNICEF are currently working with the government to improve awareness of mine risk; support the Government’s demining strategy; and strengthen ANAMA’s capacity.
CERF – managed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator on behalf of the UN Secretary-General - is one of the fastest and most effective ways to help people affected by crises. Since its creation, it has assisted hundreds of millions of people with more than $6.5 billion across 104 countries and territories. This would have not been possible without generous and consistent donor support.
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Story
19 November 2020
UN agencies conclude needs assessment mission to conflict-affected regions of Azerbaijan
An inter-agency coordinated assessment mission comprised of technical experts from various UN agencies has concluded its four-day visit to the conflict-affected regions of Azerbaijan. The mission included representatives from the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO), FAO, IOM, OCHA, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHCR, and WHO.
The mission met with the heads of the local executive authorities in Barda, Aghdam, and Agjabedi districts and visited various sites, where the temporarily displaced persons, as well as conflict-affected communities, reside. The mission members also visited a number of villages and settlements adjacent to the conflict area to assess the scale of damaged civilian houses and civilian infrastructure. The findings of the mission are being prepared that should allow to understand prevailing vulnerabilities and design appropriate humanitarian response mechanisms in different sectors to complement the government’s actions.
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Story
12 May 2023
Upgrading traditional techniques boosts production of famous Azerbaijani tomatoes
Farmers have joined together to update time-honoured practices and increase yields
Tomatoes from the village of Sayad on Azerbaijan’s Caspian Sea attract buyers from far and wide but now an initiative by FAO and the EU has been helping the farmers improve their livelihoods by reviving and building on traditional agricultural techniques.
Sayad village is one of the most ancient settlements nestling on the Caspian Sea coast of Azerbaijan’s Khachmaz district. It’s long been famous for its numerous varieties of succulent tomatoes thanks to the farmers’ careful cultivation of the crop and the sunny climate. But something new and transformative is happening. Farmers are reviving and building on their region’s traditional agricultural techniques, such as crop rotation, with the help of training and support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Union.
At the heart of this change is the formation of farmer groups based on commodities. As a tomato farmer, Hikmet Azizov is a member of the "Field Tomato" commodity-based agricultural advisory services group created in the village. He says the weekly trainings provided under the FAO Strengthening Agrarian Advisory Services (SAAS) initiative helped him with new knowledge about plant breeding, irrigation and environmentally friendly fertilizers.
Hikmet says the farming methods they have been using hitherto, "have served us well, but thanks to this project, I can now see a brighter future for myself and my family. We have seen improved yields, cost savings and better returns for our hard work. It is truly a blessing," Hikmat comments.
In the group, the tomato farmers learned about methods for "planting on beds," or growing vegetables, herbs and other plants, in dedicated areas of soil that are separated from the rest of the garden, making it easier to access and tend to the plants and to help control weeds and soil erosion.
They also got detailed explanations of one of Azerbaijan's most common forms of traditional organic farming, which is crop rotation, or planting different crops in the same field over time, which can help prevent soil erosion and reduce pests. The combination of these methods can help preserve the country’s biodiversity while helping increase crop yields, reduce the need for chemical inputs and provide a healthier and more nutritious food source.
Among the techniques farmers have learned about in the groups set up to provide advice and technical support is crop rotation and “planting on beds” separate from other crops for better access and weed control.
With several tomato varieties grown in the village, including the "Aslan", "Sayad" and "Shishburun" all known for their juicy, sweet flavour and succulent texture, people from nearby and even far-off regions flock to the village to load up with the crop.
Yet farmer Vasif Kalbaliyev says that despite his hard work and dedication, he has often struggled to keep up with the latest advances and stay competitive. He was always looking for ways to increase his yield and improve the quality of his produce, but, he says, it seemed as if he was “constantly running into a brick wall”.
Expressing his gratitude to the EU funded FAO project, Vasif says he’s been able to increase his yield and improve the quality of his tomatoes. He has even expanded his business and started selling his tomatoes to other markets and is also a member of the "Field Tomato" advisory group and the owner of the village’s tomato demonstration site.
Farmers say the initiative has helped them increase their yields and improve the quality, boosting their incomes and giving them access to wider markets.
Tailored to commodities
The initiative in Sayad is one of seven different commodity-based advisory groups set up under the SAAS project. The other groups focus on sorghum, sunflowers, apples, sour cherries, plums and greenhouse tomatoes as opposed to Sayad’s open field tomatoes. Each have their own facilitators and agronomists and if the experts in the group don’t have the answers themselves, they help the farmers by contacting other specialists who can be of assistance.
“Initially, farmers were skeptical about the approach and the facilitators’ role. However, after being part of the discussions, they obtained relevant advice and witnessed some positive results. Farmers became increasingly involved and more were interested in joining the platform,” said Vugar Bashirov, FAO’s project coordinator in the country.
The project has developed a five-year strategy for strengthening agricultural advisory services in Azerbaijan, making sure the farmers have access to up-to-date best practices and guidance from a mix of public and private sector advisors, without the need for additional funding from government. The new model will be put to the test in a three-year plan for developing SAAS in pilot regions.
“With the valuable support from the European Union and all the experts we have on board, we are making important strides towards helping more and more Azeri farmers get the best out of their crops and their land and improving their livelihoods in a sustainable way going forward,” says Bariz Mehdiyev, the Assistant FAO Representative in Azerbaijan.
Learn more
Website: FAO country profile: Azerbaijan
Website: Strengthening Agrarian Advisory Services (SAAS)
Story: A mentor for women farmers in Azerbaijan
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Story
28 March 2023
Climate-Smart Agriculture Shows Promise in Improving Azerbaijan’s Cotton Productivity
Researchers and farmers in Azerbaijan, implementing climate-smart agricultural practices based on nuclear and related techniques, have been able to more than double their yields of cotton production in a project supported by the IAEA in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Through the use of a new variety called “cotton super”, combined with carefully implemented CSA practices which help to understand how to sustainably increase agricultural productivity, the pilot project has seen yields increase from the country’s average of three tonnes per hectare to eight tonnes per hectare.
Implemented in 2021, the pilot, part of an IAEA technical cooperation project, focused on developing climate-smart agricultural guidelines for cotton production, training Azerbaijani researchers and progressive farmers in climate-smart agricultural practices and designing on-farm demonstration trials. A further project, initiated in 2022 and focusing on strengthening best practices in soil, nutrient, and water management agricultural practices for cotton production, aims to help improve cotton productivity, as Azerbaijan’s land is particularly vulnerable to climate change and soil degradation. The country’s average annual temperature has risen by 0.4 degrees Celsius since 1991, with decreasing rainfall and more frequent extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts or heat waves.
“Generally speaking, 60 per cent of improvement in crop productivity comes from capitalising on the strategic application of soil nutrients and water management,” said Mohammad Zaman, a soil scientist at the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and Technical Officer of the project. “It’s about the right amount, in the right way, at the right growth stage.”
Climate-smart agricultural practices involve the use of isotopic techniques to obtain essential information on how to optimize fertilizer use and increase the efficiency of agricultural production while maintaining soil health.
“When we started, Azerbaijan’s soils were heavily degraded, the fertility was very poor, and so the soil did not have the capacity to provide all the essential nutrients required for the cotton growth,” Zaman said. To address this, IAEA experts developed a complete package of nuclear and related farming techniques: from preparing soil and selecting the best cotton varieties to applying nutrients and irrigation to cotton fields and ensuring weed, pest and disease control.
“Applying improved soil, nutrient and water management practices along with using 'cotton super' variety has led us to increase our cotton productivity, quality and profit,” said Sakhavat Mammadov, a farmer from Azerbaijan who took part in the pilot project and has been using CSA practices on his farm for the last two years.
Using a stable isotope nitrogen-15, scientists collect quantitative data about how much nitrogen fertilizers cotton needs and how effectively they are taken up by the plant. (Photo: M. Zaman/IAEA)
Nuclear and related techniques help not only in increasing agricultural productivity but also in building resilience of agriculture systems to climate change. In Azerbaijan, the researchers used a technique involving nitrogen-15 (N-15), a stable isotope. Nitrogen plays an important role in plant growth and photosynthesis — the process whereby plants convert carbon dioxide and sunlight into plant food. Zaman explained that a lack of nutrients in the soil, such as nitrogen, leads to low and less nutritious yields. Excessive or incorrect application of nitrogen fertilizers, on the other hand, contributes to emissions of greenhouse gases and pollution of surface and groundwater.
“Cotton in Azerbaijan is expected to be one of the crops experiencing the greatest yield decline due to climate change and rapid soil degradation,” Zaman said. “Taking advantage of isotopic techniques, such as the use of N-15, can help adapt to this situation, making the cotton sector more competitive as well as ensuring employment and improving the welfare of the rural population.”
Azerbaijan has in the past been a leading producer and major exporter of cotton, harvesting more than 830,000 tonnes in the 1980s, which provided up to a quarter of the country’s income. However, the transition to a free market and the rapid growth of other industries in the 1990s contributed to cotton losing its key role in Azerbaijan's economy, with production falling to a record low of 31,000 tonnes in 2009.
The project outcome shows the significant potential of climate-smart practices in increasing agricultural productivity. “Considering the total cotton growing areas of 105,000 hectares in Azerbaijan, a 10 per cent adoption of the IAEA climate-smart agricultural practices would produce 84,000 tonnes of cotton compared to 31,500 tonnes, representing a 166 per cent increase over conventional cotton farming practices,” Zaman said. “Seeing the extraordinary success in applying climate-smart agricultural practices in this project, provides an exciting indication and tremendous promise on how it can help Azerbaijan to increase their cotton production significantly and thus, greatly impact Azerbaijani economy.”
The IAEA, through its technical cooperation programme and through the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre, assists countries in applying climate-smart agricultural methods to increase productivity, adapting agricultural systems to climate change and reducing their impact on the environment. The Joint Centre also supports research in this area. In a coordinated research project focused on the use of climate-smart nuclear solutions to help minimize the farming impacts on climate , scientists from Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Iran and Pakistan reported a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases. Other climate-smart agricultural practices are helping to develop balanced diet solutions for livestock amid recurring droughts in Angola; to improve water use and nutrient management on soils in Kenya; and to combat soil erosion in Tunisia.
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Story
24 February 2023
How WHO is supporting Azerbaijan in improving rehabilitation and assistive technology services
Rehabilitation allows women, men and children of all ages to be as independent as possible in everyday activities, enabling participation in education, work, recreation, and meaningful life roles, such as taking care of family. Similarly, access to vital assistive technology (AT) can help people see and hear better, help people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities interact more effectively with others, and support people with psychosocial disabilities to manage and work through difficult times.
In Azerbaijan, the government has committed to strengthening and scaling up rehabilitation and AT services and is developing a comprehensive roadmap to do so. WHO/Europe is actively supporting these efforts by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population.
Supporting rehabilitation and AT efforts
In the last 2 years, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Government of Norway, WHO has promoted several rehabilitation and AT activities in Azerbaijan, including a rapid-AT Assessment (r-ATA) household survey that collected information from 5597 respondents across 1156 households in 8 economic zones in Azerbaijan. The results of the r-ATA survey were extremely useful in providing key information about the demand for AT in the country.
On a global scale, WHO is implementing ambitious initiatives to strengthen rehabilitation in health systems and scale up access to AT products and services. The initiatives aim to improve people’s functioning, which in turn leads to greater participation and improved quality of life, especially for persons with disabilities or noncommunicable diseases, as well as healthy ageing.
Assessing rehabilitation and AT services in Azerbaijan
A team of WHO experts recently assessed the current state of rehabilitation and AT services in Azerbaijan using 2 WHO standardized tools: the Systematic Assessment of the Rehabilitation Situation (STARS) and the Assistive Technology Capacity Assessment (ATA-C). The team also provided technical assistance in integrating rehabilitation and AT into a national action plan.
Results from the assessment were shared with different government authorities, people who need access to vital rehabilitation and AT services, and groups of service providers. Their feedback has been collected and will feed into a list of recommendations that will help further develop the Government of Azerbaijan’s rehabilitation and AT strategy and, ultimately, the national roadmap for health.
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Story
23 February 2023
Fathers break stereotypes in Azerbaijan to ensure their children grow up in gender equitable environment
Creating a safe space for fathers to jointly reflect on and question the factors that frame gender inequalities affecting power dynamics within Azerbaijani families was the most important achievement of the Papa Schools project implemented in Azerbaijan. “At first, I believed I would be the only father to join, and was apprehensive that the project would simply fail”, says Orkhan Nadirov from Baku, a father of a 2 year-old boy, “as the topic is not a popular one among men in Azerbaijan, given predominant traditional notions of masculinity in our society”.
Orkhan and his wife were looking forward to the arrival of their first child. However, the end of the first trimester of pregnancy was marked with devastating news that a child was having an inherited blood disorder - thalassemia and the family was recommended to terminate pregnancy. “It was a major dilemma for us; however, me and my wife decided together that we would choose a different path”. Needless to note that Orkhan and his wife were very well aware of the implications of this decision for them. “We started exploring academic literature and searching for resources that could provide any guidance for maintaining effective relationships in families that have kids with similar disorders. All of a sudden, my wife came across information on Papa Schools, and I made up my mind to join. Though my expectations were not as high since I was skeptical that other fathers would interrupt the learning process, I decided to give it a try and see if this could have given me more leverage to explore the concept of a responsible fatherhood”.
Following several months of engagement with a Papa School, Orkhan believes that he managed to gain more than he had previously expected: “What’s unique about this methodology is that despite the focus on father engagement, the information shared was actually concerning both parents, and I was sharing the summary of each session with my wife back home. And so I had a chance to further explore many of these topics through insights provided by my wife and through our shared reflections on many of those topics.”
Orkhan is not the only beneficiary of the project. Papa Schools brought together fathers in three different regions of Azerbaijan - Baku, Ganja and Gazakh in the framework of the “EU 4 Gender Equality“ programme jointly implemented by UNFPA and UN Women with financial support of the European Union. A total of 126 men with almost equal shares of both fathers and fathers-to-be joined and actively participated at the sessions.
One of the important aspects of the Papa School project Orkhan liked the most is the opportunity for the like-minded fathers to remain actively engaged in promoting the concept of responsible fatherhood beyond the project lifetime. Sahil Aliyev, a 28 year-old father-to-be is one of those men Orkhan met at the Papa School. Sahil joined the course with deeply entrenched stereotypes about gender equality in mind, but managed to explore different concepts of what gender equitable relations were about.
Sahil believes that everyone in a society with prevailing patriarchal norms is born into a culture that shapes people’s behaviors and attitudes by forcing them to pick up dominant discriminatory social norms: “At family, at school, at work, we are being taught that men should be masculine. I remember my mother saying that men should have the final word on everything in the family, even if he is not right”.
During the eight-week Papa School courses, the trained experts and facilitators delivered a range of sessions on gender-based discrimination and violence related issues in Azerbaijan. Alongside this, the participants were also given a chance to explore the concepts of family planning and reproductive health, intimate partnerships, abortions, femicides, lack of women’s participation and benefits of women’s empowerment. Sahil was one of those men who were actively participating at every session, and he believes that he gained more insights into the topic he had never discussed before.
“I found myself talking about gender, sex and family relationships - topics that I have never openly discussed with strangers. To be honest, now I admit that I was violent towards my ex-girlfriend by limiting her access to some possible opportunities or imposing restrictions on the way she was dressing-up. But I really wasn’t cognizant about this until participating in the Papa School sessions on gender-based violence. I cannot say that I have managed to get rid of all these stereotypes over the course of these past eight weeks, but I can state confidently that I feel sorry for the way I behaved before. And what I'm sure of now is that having been able to reflect on many of these issues, I’ll do my best to treat my current partner with empathy and full respect.”
It is worth mentioning that another distinctive attribute of the project is its focus on the diversity of experiences and expertise of those involved to lead the effort. "I liked the multidimensional approach of the project. In the course of these past eight weeks, we had a chance to closely interact with not only gender experts, but also doctors, pediatricians and psychologists who were sharing their perspectives with us", says Fuad Valiyev from Ganja, the 32-year-old father of two, who was symbolically granted the “Father of the Year” award at the project’s closing ceremony. Fuad believes in the value of shared workload within the household for promoting gender equality in the family. He says, "I think what makes me a responsible father and a supportive husband is that I try to equally share household and childcare responsibilities with my wife."
Papa Schools have been launched only recently in the three regions of Azerbaijan and it will definitely take time to see the immediate effects of this intervention. However, this model has really managed to showcase a forward looking strategy of how men like Orkhan, Sahil and others in traditional patriarchal societies could join as allies in the efforts to transform unequal social norms by promoting gender equitable behaviors and attitudes and ensuring inclusive and healthy family relationships through men’s active and responsible engagement.
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Story
23 February 2023
A mentor for women farmers in Azerbaijan
Olga Babayeva, a 52-year-old farmer from Samukh region in northwestern Azerbaijan, is a well-recognized businesswoman in her community. Apart from being the biggest producer of vegetable seeds for onions, coriander, dill, radishes and parsley, among others, she is also known for her strong support of women’s engagement in farming.
She was attracted to farm life as a young child, spending her summer holidays helping her parents plant vegetables. In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a nineteen-year-old Olga became the first young female farmer in Fuzuli village when she started renting a 10-hectare plot to grow beetroot.
“But it was not that easy,” says Olga with a smile, who now cultivates a total of 14 hectares.
For more than 30 years she has been active in agriculture beyond just growing crops. She also manages the vegetable seed cooperative Barakat (meaning “blessing” in Azeri) with 1 400 members and established the Samukh Seed and Vegetable Corporation that ensures laboratory testing for seed sorting and drying. Today, the corporation sells seeds in both national and foreign markets.
“In the beginning, I faced situations where tractor drivers (who were usually men) would refuse to cultivate my land just because I was a woman, or officials in the local government body neglected my requests as they did not accept the fact that a woman can be engaged in farming professionally,” reminisces Olga. “‘Your place is in the kitchen, not on the land’ this is what women hear very often.”
Empowering rural women through agriculture has great potential in the country. According to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan, 77 percent of women reside in rural areas, and the percentage of female entrepreneurs engaged in agriculture, forestry and fishing is higher than men (32 versus 24 percent).
However, women face a number of challenges, such as a gender pay gap, informality of jobs and a triple work burden (housework, production for the household and wage work). In total, women do an average of six hours of unpaid work, while men spend only two hours on the same. Additionally, poor access to social services hinders many women from leveraging their full potential.
“As I was divorced with a little son and daughter on my hands, I had no other option than to earn a living to survive. I had to work much harder than any other fellow male farmer as I bore triple responsibilities: working on the farm and at home, as well as engaging in village initiatives,” notes Olga.
“Today, my children are adults, but the perceptions and challenges are still there.”
As a result of her experiences, she knows very well the difficulties women face in agriculture as she had to go through many of them. This is why FAO believed her the perfect person to mentor other women farmers. To this end, Olga received several FAO trainings on farming and business management and participated in a training for trainers’ workshop.
Since 2020, FAO, in cooperation with the Government of Azerbaijan, has been providing support to rural women to improve their knowledge and farming practices through innovative technologies in cultivating fruit trees and vegetables, cattle breeding and poultry raising, among other areas.
“Women are engaged in agricultural production; however, they tend to have less training in sales and marketing and have little information about micro-credits and non-financial services,” points out Flora Poladova, leading FAO project expert in Azerbaijan. “With the improved farming techniques, they will be able to do commercial farming. Increasing their income through essential business, marketing and leadership skills will, in fact, raise women's self-confidence and make their voices heard.”
“FAO plays an intermediary role between female farmers and state and private service providers. We are working now to bridge this, so that will help women to learn about free advisory services, soft loans and other services,” adds Poladova.
To keep up the momentum, the FAO project mobilizes rural women’s groups and has already succeeded in connecting over 100 female farmers from 20 regions in Azerbaijan. As part of this network, Olga communicates with other members and shares farming knowledge via a mobile messaging app.
“I am so happy to be part of the big changes ahead!” beams Olga. “I am grateful women are not alone, and support is there. Women and girls deserve fair opportunities and treatment and, once financially stable, they will have a stronger voice to be equally recognized.”
Through this project, FAO is working with the Government of Azerbaijan to better respond to current and future challenges in the agriculture sector, engaging women as key to making the sector more productive and inclusive.
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Press Release
24 May 2023
IOM Azerbaijan provided cash and in-kind reintegration assistance to 147 returnees from January to April of 2023
IOM Azerbaijan continues its efforts to provide reintegration assistance to returnees – citizens of Azerbaijan who voluntarily returned from abroad under the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) projects. Such assistance is intended to ensure the sustainability of returns, i.e., to help individuals who return voluntarily to their countries of origin firmly re-establish themselves as part of the home society.
From January to April 2023, a total of 539 Azerbaijani nationals voluntarily returned to Azerbaijan as part of the AVRR projects. The top return countries were Moldova (460 persons), Germany (53 persons), Netherlands (9 persons), Austria (9 persons), Latvia (6 persons), Belarus (1), and Romania (1).
During the reporting time, IOM Azerbaijan conducted comprehensive reintegration counseling sessions with returnees, and a total of 147 returnees received reintegration assistance.
Out of the 147 beneficiaries, IOM Azerbaijan provided cash assistance to 43 returnees, while 102 returnees received in-kind assistance. The in-kind assistance offered a range of support, including temporary housing, support for starting small businesses, purchasing home appliances and furniture, as well as covering health and educational needs.
Within the framework of the AVRR projects, returnees were provided with assistance in setting up small business activities, providing temporary housing, assistance with necessary household items, and meeting medical needs. With the support of the IOM, individuals who voluntarily returned from abroad to Azerbaijan have established their entrepreneurial activities in the field of small farming (purchase of small and cattle), service sector (for example taxi), small trade, and production.
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Press Release
22 May 2023
EU and WHO support the development of mental health services in 5 regions of Azerbaijan
The interim results of the EU-funded "Coordination and Transformation of Mental Health Services in the Post-Conflict Settings" project, implemented by World Health Organization (WHO) Azerbaijan, have been presented.
The main purpose of the event was to share the work done within the project, the achievements, and the multidisciplinary psychosocial support experience of WHO with local partners.
During the event, opening speeched were given by Dr Hande Harmanci, WHO Representative in Azerbaijan, Ahliman Amiraslanov, Chairman of the Health Committee of the Milli Majlis, Musa Guliyev, Chairman of the Labor and Social Policy Committee of the Milli Majlis, Anar Israfilov, Deputy Executive Director of TABIB and Anar Bayramov, Chairman of the Board of the State Medical-Social Expertise and Rehabilitation Agency. Fuad Ismayilov, director of the Mental Health Center, spoke about the current state of the mental health system in Azerbaijan, Elturan Ismayilov, WHO Azerbaijan’s coordinator for mental health and psychosocial support, presented interim results and Agahasan Rasulov, professor of Azerbaijan Medical University, spoke about the multidisciplinary psychosocial support. Additionally, the event included the first meeting of the Coordination Group to improve and implement coordination mechanisms. Represntatives from WHO and government agencies also identified next steps, including the review of referral systems for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (PSPSD) to improve efficiency.
Within the project, mental health trainings were organized for more than 100 primary health workers. Currently, supervisions are being held to support doctors who have completed these trainings and are aplying the acquired knowledge in practice. Psychosocial trainings and supervisions are also being organized for about 50 coordinators working with vulnerable groups of the population in hospitals.
WHO specialists provide direct psychosocial support to the population in district central hospitals, as well as in a mobile office established in the Agdam Inter-Regional Psychiatric Dispensary. Furthermore, campaigns were carried out in Barda and Aghjabadi to educate the population, reduce the stigma related to psychological health, and inform them about available services.
The pilot project is planned to be implemented by the end of this year.
The Coordination and Transformation of Mental Health Services in Post-conflict Settings is an EU-funded project implemented by WHO Azerbaijan to improve mental healthcare services at the primary care level.
The project aims to help establish a multidisciplinary coordination mechanism for MHPSS and to build mental healthcare response capacity in PHC facilities. This project is part of the European Union's and the WHO's continued support to Azerbaijan.
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Press Release
19 May 2023
IOM Azerbaijan and the State Migration Service organized the seminar on “the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM)” within the Regional Training Center on Migration
On 16 May 2023, IOM Azerbaijan and the State Migration Service (SMS) organized the seminar on “the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM)” for relevant government agencies within the Regional Training Center on Migration.
The event began with the official opening session where the participants were welcomed by Ms. Mujagic Amela, Chief of Mission IOM Office in Azerbaijan, Ms. Kanako Mabuchi, Head of UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Azerbaijan, Mr. Ulvi Aliyev, Head of department at the State Migration Service.
In his opening remarks, Ms. Mujagic Amela highlighted the importance of the seminar with the relative government agencies. She noted that the involvement of government agencies has made an important contribution to the effective coordination of migration issues.
“The implementation of the Global Compact’s commitments will require concerted and cooperative action not only by governments but also, in an inclusive spirit of partnership, by the many non-state actors who have an essential role to play in good migration governance, including civil society, the private sector, unions, migrant and diaspora organizations, academia and migrants themselves, amongst others,” said Ms. Mujagic Amela.
Ms. Kanako Mabuchi, Head of the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, apricated Azerbaijan’s efforts to introduce positive practices to support regular migration. “Azerbaijan was the first country in the region to join the Champion Country Initiative, and Azerbaijan is considered one of the leading countries in the implementation of GCM,” said Ms. Kanako Mabuchi.
Noting that Azerbaijan is active in the implementation of the Global Compact at both local and regional levels, Ulvi Aliyev, Head of the department at SMS, thanked IOM for its support of the Government in this field. “The country has been a strong supporter of the GCM since its inception and also step-up efforts to ensure its effective implementation in the future,” said Mr. Aliyev.
After opening speeches, participants - the representatives of state institutions were informed about the objectives and guiding principles of the GCM, priorities and work plan of UNMN Azerbaijan, GCM Reviews, GCM capacity-building mechanisms, Synergies with other summits, frameworks, Inter-state Consultation Mechanisms, priorities, vision, and GCM pledges of Azerbaijan as GCM Champion Country and consultations were held on the topics of the seminar.
It should be noted that the IOM Azerbaijan and SMS have previously held multilateral two-stage consultations to raise awareness of the Global Migration Pact. The consultations were organized for young people, students, volunteers, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations, the media, academia, and migrant communities
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Press Release
17 May 2023
WHO and Its National Health Partners Visited Shamakhi to Review the WHO Country Office's Activities in Strengthening Primary Health Care
Zaur Aliyev, Chairman of the Board of the State Agency for Mandatory Health Insurance, Vugar Gurbanov, Executive Director of the Management Union of Medical Territorial Units (TABIB), and Dr. Hande Harmancı, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Azerbaijan, visited the Shamakhi district to assess the efforts undertaken by the WHO Country Office in Shamakhi to strengthen primary health care (PHC) services. The purpose of the visit was to familiarize themselves with the work carried out until now and discuss future collaborations between WHO and the country's health institutions in this field.
The visit included meetings at WHO's Shamakhi Training Center, the Shamakhi Family Health Center (FHC), and the FHC located in Gushchu village. The guests were also introduced to the mobile clinics brought to the region through the WHO project in 2021. During these meetings, WHO experts and local health workers shared their experiences in the field of primary health care in the region and exchanged ideas on its future development.
At the end of the visit, future cooperation prospects were discussed between the country's health institutions and WHO, with the participation of the head of the Shamakhi District Executive Authority, Tahir Mammadov.
WHO Azerbaijan has so far implemented the PHC Demonstration, Shamakhi Fellowship Program, and other PHC-related activities in the district to develop an accessible, quality, and comprehensive primary health care model, improve the knowledge and skills of local medical workers, and strengthen the medical staff's capacity for PHC.
The WHO Country Office has been closely collaborating with national health partners to support the reforms implemented in Azerbaijan in recent years, aiming to strengthen the health system and achieve universal health coverage. Strengthening primary health care remains one of WHO's foremost priorities in the country.
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Press Release
12 May 2023
FAO together with Agrarco LLC supports hazelnut farmers in Azerbaijan
In the framework of the joint cooperation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Agrarco LLC, the capacity building activities were carried out through hands-on training and demonstrations to increase the knowledge and skills of hazelnut farmers from Zagatala, Balaken, Gakh, Oguz, Gabala and Khachmaz districts, with a main focus on the management of hazelnut orchards, preparation for the new season, application of sulphur, and fertilizer application incorporated within irrigation system.
The activities were carried out under the government funded "Catalysing the Efficiency and Sustainability of Azerbaijan’s Hazelnut Sector” project.
As part of the training sessions, small-sized farm owners participated in the demonstrations of technological innovations and processes applied by Agrarco LLC, one of the leading agribusiness companies in the agricultural production. The mutual exchange of experience created an opportunity to increase the skills and awareness of the participants in this field. All the activities are carried out in accordance with the joint agreement between FAO and Agrarco LLC.
The cooperation aims to consolidate several efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by expanding partnership activities with the private sector. Increasing the knowledge and skills of more farmers (especially small-sized farm owners), contributing to the further development of agricultural and food production systems in the country, and increasing the opportunities for co-financing from large-scale development funds, especially the Green Climate Fund (GCF), are among the main directions of activities.
During the practical training sessions held in Zagatala and Khachmaz, the farmers were provided with the detailed information about the ongoing activities in the hazelnut cultivation, and their importance for the region, as well as the hazelnut sector. During the sessions, 40 hazelnut farmers (9 women, 31 men) from the project's target regions were enlightened as to the seasonal diseases and control measures, preparation of different solutions and proper spraying of orchards by adjusting the sprayers. In addition, the participants were informed about the fertilization, fertilizer types and application norms that will have a positive effect on the future productivity of hazelnut trees, as well as their growth during the vegetation period. The application of proper fertilization through the fertigation method (technique of supplying dissolved fertiliser to crops through irrigation systems) was practically demonstrated to hazelnut farmers.
According to the agreement, it is aimed to organize such trainings and meetings continuously. The following experience exchange event is planned for the autumn covering the topics of proper harvesting, drying and storage. In addition, cooperation aiming at increasing the quality of the produced hazelnuts and adding value will be discussed as a joint activity of the parties at the next stage.
The project is being implemented by FAO together with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan within the framework of the FAO-Azerbaijan Partnership Program.
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