Magic Carpet
Check out our fun fact sheet FOR KIDS!
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Why Azerbaijan? Meeting a Need
The Republic of Azerbaijan is nestled in the Caucasus Mountains between the
Russian Federation and Iran. To its west lie Georgia and Armenia, and to the east it
is bordered by the Caspian Sea (see map).
Azerbaijan is a country rich in human and natural resources, as well as deeply
entrenched problems such as corruption, environmental pollution, decaying Soviet
infrastructure and the consequences of an unresolved territorial dispute.
It may take generations to overcome these problems – yet the children of
Azerbaijan are not being prepared to do so. Throughout Azerbaijan there are large
populations of impoverished children and youth who face no or inadequate access
to food, shelter, education, health care, and job training. Hundreds of thousands
have refugee or IDP (internally displaced person) status, their future linked to
resolution of the war for Nagorno-Karabakh in western Azerbaijan. Countless
others are from families that have never recovered from the economic upheaval
following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Over 85% of children in orphanages
have parents who are still alive – but cannot afford to raise them (Ministry of
Youth, Sport and Tourism, 2004). Disabled children are also institutionalized with
little hope of becoming full members of society. Even those children who live in
families that are comparatively well off economically face sociocultural problems
like nepotism and domestic violence that pass on pessimism and apathy to the next
generation.
The children of Azerbaijan will inherit this mixed legacy - unless the cycle of learned
passivity can be stopped. Volunteer now to help Magic Carpet work with the youth
of Azerbaijan and their caregivers to empower them to improve their own lives.
Russian Federation and Iran. To its west lie Georgia and Armenia, and to the east it
is bordered by the Caspian Sea (see map).
Azerbaijan is a country rich in human and natural resources, as well as deeply
entrenched problems such as corruption, environmental pollution, decaying Soviet
infrastructure and the consequences of an unresolved territorial dispute.
It may take generations to overcome these problems – yet the children of
Azerbaijan are not being prepared to do so. Throughout Azerbaijan there are large
populations of impoverished children and youth who face no or inadequate access
to food, shelter, education, health care, and job training. Hundreds of thousands
have refugee or IDP (internally displaced person) status, their future linked to
resolution of the war for Nagorno-Karabakh in western Azerbaijan. Countless
others are from families that have never recovered from the economic upheaval
following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Over 85% of children in orphanages
have parents who are still alive – but cannot afford to raise them (Ministry of
Youth, Sport and Tourism, 2004). Disabled children are also institutionalized with
little hope of becoming full members of society. Even those children who live in
families that are comparatively well off economically face sociocultural problems
like nepotism and domestic violence that pass on pessimism and apathy to the next
generation.
The children of Azerbaijan will inherit this mixed legacy - unless the cycle of learned
passivity can be stopped. Volunteer now to help Magic Carpet work with the youth
of Azerbaijan and their caregivers to empower them to improve their own lives.
A snapshot of Azerbaijan
in statistics:
Jan. 25, 2007)
Resolution, 1995)
in statistics:
- 20% of the population
earned less than the
official poverty line of $65
a month in 2006
Jan. 25, 2007)
- 36% of the population of
8.2 million is under age 18; - adult literacy is 97%, but
elementary school
attendance has fallen to
88% since independence
in 1991; and - 13% of children under age
5 show symptoms of
stunted growth
- over 1 million people have
been displaced from their
homes in the Nagorno-
Karabakh region and the 7
occupied districts
surrounding it
Resolution, 1995)
