UNICEF is the global leader promoting and protecting children’s rights in 190 countries, including Azerbaijan.
For more than 25 years UNICEF has been working with the Government and people of Azerbaijan to provide every child with the best start to life. Their activities began during some of the country’s most difficult times, assisting refugees and internally displaced people from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and addressing the impact of economic hardships caused by the transition from Soviet power to independence in 1991. UNICEF now strives to build on the considerable progress Azerbaijan has made, economically and socially, over the last two decades. Poverty rates have dramatically decreased, child mortality rates have fallen, and primary school enrolment is almost universal.
UNICEF focuses its attention on those children who have not fully benefited from such advances. They work alongside the Government, communities and families in Azerbaijan to reach out to those children who remain vulnerable or at risk, to initiate new approaches to child and youth development, and to strengthen the national capacities and systems that support children and families.
They believe that to match the economic vision of the nation, an investment in the country’s youngest human capital – its children and young people – is one that will bring some of the greatest and longest-lasting dividends.
As Azerbaijan’s presence on the global stage increased, so has its commitments to achieving the Sustainable Development Agenda. In doing so, it has also made commitments to ensuring that no citizen – especially its children – is left behind. UNICEF’s work in Azerbaijan reflects that commitment, as we help support the development of new policies, legislation, standards and models of children’s services. We bring our global knowledge and experience to enhance local capacity not only to institutions but to the communities and individuals who work directly with children, and we shape better decision-making and allocation of resources through collection and analysis of data on the situation of children.
The programmes we support cover Integrated Early Childhood Development, Quality and Inclusive Education, Social Services and Child Protection, Adolescent and Youth Development and Participation, and Child Rights Monitoring – each designed to contribute to the five goals of UNICEF’s global vision for a sustainable future:
UNICEF is working to build a healthier, more inclusive and just society for every child in Azerbaijan, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children.
