Azerbaijan

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This map does not reflect a position by UNICEF on the legal status of any country or territory or the delimitation of any frontiers.

A new State Programme on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development for 2006–2015 offers a road map to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Thanks in part to advocacy by UNICEF, it also encompasses child protection issues. Immunization rates in Azerbaijan for the most common childhood diseases are above 96 per cent.

Issues facing children in Azerbaijan

• The infant mortality rate for the poorest 10 per cent of Azerbaijanis is 10 times higher than for the richest 10 per cent. Infant and child mortality rates are also significantly higher in rural areas than in cities.
• Among children under five, 13 per cent suffer moderate to severe stunting.
• The official rate of HIV/AIDS is low, but it is possible that many cases go unreported. Among the risk factors which may increase prevalence are poor access to health care, lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS prevention, large numbers of internally displaced people and large populations of migrant workers from higher-prevalence countries.
• Although attitudes may be changing, public sentiment has traditionally favoured the institutionalization of children with disabilities and special needs and those lacking parental care.

Activities and results for children

• In early 2006, three million children and young people were immunized against measles and rubella. With support from UNICEF and its partners, government programmes routinely provide vitamin A supplements to new mothers and children under age six.
• A grant of $6 million from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has been used to fund the nation’s first comprehensive plan to address HIV/AIDS.
• UNICEF teamed up with Procter & Gamble to improve the childcare skills of 36,000 new mothers.
• UNICEF and its partners have provided essential drugs, supplies and training to hospitals and clinics in impoverished districts, improving the management of common childhood illnesses.
• Progress toward universal salt iodization is close to eliminating iodine deficiency disorders.
• The government has adopted UNICEF’s ‘Active Learning’ approach for education reform, and teacher training has begun.
• UNICEF and the World Food Programme operate a feeding programme in primary schools located in camps for internally displaced populations.
• Azerbaijan has completed a comprehensive analysis of its child protection systems, with an eye toward improving child welfare programmes nationwide.
• A plan to phase out the institutionalization of poor and disabled children was approved at the end of 2005. In late 2006, UNICEF and the government of Azerbaijan began a series of national and regional trainings to establish a system of social service workers and deepen practical knowledge related to child welfare reform.