FROM ORPHANAGE TO ADULTHOOD

Childhood…the most wonderful period of a lifetime when a still innocent child is growing up, surrounded by caring and loving parents who not only provide him with everything he needs but also help shape the values and priorities affecting his future life. So how do children deprived of this care - those who end up on the wayside of life by the will of fate and have neither a family nor hopes or plans for a prosperous future - get by?

Drifting into the unknown

The life of the residents of orphanages and boarding schools is dramatically different from the model of family life that we are accustomed to. This is not just about domestic, physical or financial difficulties and not even about the heavy moral burden carried by such children, who are devoid of familial support. What happens to them after they have to leave the orphanages - their temporary homes - which were not of their choosing?

Children leave orphanages and boarding schools after reaching the age of sixteen or eighteen. According to the law, keeping children who have turned eighteen in orphanages and boarding schools is prohibited, while the number of children approaching this age limit must be kept at a minimum. Moreover, we should differentiate between orphanages where children and orphans who have no family are brought up, and boarding schools, which mainly take care of children whose parents' financial status is so poor that they are unable to provide them with the necessary subsistence minimum.

According to organizations dealing with the problems of orphanage graduates, kids from orphanages attend nearby schools, while those from boarding schools study in the boarding schools themselves. After graduation children must be sent to vocational schools. But, naturally, the level of education in these institutions does not meet present-day educational standards and criteria and therefore, once they leave the environment of an orphanage a real struggle for survival is in store for them.

At the same time, two most significant tasks must be resolved: finding a job and somewhere to live in order to get by. Moreover, their shortage of education makes orphanage and boarding school graduates uncompetitive in the labour market and restricts them only to unqualified work.

According to Nazir Quliyev, the head of the Azerbaijan NGO Alliance for Children's Rights, finding a job is currently very difficult even for those who are not too particular. Therefore, the risk of children ending up in bad company after leaving orphanages and boarding schools, turning into beggars or becoming involved in crime is extremely high. Girls are particularly vulnerable in this respect.

The head of the "Clean World" NGO Mehriban Zeynalova says girls frequently become involved in prostitution and human trafficking and all this happens because of the lack of a guarantee for the protection of the rights and lives of boarding school graduates.

In Soviet times it was easier: the level of education was well established, there were absolutely no obstacles to receiving education, and there were no problems about finding a job and young people were even provided with apartments.

Everything for the orphans?

According to the Family Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the care of children deprived of parental care, including issues related to their further settling down in life, is entirely the responsibility of the government.

However, in reality, there are bureaucratic obstacles. The relevant authorities are failing to enforce the proper laws. For example, although according to the law "On social assistance" orphanage and boarding school graduates must be provided with housing - apartments or land plots where they can build houses for themselves - in fact these projects are not being implemented.

Musa Quliyev, a member of parliament and deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee for social policy, told R+ that the provision of housing for orphanage graduates is dealt with by the regional bodies of executive authorities, because they are in charge of the available housing facilities. Those deprived of parental care should receive apartments and land plots at the state's expense, or else they should be housed in dormitories (if they are studying at a higher educational institution, they should move to the dormitory of that institution - author), or housing should be leased for them, also at the state's expense. However, such applications are not even considered by the executive bodies. 

A source at the press service of the executive authorities of Baku told R+ that no one has applied to them so far regarding the provision of housing. Moreover, the executive authority does not have a department dealing with such matters. So, young people are having to make do by renting apartments or temporarily staying with their relatives and acquaintances. 

The programme of deinstitutionalisation adopted in 2006, which envisages working in two directions - implementing measures to prevent children ending up in boarding schools and orphanages and taking measures to return children to their families - is not working out very well, either. However, so far the mechanism of the second stage of deinstitutionalisation has not been fine-tuned, because in order to return such children to their families, they must, first of all, be provided with the essentials - proper compensation and a decent job. By the way, these points are reflected in the deinstitutionalisation programme.

According to MP Musa Quliyev, the process of the future settlement of graduates of orphanages and boarding schools is a major problem indeed, while the structural "disorder" just complicates it: the executive authorities are in charge of housing, while employment is overseen by the Foundation for Social Protection, and the Ministry of Education oversees receiving education. According to the deputy, it would be more useful to entrust the issues of deciding the fate of young people with the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs. Then the terms of control over the implementation of state programmes regarding former orphanage children would be simplified. 

Preferences 

The issues of receiving a proper education require particular attention, because some of the formerly "institutionalized" and "boarding-school" children begin receiving higher education, but upon turning 18 and having left these institutions, they have to drop out of school and look for work. Evidently, an incomplete higher education does nothing to facilitate their further successful employment, either. Therefore, it would be good for tuition fees (if it's paid education) to be undertaken by the government as well.

In Musa Quliyev's opinion, military service is preferable for young men (given that upon reaching the age of 18 they are drafted into the army), and upon completing it they can continue their military career, which guarantees them a salary and an apartment. There are also quite a few young men who have obtained jobs in the oil sector, having undergone the relevant training.

It is noteworthy that some work is being done in this area by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation: a building that houses 50 apartments slated for 100 people has been constructed and commissioned in the Nizami district of Baku. Former residents of orphanages who have started families and young single women can reside in this building. Besides, a special network connecting all the graduates of orphanages and boarding schools has been created; a number of organizations are holding training courses and studies at special centres as well. So, actually, there is hope that each graduate of an orphanage or a boarding school in Azerbaijan will be provided with a fresh start in life in the future.