World Vision Azerbaijan was nominated 'Best Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) of the year' for promoting Child Rights Protection this week
in the country's capital, Baku.
Organised by the Azerbaijani NGO Alliance for Child Rights Protection, the award passed from UNICEF, which was nominated in 2007.
Being a
champion of child rights protection is a worthy mission anywhere across the globe – but especially so in Azerbaijan, where children's rights have historically been tragically neglected with
harrowing consequences.
Though official figures vary, it is believed that somewhere between 18,000 – 20,000 children still live in dilapidated institutions across the country. Most of
these children have parents who are too poor or ill equipped to care for them.
Many of the institutionalised children have disabilities and therefore little hope of getting an education,
even though the disability may not affect their learning ability or potential.
Yet this is changing thanks to the government's commitment – and that of its partner organisations like
World Vision, to reform the child welfare system, including the deinstitutionalisation of children and the inclusion of children with disabilities in the mainstream education system.
'Most
of you know World Vision very well but I am particularly proud to emphasise that World Vision is a pioneer in promoting inclusive education in Azerbaijan', said the NGO Alliance member who handed the
award to World Vision's Program Director, Seifu Tirfie, during the ceremony.
'I am deeply touched and overwhelmed by this recognition, which is indeed the result of hard work by the whole
World Vision team and coordinated effort of all our partners. I am sure that this award inspires us to do an even better job for the children of Azerbaijan', said Tirfie.
World Vision has
worked with the government and partner organisations over the past four years on several local and nation wide child focused programs, including advocacy, education and healthcare.
The
organisation has been helping Azerbaijan's poor and marginalised since 1994 when it provided emergency assistance to families following the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh.
-Ends-
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Mothers and their children are seen at the Medicine Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic in Hawa Abdi, 20 km (12 miles) away from Mogadishu, in this picture released on June 26, 2008. ...
