FUTURE POLICY

Children's Day is one of the oldest international holidays. The need for the social protection of children's rights was proclaimed in 1924 in the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child. Children's Day was established in November 1949 at a session of the Women's International Democratic Federation. This holiday was first held in 1950 in 51 countries around the world. The UN supported the initiative and declared the protection of the rights, life and health of children one of its priorities.

Children's Day is celebrated annually on 1 June. But it is not just a holiday, it is also a reminder to adults about the needs and problems of children, and the threats they face. It is a signal that adults are responsible for children, their health, education, and in short, their future.

In anticipation of the holiday, we talked with the head of the UNICEF representative office in Azerbaijan, Mark Hereward, on how Azerbaijan is taking care of its future.

- How does UNICEF do its job amid successive wars, conflicts and revolutions in the world? Is it possible to protect the rights of children in such circumstances?

- As the UN Children's Fund, we are present in almost all countries, and according to our mandate, we protect and promote children's rights. At the same time, I would like to emphasize that we are not a police agency or another institution exercising strict control in the field of children's rights. Also, we cannot encourage or compel states to protect children's rights and conduct policies in this area. We are just an organization that helps each country to implement children's rights recognized by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

- The Nagornyy Karabakh conflict destroyed the fates of thousands of Azerbaijani children - they lost their parents and relatives, their homes and were expelled from their native lands. More than 20 years have passed since then, and children still share the fate of their parents, but are now fathers and mothers themselves. When will their rights be restored, if ever?

- I would like to emphasize that in Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons is indeed higher than in other countries. This makes it difficult to fully ensure the rights of every person, including refugees and internally displaced persons.

UNICEF has been operating in Azerbaijan since 1993. One of our goals is to support refugees and internally displaced persons and to improve their situation. However, with the acceleration of economic development and expansion of Azerbaijan's potential, the government itself has made large investments and implemented large-scale projects in the areas of child health, education, social security and improving the quality of services. As an international organization, we all hope and look forward to a peaceful settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. Let's hope that the rights of affected children are restored, and their return to their homes will be up to them alone. At present, your government is taking enough measures, and we will spare no efforts to support them.

- If you remember, just over a year ago, an Armenian sniper shot and killed a nine-year-old resident of the village of Orta Garvand in Azerbaijan's Agdam District, Fariz Badalov. Azerbaijan expressed its outrage and informed all international organizations about it. What steps did UNICEF take in connection with the death of the child? Was any protest sent to Armenia?

- As the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF is, of course, concerned about the violation of the rights of every child and wants children to live in peace. As prescribed by the Convention, the rights of every child should be secured and protected regardless of whether it is peace time or war.

Naturally, the death of the nine-year-old boy deeply upset us, like the death of any child. As for sending a protest to Armenia, I have to say no, because our mandate does not allow it.

- Can we consider Azerbaijan's policy on children satisfactory? Do you have any suggestions for this area?

- There is no country in the world where policies aimed at protecting children's rights are perfect. Therefore, in all countries, we work to assist the state on this. Azerbaijan has made significant progress in this area. One of its manifestations was the adoption of a law on social services last year. It is very gratifying.

This law covers two important points in terms of children's rights: First, it identifies social workers as a new profession; second, it sets a mechanism whereby the government pays specialized NGOs for services provided by these organizations. Both in policies and in legislation, Azerbaijan has made great progress in this field.

- When asked "who violates the rights of children?", who do you think about first?

- I do not know whether my answer will disappoint you or not, but I would like to say that we all somehow allow the violation of children's rights or violate them ourselves. Authorities, representatives of the media, fathers, mothers, grandparents or guests at an under-age girl's wedding - in other words, we are all responsible for this.

- Your organization is implementing a number of projects with Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations, including the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Are you satisfied with the results of these projects as a whole?

- For many years we have been working closely with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, and it is important that Mehriban Aliyeva's care, love and attention for children have become a guiding factor in our cooperation. Of course, UNICEF has extensive experience in implementing projects in this sector at the global level. And the Heydar Aliyev Foundation plays an important role in this process at the level of Azerbaijan. Therefore, combining the efforts of our two organizations, we organized a conference on children with disabilities last year. UNICEF brought together well-known international experts here. The conference analysed the problems of children with disabilities, exchanged information and increased attention to the problem. Even goodwill ambassadors of UNICEF gathered in Baku then. The Berlin Symphony Orchestra gave a concert, and its musicians also visited several centres for children with disabilities. Thus, we tried to show that all people are equal.

- What projects are you going to implement in Azerbaijan in the future? Is it possible that, given the country's economic development, some of your projects will be cut?

- Asked about future projects, I would like to turn to the past. As I said, UNICEF began working in Azerbaijan in a difficult period for the country and, initially, we also provided some financial assistance. But over time, the economic opportunities and capacity of the government have increased, and we have confined ourselves to consultative assistance in policy-making and exchange of international experience and knowledge with the government, NGOs and other interested sides. As for the financial side, I would like to emphasize that at the international level, the level of the finances allocated decreased and now we are trying to mobilize the efforts of local companies, businesses and other interested parties in this area in order to carry out projects with their investments.

- Measures to combat trafficking in children worldwide are not yielding the desired result. Why? 

- Trafficking in children is a painful problem because millions of children around the world are its victims. Of course, trafficking in children is a crime, but on the other hand, this kind of crime is a source of high financial returns, which means that behind these crimes are very powerful forces. Therefore, governments are required to show strong will to eradicate the problem. In addition, it is necessary to consolidate the efforts of civil society and other interested sides to make the settlement of this problem possible. In parallel, children need to be allocated powers and provided with appropriate services, so that they are not targeted by traffickers.