Diplomacy

Helping Me, Helping You

Humanitarian Aid

Azerbaijan has burst onto the international scene as a provider of energy and a venue for international events.

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation is renowned in Azerbaijan for the work it has done to support the population. With the First Lady, Mehriban Aliyeva, the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, celebrating her 50th birthday as a charity event, a culture of community outreach is starting to appear in the right places. Through the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA), Azerbaijan is now looking further afield, with external programs being sponsored in greater number. The timing of the country’s step into the international humanitarian scene could not be better timed, as Azerbaijan will be in the spotlight before, during, and after the first European Games.

Azerbaijan now has a low percentage of the population living in poverty. Between 2007 and 2012, poverty and unemployment was heavily reduced in Azerbaijan reaching 6% and 5.2% respectively. Poverty and unemployment are not, of course, the only areas in which charitable foundations can take. However, national success in this field has allowed charitable projects to explore a variety of areas. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation has established kindergarten schools at Sabirabad, while the Regional Information Center for the physically disabled has provided specialized ICT access for the visually impaired. Success in projects such as these have allowed the Heydar Aliyev Foundation to expand. Through its representaion in Moscow, it has now been involved in projects in Russia, such as the Azerbaijani Ethno-cultural School named after Karim Karimov in Moscow and a school in Ulyanovsk under the Support to Education project. In the US, the Foundation has cooperated with Save a Child’s Heart in Washington in April 2014. Although the project will primarily support Azerbaijani patients, community projects are branching out and progressing at a rapid rate. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation has now been running for over 11 years and opportunities for it to make its mark on a global level are plentiful.

The AIDA is a recent addition to Azerbaijan’s humanitarian efforts, established in 2011 under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So far, projects have been focused on Palestine, Cuba, Syria, and Burkina Faso. Although the projects have not been particularly plentiful, their establishment is a positive move, and they have been spread far beyond the surrounding region. Support from the Islamic Development Bank, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and possible cooperation with SOS International is also encouraging.

Despite recent concerns over oil prices, Azerbaijan has enjoyed significant economic growth and prosperity in recent years. Events such as the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and the first European Games have presented a platform for the country to impress in a number of areas. The Games have ensured that the tourism and services sectors have grown and developed considerably, but visitors and observers will also be interested to see how the country has developed in other ways. Providing humanitarian aid is a point of pride for many countries and a symbol of development. Azerbaijan has made critical steps in demonstrating its intentions, but it will be some time before Azerbaijan can be associated with charity in the same way as countries such as Myanmar where 91% of the population gives to charity and the US where an average of $2,500 per person is donated every year.

As oil prices continue to cause concerns, and with the Manat dropping in value, there has been some apprehension whether the prices in the country will rise. It is a pivotal moment for Azerbaijan to carry on from where they have left off in terms of charitable pursuits. If it can ride these economic challenges and still manage to develop charitable projects, both inside and outside of Azerbaijan, the country can prove both the extent of its development and its intention to continue along these lines in the future.

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