"sIDe-tALKs" Azerbaijan

A PRIDE OF AFRICA –MADIBA

2011-07-18T15:20:00.000+05:00

A speech presentation on July 16th, 2011 in celelebration of "Mandela". Every year, the United nations have marked July 18th as a day to remember and celebrate the achievements of Nelson Mandela.

Madiba is the local name that most South Africans know the person we have all gathered here for. We celebrate him because he is, first, a true son of Africa; representing the finest that Africa is made of. Then he is a champion citizen of the world because his life and stories is a landmark every peace loving man or woman would want to be associated with irrespective of country, race, or belief.

Madiba is celebrated all across Africa. He is recognized as the first African Leader all over the world because the impact of his action despite felt more in South Africa, it had come to define how the world sees Africa. Prior to his global celebrated status as a world statesman, the world was only familiar with persons like Mahatma Gandhi, Pope John Paul, John F. Kennedy, Wilson Churchill, all great people. But notice the trend; they are all from the white race. Madiba elevated Africa and put Africa in the spectrum of lovers and champions of peace.

Africans have always loved to tolerate and very open to foreigners and guest to its continent. A typical African would never choose to disparage or segregate against any man or woman irrespective of origin. This was the reason why blacks tolerated the Europeans, particular Western Europe, to come and sojourn within them. It never occurred to my African ancestors that their good intent would turn out to become a great injustice to them and also a generational anguish for their children and their children’s children. All across Africa, in every corner, you will see the negative effect of colonialism. Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa, the consequences are similar. This is why Africans can easily associate with problems in Africa no matter what country of Africa it is happening. This is why all sons and daughter of Africa celebrates Nelson Mandela, and we take pride in his achievements because we can relate directly with his life.
Nelson Mandela, actually Rolihlahla Mandela was born into a royal family.

Like most names in Africa, Rolihlahla has got a symbolic meaning –troublemaker, or pulling branches out of a tree. And so Madiba life represents the true meaning of his name, at least, until he went to prison for standing up for justice and against oppressive apartheid regime in South Africa. Madiba was mandated to live a life he wouldn’t have chosen. Again, due to white colonialism in Africa, exploiting all that is good about Africa, and upon that, oppressing the people. For South Africa, as the white increased in number, they systematically created a government that excluded the black even though the blacks were in majority. Like is the case with every African colonial master, the emphasis is always that the white race is superior, and they showed it in their rule of law. All rules made were only favorable to the whites with no or little consideration to the blacks.

Madiba was a bright young man who strived to educate himself even in challenging situations. As a very young man he was ambitious and hungry to address the injustice he is witnessing in his ancestral homeland. Madiba was inspired by his elders before him who had the courage to start the war of resistance. Madiba resolved within himself that he would support the struggle of his people because he knows that is the just thing to do. During his early study years, Mandela became actively involved in the Students Representative Council. As a member of the Council, he led the boycott of university policies that were not favorable to blacks. His activity got him dismissed from studies but he remained resolute because of what he strongly believes in, that is fight for justice for his people. Together with his friend, Mandela started a law firm that provides free or low cost legal council to blacks who lacked attorney representations. His reputation grew among his people and Mandela joined and rose up in ranks in the African National Congress (ANC. Mandela influenced increased and he was seen as a threat. At this particular time in the history of Africa, there were prominent Africans who were also raising their voices against colonialism. In Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah was leading charge for independence, in Nigeria, it was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo; these sons of Africa although not globally celebrated as Mandela because of the peculiar situation that is South Africa -apartheid, but these Africans played a vital role to the final emancipation of Africa from colonialism.

Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in 1964 for an allegation of treason against the state. His influence was seen as a threat to the status quo. At this time in Africa struggle, blacks were gaining grounds. Again, Nigeria, Ghana, and most African countries were already independent nations. Because whites had gained lots of authority in South Africa that they wouldn’t want to relinquish, they had to device a method of total elimination of effective challenge to their apartheid authority, so Mandela and so many others in the ANC were targeted. So many peace loving persons all across the globe saw this as injustice, and over the years of his imprisonment, Mandela’s prominence expanded. His true reason for developing his anti- apartheid fight became clearer, and so many activists across Africa, Europe and America joined in the fight, with focus on the release of Mandela. Mandela ended up spending 27 years in prison and in February 1990 he was freed. Four years after, in April 1994 he won election through majority vote to become the first black president of South Africa. The whole of Africa celebrated his victory just as they celebrated his freedom and the whole world joined in the celebration.

They broke him, but they couldn’t kill the spirit. Madiba was resilient and because of the African mentality of can-do, the cautiousness that if he fails, he fails the whole of Africa, so, he had to be strong and continue to believe that there is justice and with justice there is no grievance. In his most famous speech, when he was sentenced to life in prison, Mandela had this to say: "During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Mandela’s character as expressed in this statement is true about Africa. His character is what I see in me, in my father, my father’s father and my African brothers and sisters. It is the character that forgives, the character that sees everyone as equals, the in-born character that loves everyone equally and holds no grudges. Mandela walked the walk; he didn’t just talk the talk. As the first black president of South Africa he helped unite the country. His action is well remembered in 1995 when Mandela encouraged black South Africans to get behind the previously hated Springboks (the South African national rugby team) as South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After the Springboks won the final over New Zealand, Mandela presented the trophy to captain Francois Pienaar, while wearing a Springbok shirt with Pienaar's own number 6 on the back. This was widely seen as a major step in the reconciliation of white and black South Africans.

There are so many other significant actions by Mandela in sustaining unity in South Africa, and development in Africa as a whole. His AIDs campaign, make poverty history -ONE campaign, initiative for good governance and democracy in Africa.

Madiba is reverenced high in the hearts of all descendants of Africa. Just ask Barack Obama, Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Beyonce Knowles, et al. The one person of African descendant other than Marthin Luther King Jr. who all the famous men and women of color would want to be associated with will always be Nelson Mandela “Madiba of Africa. Actually, put me in that list as well and I guarantee there is whole lot of us that proudly recognize Madiba as all that is good about Africa.

NO SECTOR SHOULD BE LEFT BEHIND IN AZERBAIJAN

2011-07-08T15:26:00.001+05:00

Oral Presentation by International Eurasia Press Fund, NGO with Special Consultative Status of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Division of UNITED NATIONS. Speech made at the 2011 High Level Segment in Geneva, with the theme of the segment centered on Education.

PRESENTER: UMUD MIRZAYEV; CHAIRMAN

TOPIC: NO SECTOR LEFT BEHIND

THEME OF PRESENTATION: ENCOURAGING EQUAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EDUCATION AS A MEANS TO ENSURE SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOR THE WAR VICTIMS OF AZERBAIJAN AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

Azerbaijan inherited its education system from the Soviet system and because post-independent Azerbaijan is moving towards the western systems, there was need for major reforms. Such changes are neither simple nor fast, and it is taking a lot longer than anticipated. Beginning from 1999, the Azerbaijan government has carried out several measures to develop the education system from Nursery level to higher education level. In 2005, the President of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, issued a decree on establishing an education commission aimed at: improving the quality of education at all levels of education in line with the new developments taking place in the world; and, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the education system in order to devise possible options for further improvement. As a consequence of the decree, in 2005 UNESCO facilitated a conference in Geneva on “Reform of the Education System in Azerbaijan for a Sustainable Future”. The conference helped identify the objectives, which are identifying the gaps and loopholes in the Education system and then presenting a durable path for the eradication of these gaps and loopholes.

Despite government efforts in reforming the Education System in Azerbaijan, there remain challenges. For instance, Azerbaijan was a signatory to the “Bologna system” of education, which includes a harmonized three steps of higher education. However, the law is yet to be fully adopted in Azerbaijan. This is one of the many challenges that have remained unaddressed in the Education System.

UNICEF has been working with the government to ensure that meaningful reforms are achieved. UNICEF reports that the rural areas suffer most from the deficiencies in education system. Several other observations from other UN agencies in Azerbaijan have stated that statistically, children of rural communities’ dwellers that begin primary education are very low compared to the central capital Baku. There is also the problem of dropping out of school before the completion of the studies. Most parents have no particular interest in allowing their children to finish school, especially when they can be more immediately useful with domestic activities or in the family business. This is true for boys and girls.

Most of the problems Azerbaijan faces as a nation are either directly or indirectly associated with the unresolved conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The conflict obviously is a major element in the key problems affecting primary education. The conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh area of Azerbaijan resulted in much of Azerbaijan territory contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance. Some are landmines buried by soldiers, and some are remnants of artillery from soviet USSR that were stockpiled in these regions. The landmines have continued to kill and cause permanent physical damage. In Azerbaijan there are many landmine victims, those who were directly handicapped because of participation in the war, and also those who are accident of landmines explosion. This situation is directly related to the reason of low primary school enrolment in the rural areas near the line of contact, and also with the early school dropout. The uncertainty created by landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) is undermining education because - as a result of the complex situation - most parents fear losing their children to unexploded ordnance that they might likely come in contact with walking to school, especially when left unsupervised. Moreover, some families in these regions lack adequate financial support to procure basic materials such as books, pencils, textbooks, etc that would ensure their children have proper education.

ACTION IMPACT DESCRIPTION:

The topic “No Sector Left Behind” would mean that no sector, no region of Azerbaijan should be left behind in development. Azerbaijan benefits a lot from the sales of its extensive oil and gas; the revenue from these resources is helping development of various sectors. UNICEF sponsored analysis of budget allocations and found that Azerbaijan allocates the smallest proportion of GDP to education of any country in the CIS. Moreover, by default, most of the government effort in development plans is centred on Baku whereas the other regions have suffered greatly. The deficiency is witnessed more in the rural areas. Therefore, “No Sector Left Behind” is a two-pronged: meaning that the government of Azerbaijan has to pay attention to all sectors of development; (with top priority to be given to education) and it should be in all regions. No sector should be left behind; particularly education because there is a strong correlation between education and all of the above development areas. Vibrant education systems ensure that there is a future that brings prosperity today and a better tomorrow.

The majority of the landmine victims are also Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). In essence encouraging no sector is left behind would entail that proper government policies are enacted to encourage more teachers; the school management must be developed in order that proper curriculum is emplaced at location where the IDPs are residing. Old schools that were built since soviet times have to be renovated and brought to standard. The government of Azerbaijan is reminded of the consequences of neglecting their commitment to fulfilling the agreed Millennium Development Goal by 2015. War victims and their families deserve equal opportunities to all other citizens; rural dwellers in communities affected by landmines should remain a government priority because they are challenged without ideal circumstances to serve as the proper pathway to become educated.

Agencies involved in education development must get involved and assist in through trainings and refreshers courses for teachers and school managements. Any positive support to the national educational system would consequently support war victims to better opportunity. A better educated victim would become knowledgeable on the benefit of peace, on the need to become agents of peace, and also mine risk education that is mandated to be included in school curriculum at territories affected by landmines /ERW would become more meaningful. Besides, victims would serve as a model of encouragement on the importance of education. IEPF has experience working with these categories of persons and has success stories to share of the vocational trainings courses we are offering to the war victims, their family members and the communities affected by landmines and ERWs. Through our shared experience, national government can emulate, replicate, or even develop programmes that would ensure equal human development so that no sector is left behind.

WHAT IEPF IS DOING TO ASSIST?

To assist with these challenges, IEPF is supporting education for the war victims and their family members through the provision of the vocational trainings offered at a 2-storey Vocational Training Centre built in Terter region of Azerbaijan through the financial support of the US government. The centre helps provide alternative skills for parents so they can have gainful employment and be able to support their family including sending their children to have proper education. The center also provides skills to youths from homes of landmine victims who because of the circumstance that they faced might not have had the opportunity for proper education. So for these youths, it’s a second chance to be educated. The vocational training center is operated with a prepared standard curriculum, training courses conducted by professional experts, and for IEPF, it is a good step in ensuring that a sector of the country that is lacking in professional qualification is helped so as to encourage equal human development across regions of Azerbaijan.

RECOMMENDATION FOR ECOSOC:

First, ECOSOC should conduct high level meetings for more dialogues with governments of developing countries on the commitment to fulfilling the MDG 2. Too many national governments are nonchalant about their respective commitment. High level dialogues would ensure that the issue is made a forefront because with the series of events happening in the world (war, terrorism, natural disasters), achieving primary education has been relegated far backwards in a way. Second, ECOSOC should also promote more regional activities through NGOs in consultative status. Through these events, there would be awareness within the level of the civil society. In turn the civil society that is aware of the MDG 2 would be responsible in putting pressure on their national government. Third, ECOSOC should make it a priority to encourage education even during war situation. During times of war, children at schools are often targeted. ECOSOC can aggressively pursue, through agencies responsible for defending human rights, all perpetrators of war crimes, particularly those who have targeted school children.

THE COMPLEX TRUTH ABOUT KARABAKH -AZERBAIJAN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

2011-01-21T12:57:00.001+04:00

Taking back the occupied Azerbaijan territories from Armenia occupied forces has turn to be a wide goose hunt for the millions of Azerbaijanis who were wrongly ejected from their mother land. The most painful of the whole saga is that these victims who are still suffering from the devastation of the displacement are forced to observe and see how their fate is almost entirely left to world career politicians to indulge in what they normally do –which is, play politics as usual. The percentage of Azerbaijanis that see the role of the mediating parties favorable /unfavorable has continued to rise in the negatives. The consensus opinion and question in the minds of the majority is: “what is stopping the world communities –Russia, US and France, even special groups like MINSK to do what is right and be categorical in support of Azerbaijan despite realizing that Armenia is the illegal occupants of a territory that is obvious rightly belongs to Azerbaijan”.

From the present state of event on the matter, it is logical to assume that perhaps someone is not telling the truth to his fellow country people, and that someone is the Armenia government, and Armenia politicians. For if the truth should be told in clear terms, for certain, even Armenians on the streets of Yerevan would join in championing that true justice is done and the occupied territory be returned to the rightful owner - who are the many hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis living as displaced persons in their country.

I won’t go into the countless UN resolutions on the conflict, or the good intentions of well meaning states and national government in resolving the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia; suffice it to say that all these resolutions and conclusions from fact findings of government missions have been in favor of Azerbaijan. But, Armenia government has remained adamant in its mission to continue occupying the Karabakh territories. Let it even be assumed that Armenia has got a defined intention which is to defend the inhabitants of the Karabakh regions, but the population is drastically reduced as more and more people leave the region to Turkey, Russia, and Georgia in search of greener pastures , or move inwards Armenia where at least life is relatively not so bad. Furthermore, the morals of the Armenia soldiers defending the occupied territories is so low that if given a chance most would undertake the same quest taken by Karen Harutunyan who recently crossed into Azerbaijani borders.

Going by the story of the Armenia soldier on AWOL, there are lots of sufferings, lack of material and morals support from the Armenia government. Therefore it’s perplexing that the message Armenia sends to the world is that of genuine concerns for the Nagorno-Karabakh populations whereas, the real intention of Armenia government is to use the issue as a means to get it wants, which is to continue milking the cow, in this case, leave the means open for the billions of foreign aids it receives from rich countries particularly USA, France, and Russia.

Armenia politicians have perfected the act of propaganda and are using it as a potent weapon. There is always a story, most times persuasive, to be told from the Armenia side on how Azerbaijan is the agitator in the conflict. Armenia government has accused Azerbaijan of all sorts of acts violating the cease fire agreement. And somehow these messages have been convincing to the Three-Power, who take the Armenia story hook, line and sinker. Actually it takes 2 to cause a problem, but any time Armenia stirs up a problem to provoke Azerbaijan towards retaliation, the tactics for Armenia is to run, take cover and forcefully project the Azerbaijan reactions through its propaganda machine, and in most cases the counter attack from Azerbaijan military is amplified to look excessive. A point in case is the July incident where an Azerbaijani soldier in defending himself under attack opened fire, killed about 4 Armenia soldiers and injured a few others before he was subdued and shoot to death. The story emanating from the Armenia is that Mubariz Ibrahimov, the deceased, violated the cease fire boundaries and was under no attack from the Armenia forces. That even days after the incident, it is for provocation that Armenia military force refused to release the corpse of Mubariz Ibrahimov to Azerbaijan. I might not know the terms or rules of engagement in the war so well, but logically, the action of the Armenia military is not that which leads to peace. Equally saddening is the silence of the world community despite when it is clear that Armenia continues in most cases disregards all laws.

Peace can be achieved in Azerbaijan only and only when all sides begin to tell the truths. It is important that Azerbaijan delegates involved in the peace process tell the citizens the whole truth and then stop making popular rhetoric. The over 500,000 displaced persons need to know their fate. The peace-talk has not yielded any positive results and nobody can for sure say that in the near future there is a hope of a positive outcome from all of the peace initiatives. Azerbaijanis would like to know in clear terms what the other options are if peradventure the peace talk fails. The United States, a major player on world peace, should stop acting mushy to the issue. For instance, the US Secretary of States –Hilary Rodman Clinton in her recent statements on the Karabakh problem did not make any clear-cut statement as to US agenda on the path to peace. Furthermore, the most recent meetings by Russia president –Dimitry Medvedev with Barack Obama, the president of US, one would have hoped that, considering that peace in Nagorno-Karabakh would play a big role in regional peace that eventually promotes global peace, therefore, there meeting in Moscow would have been a good opportunity to promote peace in the regions. But sadly that was not the focal discussion.

Azerbaijanis are right to demand that US takes a firm stand, not as an act of payback, but that the US government takes a stand on the side of truth and justice, demanding that Armenia government do the right thing and leave the Azerbaijan territory. One can argue in favor of Azerbaijan based of the strategic position Azerbaijan is to US foreign policies; US - Azerbaijan bilateral relations is of high benefit especial in the war on terrorism where Azerbaijan military force played a great role in Iraq and now presently in the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. Moreover, US depend on Azerbaijan heavily for the actualization of energy independence for her allies in Europe.

If ending the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is considered a serious issue, then it is very reasonable to know the truth from the US president as to what are his demands from his counterpart. If judging by the signal Russia sends, the most recent, which is an extension of its military base in Armenia until 2044, would it be right to conclude that Azerbaijan is played a pawn in this whole incident.

Russia, France and even USA have always vetoed all UN resolutions concerning the immediate removal of the Armenian forces from the Azerbaijan territories. The 3 countries want the continuation of peace dialogues headed by the MINSK group. The logic of a continuous reliance on a process that is more exclusive of the ordinary people that it is inclusive is baffling. It is no secret France, Russia and USA have sent a wrong signal that signifies rallying behind Armenia So there is no way the judgment of the MINSK group would not be clouded by sentiments. Some Azerbaijani intelligentsias have asked the question “why isn’t Turkey welcomed into the group?” Their reasoning is that if Armenia has got the “open” support of these 3 strong players, and since there is no denying that Turkey has an unquestionable strong support for Azerbaijan as well, so Turkey involvement in the process can only help create balance; at least someone in the group would be telling the Azerbaijani sides of the story that is not filtered down.

In all this, I would say let the interest of all in the actualization of peace in the Nagorno-Karabakh area be for the people, for the over 500,000 Azerbaijanis living their lives as displaced persons. These people have suffered enough, like as if their plight no longer matters, and it is just and very fair that they return to the place they know as home. The common Azerbaijanis and I’m equally certain, the common Armenians are peaceful people and can leave as peaceful neighbors. If only the world powers, particular the super powers, can see through all those stories generated by propaganda machines with the intended purpose to mislead, peace in Nagorno-Karabakh can be achieved even now.

DEBATING GENDER PROBLEMS WITH STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITIES IN BAKU, AZERBAIJAN

2010-06-25T17:50:00.004+05:00

In March 2009, the World Bank Baku Office and the Council for State Support to NGOs under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan announced the new round of the CIVIL SOCIETY FUND PROGRAM 2009 (SCF09) under the topic Youth - Equal Opportunities. The Baku International Students Club (BISC) meeting the criteria for applying organization, and coupled with her several activities in involving students and youths in debating global problems applied for the fund and it was granted under the project title: Identify potential gender problems in Azerbaijan and proffering solutions through engaging youths on multiple debates/discussion sessions in 2 different Baku Universities. In general, main target of the project is to conduct 2 debates in 2 universities in Baku, one private and one public institute.

In March and May of 2010, BISC conducted 2 debates in Tourism University (public) and Khazar University (private) respectively. The main goal of the project was to identify steps towards addressing the problems associated with gender inequalities in Azerbaijan. To achieve this goal, BISC set up the following objectives as the output to be derived, that:

Azerbaijani youths are sensitized to the issue of gender equality
There is an awakening within the nation on a collective societal approach towards addressing the issue on gender inequalities
Youths become the champions of gender equality in various sections of the country
The youths would have provided a blueprint solution to the issues of gender inequality

From the 2 debates conducted, it was observable that the objectives were achieved as the end product of the project. In both debates, over 120 youths participated both as observers and as panelists; visible staff of Universities at the debate were about 20; experts and consultants involved within the debates were about 15 persons. All these groups of persons are now aware of the debated gender issues and have become agents of dissemination of the positive message and expert contributions derived from the conducting the debates. Furthermore, brief televising the debates as a news summary in various national TVs and several promotional talks on radios ensured that the project impacts families even in their living rooms.

Inequality a part of a bigger gender imbalance in the global societies

The inherent right of every human on earth is the ability to live as free citizens, irrespective of geography location or race. It is also the right of every man and woman to be treated as equal. It is this inherent right that some has tagged as the God given right to every human in earth. However, over many years of existence, it cannot be said nor established that people have lived as equal citizens. There has always been that element of disparity and inequality, whether in the larger society or even in the smaller units of family. People have always associated based on identified class. A good point in case is the caste living in India, where some persons are seen as inferior class and so generations after generations, the lineage of such persons are disparaged. It is also observable in Africa, where some families are segregated out and are called the forbidden; a typical point in case is the “Osu clan” of the Ibo tribes found in eastern Nigeria.

In the 19th century, when slave trade was prominent in the west, humans were forcefully removed from their place of comfort and origin and taken to distance land to work under force. This act was purely a subjugation of the God freely given right to every human to be born free and to live free. The disparity in human freedom has evolved with time. Nowadays, with the abolition of slave trade, even with great more awareness in the need for all population of the world to live with the notion that they are free citizens of the world, there is still that element of disparity. George Orwell in his famous book “Animal Farm” that was first published in England in 1945, pointed out the laws of animals and it also include as one of the commandment that “all animals are born equal”. However, in that story that law didn’t hold through as conscious efforts were made by some superior animals to alter the law and make it seem as "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". This scenario explained in George Orwell plot has truly captures the present problem that is very eminent among world population in modern times.

Inequalities are a broad problem and have got no limitation to age group. However, there is a significant high rate observed among youths of today. According to the report of the International Center for Research for Women (ICRW), in categorizing some of the key constraints and barriers that ultimately yield to youth inequalities, the categories are:

In adequate Education and Employment
Unemployment and Underemployment
Gender-Specific Issues
Equal Employment and Opportunity

In addressing the problems associated with equal opportunities, BISC has identified gender-specific issues as a main problem affecting youths in Azerbaijan and this problem is under-discussed. It should be known that gender problems have no known boundary. Just as the problem is observable in the west and it is also a major problem in communities in Africa and Eastern countries. There is a high rate of gender inequalities among youths. But the point remains that any form of inequality no matter in what magnitude is a problem that should be addressed. True statistics has shown that the problem with gender is more in developing countries that in developed countries and what that entails is that there are lots of factors including instability and poverty that galvanizes the development of gender problems.

True gender problem is not exclusive to a particular sex and age group. Masculinity, or femininity, different problem for different categories, but statisticians and experts on the issue have identified that the group that suffers most on gender inequality are the feminine genders and the most observable age groups are the youths.

Highlighting case of observable gender inequalities in Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan, gender inequality is a problem and it’s relatively known as such in the families and communities. This conclusion can be drawn from selected response from the UNDP 2007 Human Development Report Gender Attitudes in Azerbaijan: Trends and Challenges Men and Women of Azerbaijan Speak on Gender Attitudes.

One female respondent remarked, “There are more needy women than men. During economic transition women are first to become unemployed. Unemployment breeds poverty. Women’s choice is more limited than men’s. Under the present conditions, it is not women that select jobs – jobs select women.” Another young woman remarked “… if we had an education we would not be afraid of anybody, I mean of men. We could go and work.” And a man supports the argument saying, “Today, finding the ideal husband in Azerbaijan is like winning the Jackpot in the lottery. Parents cannot be fully sure that their daughters will be happy in the future. That is why they make their girls study so that they can work in sanitary and proper jobs in the future.”

So, we can conclude that the problems with gender inequalities in Azerbaijan are established and the trend is that the womenfolk, especially young women are more in the receiving end.

The matter is even not helped much where in ignorance most of the Azerbaijani men literally view the women folks as a subject figure rather than as an equal. In the same UNDP report 2007, two male respondents remarked, “In our families, power belongs to men. It has always been like this. Our traditions propagate this idea” and “…His wife has to listen to him. Otherwise there will be disputes and the family will be divided. If one is fire, the other one has to be the water so they can live together.” Their statement was put in better perspective by one woman who remarked that “There are men who do not earn anything. Women work and bring money but men treat them as if it is women’s obligation and not a favour to men.” It would not be totally proper to lump the whole society and portray the representation from the report as what is obtainable in Azerbaijan. Nonetheless, the views represented are in agreement with a sizeable number of the population irrespective of what side of the argument one might be on.

The debate

BISC conducted several meetings and mock debates prior to the 2 main debates at the Universities. The purpose of the mock debates was to prepare the participants on the formats for presentation of their various points of views. Also in the meetings, the various identified problem with gender inequalities among the youths of Azerbaijan were discussed. The officials of World Bank office, Baku –Saida Bagirli and Nigar Sadikhova were very assistive in the preparation of the debates. Their advice and suggestions were highly instrumental to the successful conduct of the debates. The Rector of Tourism University Prof. Cafar Cafarov was delighted for the project initiatives as he was in agreement that despite gender inequality is a known problem to majority of Azerbaijanis that it exists, but it is almost rarely talked about in the mainstream society. He was also of the view that targeting youths is a good initiative as that is the demography where the problem is predominant in Azerbaijan societies.

The President of Khazar University, Prof. Hamlet Isakhanli shared the viewpoint of the Rector of Tourism University. He also pointed out the various positive accomplishments in the area of gender equality in Azerbaijan where more prominent women are beginning to head several organizations, agencies, and even ministerial cabinets. Some experts in the debates from the lot that were all females were heads of their various organizations. They also remarked that there are a good number of female representatives in the Azerbaijani parliament and all the females are excelling in their representations. More and more women are even taking up the challenge to aspire to the top and this was not always the situation. Lucrative jobs that were in that past deemed fit for only the men folks are now been challenged by the female too. More women are now either working, or are no more comfortable as just been housewives. Of course it also means that the Azerbaijani men are begin to understand that for a better society, there is a need to have equal opportunities for the boys and the girls, the men and the women without any disparity based on gender.

The debate panelists argued for and against the question: Is gender inequalities a problem in Azerbaijan families and societies? The trend of the debate was almost predictable where the boys in the panels argued that there is almost no disparity between boys and girls in the family and the society and the girls were for yes there are significant oblivious inequality especially in the society. Some of the points raised by the debaters were:

High rate of domestic violence in the family
More importance accorded to male child than female child as a result high rate of female mortality at birth
Low interest on women folks that want to be involved in state owned infrastructures
Nonchalance towards the problems faced by certain categories related to gender problems
Poor orientation of the population on their basic rights as equal citizens
Non-availability of equal options for the boys as is accorded to the boys in the society

In the end, the debaters and participants proffered solutions to the identified cause of gender inequalities among the youths of Azerbaijan and some of the suggestion as to how to eliminate or address the problems are as follows:

To further emphasis the informational and educational importance of such debates in several outlets through several means and mediums
To hold debates on gender problems in the regions of Azerbaijan because such events are by default frequently held in the capital but the regional women needs the awareness as the problem associated with gender is predominantly observed there
It is good to carry out such activities among the older age group and in families because in most cases parents are the main perpetrators of the disparity because of their deprivation of girls to further education or work
Families must be trained on gender problems so as to better understand the consequences of gender inequalities
The issue should be taken to schools as well so that students would join in the debate
To add changes in legislation that prevent violations among women and eliminate work place imbalance; for example head of organizations are fined if different salary structures exist among men and women
Violence among women must be punished and women must be encouraged to report such incidents without necessarily covering for the perpetrators
To hold large scale seminar and conferences on gender problems as it affects youths in Azerbaijan with the participation international experts on the matter
Consultation centers on gender problems should be opened around the country so as to give advice and assistance.

Nick Nwolisa
Vice President, Baku International Student Club (BISC)

References:

2008 Statistical Update, Azerbaijan Gender Information Center:
http://www.gender-az.org/index_en.shtml

Animal Farm –George Orwell
http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/animalfarm/; http://www.george-orwell.org/Animal_Farm/0.html

Azerbaijan Gender Profile
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTECAREGTOPGENDER/Countries/20577398/AzerbaijanGenderProfile.pdf

Azerbaijan Human Development Report 2007 Gender Attitudes in Azerbaijan: Trends and Challenges Men and Women of Azerbaijan Speak on Gender Attitudes Selected Quotations from the Report
http://www.un-az.org/undp/news/2007/10-09-2007/menwomen.pdf

Data-base of gender focal points in Azerbaijan
http://www.osce.org/documents/ob/2007/10/29493_en.pdf

Debating Igbo Culture - the Colonial Tradition
http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~dvdb/CH_6.pdf

Enduring Stereotypes about Asia India's Caste System: By Joe Elder
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6/elderunderstandingcaste.pdf

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT -A Background Report for the Equal Opportunity Working Group of the Youth Employment Network –for the International Center for the Research on Women
http://www.icrw.org/docs/

Raising concerns on gender inequalities in Azerbaijan:
http://nickymedia.blogspot.com/2009/09/raising-concerns-on-gender-inequalities.html

The World Bank and council for state support to NGOs under the president of the republic of Azerbaijan: civil society fund program
www.worldbank.org.az; www.cssn.gov.az

HOME: THEY TOOK MY HOME BUT THEY CAN’T TAKE MY FUTURE

2010-06-25T17:39:00.000+05:00

You are welcome to today celebration of the world refugee day as designated by UN for every June 20. IEPF is honored and humbled to be partnering the Azerbaijan Cabinet of Ministers and the UNHCR in marking this occasion today based on the global theme for 2010: Home: they took my home but they can’t take my future.

Looking into the future, it seems full with mixed promises and aspirations, for individuals and the collective people. The worlds as we know it today has become this big divide where there seems to be a two side to everything. There is the have and have not; the privileged and the less privileged; the rich and the poor, the very rich and the very poor; and yes there are those with home and the homeless. There are so many factors that are attributed as the cause for the current state of the world, poverty, war, unequal treatment, disregard to human lives and even some unforeseen natural disasters.

Home! Ideally, every human on earth has a home. At some point in time, to an extent, there was a time when we all could point to a place as our home. In actual fact, the earth is our collective home and nobody is restricted from habiting in any place of choice. However, some factors have limited the extent in which human can go to create a home. Even with the vast knowledge that the Earth is a collective home, however there is still a high rate of homeless persons in the world today. Based on recent research and available statistics on homeless persons, it is ascertained that there are more than half a million people who are homeless, and all around the world, there are more than a 100 million homeless persons of which over 1/10th are refugees and more than a quarter of them are living as displaced persons in their homeland.

Homelessness is broad and can be vast in its meaning. According to Aliese Willard in her thesis the “Hidden Homeless: Trying to Survive in the Choice City” she established the fact that homelessness is simply farther-reaching than most people suspect, and encompasses a wide variety of situations. Homeward 2020, a local organization with the goal of ending homelessness, defines homelessness as “the condition and social category of people who lack housing because they cannot afford, pay for, or are otherwise unable to maintain regular, safe and adequate housing.” Therefore going by this definition and contrasting the life of refugees, we can conclude that refugees all fall into this category.

The South Caucasus over many years past has always served as a reference point where the homeless can be found in large quantity. Considering that this part of the world has always known war and conflict and there is always that tendencies for persons to be displaced from their original place they call home in search of a peaceful place where they can resettle. In history one of such sad events was the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia that happened in 1992 that made Azerbaijan having a record number of displaced persons with about 1 million persons living as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). In Azerbaijan today, putting into consideration that about 1/8 of the total population is living as displaced persons, we can literally say that 1 in 8 persons are living in a state of homelessness.
Concerning the homeless persons in Azerbaijan, these persons lost their livelihood; they lost their homes and were forcefully displaced from their motherland. To these IDPs the place they know home has just been taken from them, no wonder why 18 years after that sad incident, the IDPs are still finding it difficult to resettle into the mainstream Azerbaijan society.

Despite the predicament IDPs and refugees have found themselves, life must move on. In the words of Poul Hartling, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 1978-1985, he said for a lasting solution, that the possibility to begin a new life is the only dignified solution for the refugees. So they take our happiness, they can never take our future. They take our livelihood, and even abuse our dignity, but they can never take our future. They take our home; they can never take our future. There is no story ever sweet, but stories that end wells depends on how the heroes have shown courage in despair. We are always told that the hero persevered when all others retreated, so also is true about the refugee stories. Antonio Guterres, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, 2005, said and I quote: While every refugee's story is different and their anguish personal, they all share a common thread of uncommon courage – the courage not only to survive, but to persevere and rebuild their shattered lives. So indeed the future is bright for the refugees, if there is any group of persons that can rebuild it is the refugees. In adversaries they’ve always thrived to survive, that even when the field is not favorable, the refugees have always found a way to get their story out, allowing their experience to challenge and encourage even the privileged.

No one person or nation or organization can stop homelessness, just as no human can rule out the occurrence of natural disaster, another factor that also brings about homelessness. But as individual, and as a collective group of persons, what we can do, we should do. We can give hope to the hopeless, we can encourage the depressed, and we can join in the campaign to give every God created human a shelter. An English Clergyman and a writer Sydney Smith said and I quote: “a comfortable house is a great source of happiness. It ranks immediately after health and a good conscience”. But I will end with a famous quote by Daniel Quinn, an American writer and an environmentalist, he said: “"Don't try to drive the homeless into places we find suitable. Help them survive in places they find suitable."

Thanks.

Umud Mirzayev
Chairman, International Eurasia Press Fund

INTERSECTION OF LAW AND SECURITY WITH THE MEDIA

2010-01-28T15:54:00.005+04:00

Good day distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the press and to all dignitaries present here today…
Media today has advanced far beyond what it used to be let’s say 20 years ago. Rewind few years backward, information was primarily shared trough the print media –newspaper and magazines, the radio and the TVs. And what it then entails was that access to information though globally shared but was still restricted in a way. Fast-forward to today where satellite and internet has taken over information sharing, the situation is that what happens at this very moment in Buenos-Aires is instantly known in Baku. This shows the extent to which the media has come. It is glaring to all that media has drastically transformed in the era of technology -the Internet. Through online journalism, even social networks such as, twitters, Youtube and Facebook have become tools for propagation of issues and current events. No wonder more than ever, there is a need of balancing national security on acceptable laws with what is portrayed in the news mediums.
For the purpose of today topic, we would appreciate the connection between the 3: law, security and media, through the provision of answers to the following questions:
 What are the general accepted laws towards media?
 And how does national security interfere with media professionalism?
So, What are the general accepted laws towards media?
Article 9 of the International Covenant of the Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of which Azerbaijan is a party to clearly state the freedom of expression as:
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals.
What this law clearly states is that every citizen is granted the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas. The freedom is not restricted by geography or by location. It also means that the media is more than qualified to serve as a medium for the dissemination of information without any fear. However, the article also clearly state that there are limitations to this freedom and these limits are tied to citizen reputation and then national security.
In a society that is eager to take as many information out there as possible, it is now dependent on the journalists to furnish the people with all these information. This too has come with its consequences and can sometimes be abused. Take for instance in a situation where the information to be shared to the public, although not necessarily biased but has a tendency to arouse public tension or incitement. An unprofessional journalist would run with the story any way forgetting that although he is covered by the freedom of speech, but on different side is the need to protect national security or public order.
So journalist must put it into perspective that while they carry out their functions they should also abide by the laws that governs a nation. In as much as these laws are basically typical across nations, but every independent democracy has defined the law in a way that is favorable to the citizens’ reputation and the national security interest.
The challenges facing media today is cutting across. Monitoring updates on journalist faced problems on website IPI website or the IFEX website, one would observe that the problems journalists face are basically similar in Nigeria, Venezuela, Argentina, Russia, Bangladesh, et al. For the purpose of the topic, let’s dwell more on libel charges against journalists. Considering that one of the most legal issue that journalist face is the charge against libel. Bearing in mind that there would always be controversies in reports because of the sometimes stringent means to get information; the present financial situation has also not helped matters and therefore international news is the most affected on actually certainty on reports. So as more major media outlets depend on stringers for collecting of information there is a possible chance that the information reported may be missing in some facts.
Digressing a little, briefly let me just elaborate more on who are stringers.
Unlike the correspondent who is usually a foreigner, conducts interview, works on bylines and has actual contract with the media, the stringer who is mainly a local sometimes conduct interview but doesn’t work on bylines and his contract with the media body is based on compensational payment. Besides, the stringer maybe formally trained by local school or newspaper whereas the correspondent has the highest formal training.
Big media ventures in developed nations such as CNN, CBS, FOX, BBC, etc are presently largely dependent on stringers for their international news in less developed or developing nations such as Nigeria and Azerbaijan. And as in most of this information, the report they may be presenting is not verified or checked to ascertain the truth. Nonetheless, the future of journalism as related to foreign reporting is pointed towards the reliance of stringers.
Here is an illustration where libel has been made an issue and used as a legal battle with the media:
From the Global Journal 2006 edition, an article by Mark Steven stated that “A recent court ruling in Britain makes it easier for journalists to defend themselves against libel charges”
An Oct. 11, 2006 ruling by the British House of Lords redefining the so-called Reynolds defense of “qualified privilege” for journalists can claim landmark judgments status. The ruling established that serious news publishers and organizations can conduct professional investigative journalism knowing that they have a viable defense if:
 They are writing about something of public interest;
 The allegations are relevant and appropriate in the context of the article;
 Take the sort of steps responsible journalists normally take.
The Reynolds defense stems from a 2001 ruling on a suit brought by former Irish Taoiseach (prime minister), Albert Reynolds over a story in the Sunday Times alleging that he had mislead the Dail (Irish parliament). The principle was also recently applied in the judgment regarding a rich Saudi Arabian Business family against the Wall Street Journal -WSJ.
In as much as the scenario arises where libel can be used as legal way to silence the media, it is in the interest of professionalism that journalists ask the tough questions. Journalists have to avoid fear and in some extent self-censorship. Sometimes some of the blame on national government and politicians could be because journalists have become too comfortable in not asking the tough questions. A typical example where this conclusion is applicable is the Italian press, where in 2006, Freedom House, an independent media monitor demoted it from free press to partly free press.
Furthermore, Pressure on journalist can also come from the legal threats on the media to give-up their main source of information. Example of such incidents is this case reported by Barbara Trionfi on the website of the International Press Institute –IPI:
“European Court Upholds Right to Protect Sources”
Vienna, 16 December 2009 - In a landmark ruling on 15 December, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) confirmed the rights of news organizations to protect the confidentiality of their sources. With this ruling, five news organizations – The Guardian, The Independent, the Times, the Financial Times and Reuters – won a case against the Belgian-based brewers Interbrew. The news organizations brought the case before the ECHR in response to a 2001 judgment by a UK court ordering the news organizations to hand over leaked documents submitted to Interbrew by its financial advisers about a possible bid for South African Breweries…
The UK court argued that there was a public interest in unmasking the leaker. The judgment was later upheld by a court of appeal and the House of Lords subsequently refused to give further leave to appeal. But with the recent ruling by the ECHR, it is another victory for media.
And how does national security interfere with media professionalism?
As can be observed, free speech doesn’t necessary mean strong security or vibrant democracy. For example, take Iraq as a case study. Bagdad has a large number of diverse media bodies just after the US invasion. A lot of these media bodies are owned by private citizens. Paradoxically, there is nowhere in the world today that is more hostile to journalists as in Iraq. The consequence is that most media outlets have cut corners in order to put its own journalist’s security in perspective as well as the national security interest.
What this then means is that security has wrongly down played the practice of professional journalism.
Every media body should be guided by the laid down principles and ethics of the profession having in mind that Journalism’s first obligation is the truth and its first loyalty is to the citizen. Other principles journalist must observe are:
 Discipline of verification
 Independence from those they cover and monitor of power
 Provision of forum for public criticism and compromise
 Strive to make the significant interesting and relevant
 Keep the news comprehensive and proportional
 Allowance to exercise personal conscience
These principles should be balanced with security and journalists are not to compromise because of security.
Back to the Iraq war, in 2005 it was revealed that the US government through its military paid the Iraq journalists to report slanted favorable news. Also fees were paid to most media outlet in order to publish thousands of US military articles. In as much as this can be argued as strategy for success and enhancing the national security, it is noteworthy though to state that there is a great violation of the journalism ethics and the action perpetrated by none other than the US, it creates a great worry for concern.
Journalist need proper training in order to be able perform their professional functions. In the absent of these trainings, personal security as well as national security can be undermined. Also, with a volatile national security, the professionalism of journalists is adversely affected. Therefore both security and media cannot be separated apart.
Take for instance in Pakistan. Mazhar Abass in his article in the global journals “Pakistan: living on the edge” stated that and I quote “Threats to journalists have increased manifold since the invasion of private TV news channels and increased terrorism-related incidents in the country”. It is a fact that most journalists in Pakistan are not trained for reporting in conflict situation. Therefore, because they are compelled to report on a field with little or no knowledgeable skills, their lives is in constant danger with Pakistan recording one of the highest numbers of killed journalist. On the other hand, the national security is compromised because these journalists are not equipped with the knowledge on how to give reports on conflicts in the balanced perspective”.
Finally, let me end by saying that with information gone online and advancement in technology, there is a need for the media to brace up to the modern day requirement. More than ever there is the demand for professional journalist so that actual facts can be reported as news. The birth of blogosphere has not actually helped matters as any citizen with a potential to write can begin a blog. Sometimes some of the information circulating on blogs can be assumed as facts. Suffice it to say that bloggers are also very vital in information dissemination which of course activities of citizen journalism is very well inscribed into the universal article on the declaration of freedom of speech. However, journalists must ensure that whatever is considered as news in the main stream media are the actual facts so as to avoid some of the uncalled for challenges facing the mass media profession today.

References:

 Global Journal: London New landmark libel law by Mark Steven; Building the new international media by Philip Seib; Pakistan: living on the edge by Mazhar Abbas; The Iraqi media: Free Marketplace of Ideas or Pluralism of the Powerful? by Gary Gambill. 2006.
 Intensive Program: Mass Media influence in International Security. San Sabestian. February, 2006
 Memorandum on the law of Azerbaijan Republic on Mass Media by Article 19; International Center Against Censorship, London. April, 2000
 Principles of Journalism: From Online Journalism Review, http://www.ojr.org/ojr/wiki/Ethics Annenberg School of Journalism, University of Southern California
__________________________________________________________

Presented in the conference organized by the Azerbaijan Press Council; Conference was held in Yevlax region of Azerbaijan for the regional media bodies and journalists.

Presenter: Nick Nwolisa,

Head of Programs Development and International Relations,

International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF)

H1N1 VIRUS HIT AZERBAIJAN

2009-11-26T10:45:00.004+04:00

The H1N1 virus also known as Swine Flu is now noticed in Azerbaijan and the people who reside in the territory have joined numerous others world over to enter into panic. Although the spread in Azerbaijan is not in the uncontrollable state as every incident is quickly tracked down. As of present, not one persons has died from the virus, and not that much fresh incidents is been reported. Immediately it was reported in Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, it was only a matter of time before it begins to be noticed in Azerbaijan. No wonder the news of the first victim to die from the virus sent a fast signal across the nation.

Baku, Azerbaijan capital is vulnerable to the spread of the virus just as can be said about any other metropolitan city; over crowdedness, poor sanitation both societal and family wise, dependence on mass transportation, etc. These features assist the spread of any virus that thrives in chilly weather. However, it should be stated that the H1N1 was first reported in the other regional settlement of Azerbaijan and not the capital Baku. Azerbaijan hinterlands has got numerous gateways to the neighboring countries around her that includes Russia and Turkey, so it really didn’t take anyone as a surprise that the first recorded patients from the virus were from the interior.

Recently the Azerbaijan government is beginning to take actual measures like fumigating health centers and public places. Although fumigation helps, but at the moment, even in advanced nations, there is no clear cut out measure on how to tackle the spread of the H1N1 virus. Even the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN agency responsible for taking prompt actions as regards to global health has not yet certified vaccines that are appropriate for the prevention.

Nonetheless, in the absence of these vaccines and drugs to combat the H1N1 virus, there are simple measures that would work in preventing one from contacting the communicable viruses, and according to the information on the WHO website, here are some of the measures:

1. avoid touching your mouth and nose;

2. clean hands thoroughly with soap and water, or cleanse them with an alcohol-based hand rub on a regular basis (especially if touching the mouth and nose, or surfaces that are potentially contaminated);

3. avoid close contact with people who might be ill;

4. reduce the time spent in crowded settings if possible;

5. improve airflow in your living space by opening windows;

6. Practice good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping physically active.

The main emphasis though is that with proper hygiene, the Azerbaijan population can go a long way to safe guide themselves from contacting the deadly Swine Flu.

DEBORAH NETLAND OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF STATES VISIT IEPF OFFICE IN TERTAR REGION

2009-10-29T17:07:00.000+04:00

The official of the US DOS PM/WRA, Ms. Deborah Netland who was accompanied by an official of the US Presidential Management Fellowship -Mr. Darren Manning, paid a visit to the IEPF office in Tertar to ascertain the extent of progress made on the project activities of the “Establishment of Vocational Training Center (VTC) for the mine victims and the retired de-miners” in Tertar region of Azerbaijan. She also used the opportunity to evaluate the present progress report on the activities of the Azerbaijan Mine Victims Association (AMVA) which was formed by IEPF after the completion of series of projects in Tertar, Fizuli and Aghstafa.

Activities have already begun on erecting of the proposed Vocational Training Center (VTC) by the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF). The VTC structure is to be constructed based on an approved and funded project by the US Department of States, Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Office of Weapon Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA). The project has enjoyed tremendous support from Mr. Vidadi Isayev, the Head of Authorities of the Executive Committee of the Tertar region who has pledged his office full collaborative assistance in kinds to the achievement of the project success.

The Chairman of IEPF, Umud Mirzayev in his speech welcoming the guest at the IEPF office premises expressed appreciation to the US DOS PM/WRA towards the continued support to her activities for the mine victims: “It’s been 3 years now since the beginning of the first project “Establishment of the Azerbaijan Mine Victims Association in Tertar region of Azerbaijan” and over these years, there are good results shown as evidence of achievement of IEPF with the various activities conducted”. Over series of discussion, the visitor got acquainted with the activities thus far on the VTC. They were also shown the proposed sketch plan for the VTC. The VTC would be a 2 storey building that consists of training rooms, offices, conference hall, lodging room, warehouse, kitchen and toilet. The site upon which the VTC would be constructed was acquired through the great support of the office of the Executive Committee of the Tertar region. In the provision of the location, the Executive Authorities considered all necessary factors as to: nearness to main road, source of water, electricity, and accessibility to already acquired land set aside for agricultural practices for the mine victims.

Ms. Netland the GOR also got brief report on the successes recorded with the Eurasia Credit LTD on the provision of micro-credit to the mine victims, the IDPs/refugees and the members of the community living in poor circumstances in the regions. Based on report presented, the portfolio of the Eurasia Credit LTD which started with the seed capital from the US DOS PM/WRA within the project activity of the AMVA has grown with about 100%. Besides, various additional funds have been added to the Eurasia Credit LTD capital through the effort of IEPF seeking out potential avenues to expand the crediting capacity.

The GOR was pleased with the report and the success story so far recorded with the mine victims and also the activities of Eurasia Credit LTD. In her exact words: “I’m full of confidence with the professional activity of the IEPF”. The GOR was also delighted with the extent of work already done with the VTC. Before leaving the IEPF office premise, the visitors got acquitted with various beneficiaries from the micro-crediting activities of Eurasia Credit LTD. Those on sight were the Advertisement Center, the Carpet Weaving Center and the soon to be completed Bakery Center.

The visit was finalized with a visit to the office of the Head of Executive Authorities of Tertar region. The GOR and the Chairman of IEPF expressed their gratitude to the Authorities for his support, and in return Mr. Vidadi Isayev reiterated his office pledge of support to the initiative. The meeting at the office of the Head of Executive Authorities was followed thereafter by the formally cutting of the ribbon at place of construction of the VTC. The ceremony which was covered by the press-men was witnessed by the project working group, staff of IEPF, AMVA members and people of the community.

NGOZI OKONJO IWEALA MEETS WITH PRESIDENT IHAM ALIYEV IN BAKU

2009-10-24T16:44:00.000+05:00

I was elated to see Ms. Iweala the Managing Director of World Bank in Azerbaijan. My excitement was seeing an achieved Nigeria visit a country where I reside. She is representing World Bank on an official assignment, but I also think she is representing Nigeria.

Mrs. Iweala who was one time Ministry of Finance in Nigeria had helped put Nigeria on a good path of financial recovery from the many years of corrupt government system in Nigeria. As the Minister of Finance then, Mrs. Iweala helped Nigeria achieve a multimillion dept cancelation by the Paris Club. It was upon her achievement with the Nigeria system that she was elevated to the position she currently hold haven previously worked with the World Bank.

So Azerbaijan would definitely benefit from the wisdom of Mrs. Ngozi Iweala and the President Ilham Aliyev is right to express this believe. Although a relatively small country, Azerbaijan has got large revenue derived from the sales of its Oil and Gas. However it still needs directions and guidance with the developmental process.

IS AZERBAIJAN SHORTCHANGED IN THE TURKEY – ARMENIA AGREEMENT?

2009-10-11T23:08:00.002+05:00

Turkey has agreed to finally open the border between her and Armenia and start diplomatic relations between both nations after a long time of enmity. What seems like a never ending dispute has gained tremendous momentum and a path towards peace is almost near sight. Turkey has closed its border to Armenia in 1993 because of the Armenia aggressive war towards a section of Azerbaijan and a consequential occupation of the Azerbaijan territory.

Turkey show of solidarity towards Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh occupied territories was expected because of the bond both nations share. Azerbaijan and Turkey, both nations share a lot of cultural identities and therefore it is expected that they would most likely feel a sense of solidarity towards each other.

Of course Armenia suffered greatly during the whole period of the closure of the borders. Both the Azerbaijan end and the Turkey ends of the border meant that Armenia had very limited access to the global community particularly to the rest of Europe. Azerbaijan has seen this as an effective weapon towards pressurizing the Armenians in freeing its occupied territory.

Turkey in recent years especially in the last 2 years has indicated it would like to relax it stringent measures towards Armenia. Although it can be concluded that the Turkey good gesture has been because of the influence of the EU; Turkey quest to join the EU has always met a roadblock because of the territorial issues with Armenia including that of Cyprus. One of the terms for likely acceptance into EU is that Turkey should recognize that there was an act of genocide towards the ethnic Armenians in the Ottoman Empire war of 1915. The US has also pressured Turkey to this regard and the push by US has increased with the Obama administration.

Although there is no sign that Turkey would accept the recognition of the Armenia genocide, but what it could do best is to re-open its border and diplomatic ties with Armenia even at the detriment of it brotherly neighbor Azerbaijan.

Sure Azerbaijan feels shortchanged in the Turkey government recent moves. Azerbaijan has always seen Turkey as the main and only key support in her repossession of the occupied territory. Turkey has remained the strong support in the region for Azerbaijan and not Russia and not Iran. That’s why this move by Turkey has left the Azerbaijani with mouth agape.

Not like Azerbaijan did not see this coming. Even though most people in the nation have expressed strong views that the agreement between government officials of Turkey and Armenia will not be accepted by a majority vote in the Turkish parliament, but the influence of US, Russia, and the EU who were there to witness the signing would still put pressure to see the fixed time of April 2010 is realized. It is very right for Azerbaijan to wonder at this time as to where is her support.

Despite the vast supply of Oil and Gas to the Europe market by Azerbaijan, but there is no real sign to show that Azerbaijan has enjoyed favorable judgment regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh with the powers that be in global politics particular from Europe.

THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPERATION (BBC) SIGNS CONTRACT WITH BAKU SLAVIC UNIVERSITY

2009-10-03T14:31:00.003+05:00

The BCC has signed a contract with the Baku Slavic University, Azerbaijan in order to conduct a set of activities within a project geared towards the development of good journalists in Azerbaijan. The exact date for the implementation of the project is already set and the 29^th of September endorsement of signatures on the contract by the Rector of Slavic University, Prof. Dr. Kamal M. Abdullayev and the Director of the BBC World Service Trust, Ms. Caroline Nursery signals the official commencement.

The signing ceremony which was held in the conference hall of the university was witnessed by both students and staff. Majority of the students present were students of the faculties of International relations and the department of Journalism.

Prof. K. M. Adullayev in his opening remarks highly praised the initiative of the BBC World Service in conducting such an activity in Azerbaijan. He also appreciated the effort of other partners within the project such as the Council of Europe –represented there by Mr. Ibrahim Ilgar, the Norwegian government –the principal financer of the project, and the Turkish government –joint financer. The rector also went further to state the consensus appreciation of the school management for the selection of Slavic University as point of implementation. “Slavic University is standing out in Azerbaijan and beyond as one of the best places for academic excellences and moreover, the journalism department is one of the shining leading light in this charge”. Prof. K. M. Adullayev expressed his desire for long time cooperation between the BBC and the Slavic University in this direction.

Ms. Caroline Nursery briefly talked about the essence of the project and what it is aimed to achieve. The crown of all activities is to “advance journalism towards the bologna direction”. It should be stated that the Azerbaijan system of education was crafted in line with the Russia curriculum and in recent years there has been ongoing reformation within the system in order to advance more towards the Bologna system which is the European adopted system of education. Ms Nursery also mentioned the other institutional partners within the project: Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), and the Norwegian Institute of Journalism (NIJ). These two institutes would work with the BBC World Service in various degrees in order to achieve the objectives as set out within the project.

The BBC World Service carries out various activities such as in healthcare, climate change and assisting refugees and IDPs -particularly the Dafur refugees, in about 80 different countries of the world. However, this project in Baku Slavic University is the first time the world service is going to implement a project in Azerbaijan. In her speech, Ms. Caroline Nursery who was in Azerbaijan for the first time was delighted with the beauty of the capital city –Baku. She also was pleased with the great hospitality she has received right immediately at the airport on arrival.

BBC World Service is a division of the British Broadcasting Corperation, a public service company regulated by the British Government. The BBC world service is primarily in charge of the charity trust of the BBC. Beside the Service Trust, the other divisions of the BBC are the: Public Service broadcasting and the World Service broadcasting.

RAISING CONCERNS ON GENDER INEQUALITIES IN AZERBAIJAN

2009-09-08T11:13:00.005+05:00

Azerbaijan is still very young in its democratic practices; this is the excuse that is first stated to counter any genuine questions raised on affairs of the nation. True that the many years under communism has not helped the proper development of the country democracy, but addressing gender inequality should be a priority for any society that want to be taken seriously in the globe. It doesn't matter what part of the world one may reside, recently, the clamor for gender equality is resonating even louder. In the dark corners of Kabul -Afghanistan to the bright streets of New York –USA, people are becoming more concerns with the challenges of gender balance.

Azerbaijan should not be left behind. Men and women, there is a need to engage in the debate on gender inequalities because it exists. Not to say that there is no effort achieved on gender matters. The law of the republic clearly provides for equal right between women and men. Even over the recent years so many activists, civil society oriented organizations and Non-Governmental-Organization have been pivotal in promoting the gender issues to a top agenda. However these efforts and the law in place, there are still large proportionate elements of gender disparity, particular against the women folks. The recent report of the gender balance by the UN shows an unhealthy statistics in Azerbaijan. A country where only a about 11 women as members of parliament and only 2 women in the ministerial role, is a telling that women are relegated to the back seat. Also based on other reports ascertained by agency dealing with the issue, there is a predominantly disregard to the plight of the Azeri women. These reports are not just observed from the cities but it is even more prominent in the hinterland of the Nation.

Perhaps these gender challenges have persisted and remain a concern because of the low level of sensitivity of the society to the need for gender balance; or possible the lack of proper orientation of the population due to inadequate governmental approach on addressing the issue. Not to say government is not doing anything at all, but more actions is needed to be focused on the issue so that gender disparity can be eradicated in Azerbaijan.

Somehow gender inequalities in Azerbaijan maybe rooted in the structure of the society. The Azerbaijan society is based on the eastern, oriental way of living. The eastern culture has great respect for the institution of marriage. Therefore the man is primarily seen as the main provider for the family needs. In the ancient times, when farming was the in-trade, the men do the farming considered as a very tedious activity while the women stay at home. Besides doing home chores, the responsibility of taking care of the kids primarily stays with the womenfolk.

Over time, despite the evolution of culture, but the eastern way of living, particular the family based ideology has not totally evolved. Another reason why the ideology has remained considerable unchanged is the religion angle. This is not just a concern for a particular religion: Christian, Judaism, Muslim, et al; faith emphasis on the family has somehow portrayed the man as the head of the family while the woman is a subject to the man.

Sampling opinions of Azerbaijani youths, it is observed that the problems that exist with gender balance are not unfamiliar. But the logical conclusion is that the issue is not sufficiently talked about but remained suppressed. The youths identifies the problem with gender balance even in their micro small family homes where the girls wonder why some of them can not exercise equal freedom and opportunity that their brothers enjoy. The question remains among the girls as to on what basis the boy folks should get the pass to free expression while the society has given them -the girls, very little opportunity for expression.

The issue is not based on what is moral or immoral; the concerns raised by the girls is on general issues as to: where to get high education, ability to travel abroad for furtherance of self, the ability to choice particular on issue about life partners, right to decisions on matters concern the home, and even duration of time permitted to hang out with friends. Whereas the boys have countered these concerns raised by the girls as non-issue, and irrelevant; irrelevant as they may have seemed to the boys, these concerns are genuine and are actual evidence of gender disparity.

It starts from the small families, then it is expressed in the lager community and then it becomes a societal problem. True today so many women are beginning to take over top positions. We have seen women rise to political peaks, but the proportion is still an alarming one. As has been earlier stated based on the proportion of men to women in the parliament and the cabinet of ministers in the republic it's a glaring pointer that there is no gender balance in the political system of the country. Another illustration of gender imbalance in the nation is in the academic spheres where the proportion of male university rectors to their female counterpart is in the proportion of about 9: 1.

The fibers of every economy to some extent depend on the equal right for men and women. Although not totally the yardstick for measuring development, but the growth of a nation or simple say the democratic practice of a nation is observed through the "focal lens" of gender balance. Kofi Annan, the past UN Secretary General was very correct to say that more countries have understood (are understanding) that women's equality is a prerequisite for development.

Note: The Baku International Students Club (BISC) is implementing a project titled: "Identify potential gender problems in Azerbaijan and proffering solutions through engaging youths on multiple debates/discussion sessions in 2 different Baku Universities". The goals to be achieved within the project are:

The youths are sensitized to the issue of gender inequalities
There is an awakening within the nation on a collective societal approach towards addressing the issue on gender inequalities
Youths become the champions of gender equality in various sections of the country
The youths would have provided a blueprint solutions to the issues of gender inequality

The project is to be implemented for a period of 5 months and financed by the World Bank through her office in Baku, Azerbaijan.

INSECURED NIGERIA WATERS: REAL CAUSE FOR CONCERN!

2009-08-05T11:25:00.003+05:00

The rise in the hideous crime of kidnapping carried out in the deep Nigeria waters is simply an evidence of the failed Nigeria system.

The practice has escalated over this decade with the perpetrators not only restricted to the Niger areas of the nation. It has spread and it's still spreading far and beyond. The recent is the 2^nd August incident where a Turkish ship supplying rice to Lagos and Port Harcourt was hijacked. Those on the ship were citizens from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Nigeria.

Citizens of various nations all across the globe have fallen victims: Europeans, Asians and Americans, the kidnappers do not have any nation as target. Before, the aim was to hijack oil ships and tankers and demand for ransom from the companies who run these businesses, but presently, every ship is a target, it doesn't matter what commodity is transported.

The Nigeria government is doing little or nothing to put an end to these ugly incidents. The government which cannot provide for its citizens the basic commodity, it is obvious that issues like this will be way beyond them. Nigerians live constantly in darkness, the level of unemployment is in great height, the level of literacy is in abysmal, crimes and disorder has taken over the society.

Nigeria is one of the world largest producers of oil with the Nigeria crude as one of the finest in demand globally, yet the Nigeria government has not tapped this great potential. The Nigeria militants who are agitated, and rightly to be agitated, has helped wreck the existing oil and gas sector of the Nigeria economy with its activity of pipeline vandalism, bunkering, and disrupting offshore drillings.

Successive Nigeria government has done little or nothing to uplift the life of the people of Niger Delta whose territory is the source of the wealth Nigeria prides in.

In the 21^st century oil and gas is now the focus of national policy. Security, prosperity, development, foreign relations are all reliance on energy -oil and gas. Across Europe billions of dollars are invested into deals in all corners; laying of pipelines to transport the vast Caspian oil and gas to Europe (from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan). Even China, United States and Russia are investors in the diverse projects. Russia and US participation is a revelation that the strong nations, all want to remain an important player considering the strategic priority of global energy in today's world.

But as long as Nigeria waters remain insecure, investments of these magnitudes will almost never come. The Nigeria leaders have taken their people so much for a ride and the ordinary people deserves better life improvement. Nigeria leaders must stop looting the people collective wealth. For assured all round national growth, national revenue must be channeled to the people and development must be put in par with the wealth of the nation.

NABUCCO GAS PIPELINE AGREEMENT TO BE SIGNED

2009-07-13T17:51:00.003+05:00

EU nations will put pen to paper in Turkey on the finalizing of the agreement towards the commencement of the US backed Nabucco gas pipeline.

The pipeline has been conceived over a long period of time but the need to hasten the process was warranted after Russia had shut off its gas supply to Europe that passes via Ukraine. EU to an extent was at the recieving end and had felt the harsh consequence of Russia wrath towards Ukraine.

Suffice it to say that the Nabucco gas pipeline is a worthy project because it allows for more gas supply into the global market. But Russia who is a major player in the region will not fold its arms without influencing the impact of the project. Just recent, Russia had agreed to buy a large part of the Azerbaijan oil and gas and to involve Azerbaijan in another pipeline alternative that passes from Russia to Italy.

Azerbaijan despite rich with oil and gas deposit is not a part of the major supplies through the Nabucco pipeline. The supplying nations will be Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The Azerbaijan oil minister has recently expressed willingness of Azerbaijan to join in the supplying nation while the Turkey minister is pushing for Iran to be included.

The major signees in the agreement are Bulgaria, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey. The 3,300km pipe will carry gas directly to Austria by passing Russia. The project is expected to become fully operation by 2014 and is estimated to cost about 10.6 Billion USD.

TWO INFLUENTIAL FIRST LADIES - MEHRIBAN ALIYEVA AND ASMA-AL-ASAD

2009-07-09T17:04:00.007+05:00

The Syrian president is visiting Azerbaijan with his wife as guests to the Azerbaijan president Iham Aliyev and his wife -Mehriban Aliyeva. Mr. Bashir al-Assad with his wife Mrs. Asma-al-Asad and their entourage will be in Azerbaijan for a 2 days working visit.

Both Iham Aliyev and Bashir al-Assad have got prominent women by their sides who are re-defining women of the East. In a wider perspective, both are good advocate in the promotion of the role of Islamic women in politics. Besides involvement in politics, both women had already to their credentials successful career paths; Mrs. Aliyeva is a qualified medical doctor, while it is well known that Mrs. al-Asad was born, bred and educated in London.

Yes, both first ladies are very beautiful. But that is only an added characteristic to the influence and power Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva and her counterpart Mrs. Asma-al-Asad command in their respective countries. Both first ladies champion various courses in their various nations. Mehriban Aliyeva is the UNESCO representative for Azerbaijan, she is the president of the Heydar Aliyev fund and she is also a parliamentarian; while Asma-al-Asad is an advocate for various rights, including rights for Syrian women. Another correlated action with both first ladies is that they are both spokesperson for the Islamic agenda of their respective nation.

Comparing the Baku meeting of the first ladies to the global attention that Michelle and Carla Bruni the spouses of the US president, Barack Obama and the French president, Nicholas Sarkozy, Mehriban and Asma may not have attracted that magnitude of global attention as they stood side by side, but one thing is certain is that their role in the political spheres of this part of the globe is of noteworthy.

RUSSIA STRATEGICALLY EXPANDS ITS ENERGY STRENGTHS

2009-07-03T16:58:00.001+05:00

Early this year in the peak of winter, Russia had closed its flow of gas passing into Europe from Ukraine. The temporary closure saw most part of Europe without gas, despite the severe winter that Europe was experiencing at that period in time.

Gazprom, the national oil and gas Company of Russia federation is a big player in the energy industry globally; but particular its influence in the determination of the energy market prospects of its immediate competitors, for example the Azerbaijan national oil and gas Company called SOCAR is well-known. The EU national had thought out Azerbaijan as an alternative to the Russia energy, which of course it is a good move because of the vast deposit Azerbaijan has got over the Caspian basins. However, the EU is not forth coming with a strong intent towards engaging the Azerbaijan government in formidable partnership. There are various pipelines proposed to be laid from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan into the wider community market but all these ventures are in one way or the other undermined by Russia influence.

The Russia strategy that was in display this week as they signed a gas agreement with Azerbaijan is one of good foresight and strategy. Despite the independence of Azerbaijan from the Soviet Russia, Russia continues to wedge a strong influence in its former republics. Same is also observable in the other republics in proximity with Russia with probably the exception of Georgia.

Russia expansion is not just in the region Caucasus. The recent visit of Mr. Dimitir Medvedev to some selected Africa nations including Nigeria with one of the world highest deposit of oil and gas; Russia friendliness with Iran; the positive advances of Kremlin towards Venezuela; all these are signals that Russia is strategizing globally to become a force in terms of energy. Categorically, with moves such as the gas agreement with Azerbaijan, Russia is fully placed to influence most policies that will come out from the Caucasus because the EU had dragged its feet over the years.

As nations continue to depend on each other in the absent of energy independence, Russia will one day hold a vital key to greatly influence global matters. In the event of the spat between Russia and Ukraine, there was little the world community particularly EU could do to convince Russia to re-consider in its action on closing its gas pipes. Instead, what was observable was that Russia held the directives and could detect the conditions.

UPDATED: VOTE ON NGO BILL LIVES TO SEE ANOTHER DAY!

2009-07-02T17:44:00.001+05:00

The Azerbaijan parliament is proposing a bill to regulate the NGO sector of the nations. If the bill is passed, new laws will be put in place that many have presumed as a means to curtail civil society activity in Azerbaijan.

Some of the new laws in the proposed bill include that: NGOs are required to limit their funds from abroad to about 50% of total finical requirements; foreigners will be prohibited from creating NGOs; any NGO found in violating the new rules will be penalized with outright ban or in some cases years of prohibited operations.

A lot of International NGO operates in Azerbaijan and most enjoy a considerable degree of support from the national government. The government support for civil society over the years had also encouraged various national NGOs to spring up. The positive development in the sector was reflected in the summer report of 2009 by the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC).

Update: A bill has recently been passed in the Assembly based on NGO reforms. But the strict measures in the initial bill for operation of NGO was entirely jetisoned due to pressure exactly on paliarmentaries from various quarters including extablished INGO and civil society groups.

IRAN HURTS HER “NOT SO” CORDIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ITS NEIGHBOR AZERBAIJAN

2009-06-30T18:21:00.003+05:00

Iran has temporary recalled its Ambassador to Azerbaijan as a protest to the visit of Israeli president Mr. Shimon Perez to the Azerbaijan territory. The Iran officials have based its reason for the withdrawal on an inflammatory statement made by the Israeli president towards Iran.

Prior to Perez visit to the Azerbaijan territories, the Iranian chief of staff was in Azerbaijan to persuade the Azerbaijan government on a need to block the visitation the Israeli officials. No concrete reason was provided by the Iranian chief of staff other than Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president wants the meeting to be called off. It is also on record that Mr. Ahmadinejad had once called for the arrest of his opposition in the last contested election simple because Mr. Hossein Mousavi had question his judgment over Israel. The reason given then was nobody has the permission to insult a president.

The Israeli president was in Azerbaijan on his tour to some selected nation around Asia and Eastern Europe. Since Mr. Ahmadinejad became the president of Iran, the relationship between both nations Iseal/Iran has become so tensed that Mr. Ahmadinejad has in so many occasion voiced outright hatred towards Israel.

Azerbaijanis in Iran is estimated at about 60% of the total Iranian population. The Iranian government has never strongly supported Azerbaijan with its conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. A vast number of the Azerbaijani population living in Azerbaijan views this as Iranian support towards the Armenians.

AZERBAIJAN PARLIAMENT PASSES A BILL OF IMPROVEMENT TO THE EDUCATION SECTION

2009-06-24T15:06:00.000+05:00

Last week the Azerbaijan parliament passed a bill of improvement with the education system of the country. The bill was initially passed in December of 2008 but was considered for slight changes before it is finally passed into law.

The particular aspect of the new bill that was considered for improvement was on establishment of educational institutions especially by foreigners. Foreigners and foreign entities are allowed begin schools, colleges and institutes, but licenses are granted for only 3 year period upon which the beneficiaries of license must re-apply. The foreigner or foreign entities must have a legal domestic agency that has to jointly coordinate the entire process of applying. Furthermore, upon the grant of license to operate, staff of the institute must comprise at least 85% of locals.

Another aspect in the improved bill is geared towards the moderation of private institutes. Whereas state run institutes operate with no duration in focus, institutes created by private citizens are granted license for duration of 5 years. Upon its license expiration, these private institutes are to re-apply for license.

Other aspects of the education law remains, for instance, the secondary duration remains 9 compulsory years, and 2 optional years wherein a person can decide to opt for a 2 year vocational school.

The Azerbaijan educational system hasn’t change much and is still largely based on the soviet system of education. But some government universities such as Baku State University and most private universities are beginning to introduce the Bologna system as is practiced in Europe. It should be said that teachers did not have it so good during the communist USSR, and as such, even today, the teachers and lectures are still not well paid. Despite the tremendous positive improvement in their financial status, but a lot still need to be done in other to keep them in bracket with other sectors of the economy.

AZERBAIJAN GOVERNMENT REVIEWS ITS MIGRATION LAWS

2009-06-22T16:32:00.002+05:00

The Azerbaijan immigration laws are undergoing a major review recently and come 1^st July, a new set of laws would be put in place for all persons coming into Azerbaijan for different purposes.

Monitoring the UK website Azerbaijan, migrants will observe that UK citizens will now require obtaining VISA from the Azerbaijan embassy in London before they are granted entrance into the country. This has not been the case before, as VISA can previously be granted from the point of entry.

The same new measures also apply to the US citizens and the EU citizens. Irrespective of purpose of entry to Azerbaijan, all migrants are expected to be dully granted entrance permission from respective country embassies. Additionally, the VISA durations is fixed for no more than 30 days, and can only be extended upon prove that persons need to stay beyond the 30 days.

Other nations, such that has not fallen into EU, UK or US, who had not in the past enjoyed the privilege of obtaining VISA at point of entry, the situation remains unchanged as they will still be required to obtain VISA from the nearest Azerbaijan Embassy to their country of origin or resident.

It should be noted that over time, the Azerbaijan government continues to review its general laws. The reason is because at the commencement of its democracy in 1992 so many loopholes were created due to the haste at which the government of that time seeks to stabilize the nation. The war with Armenia over the Azerbaijan occupied territory was also a big diversion.

There are various other measures to be implemented with the new migration law. Areas such: as work permit, number of extension of VISA, total years permitted to reside in the country, mode of VISA renewal, etc.

However, not all foreigners presently residing view the law as very favorably. There is a school of thought among expert workers that the laws are means to discourage more migrants into the nation. Whatever is the case, the issue is that the new migrations laws would be a more stringent process than the previously existing laws.

Azerbaijan located in the Caspian shores is a striving nation due to the large revenue derived from the sales of its large deposit of Oil and Gas. The total population of the nation is estimated at approximately 8 million persons.

AS IRAN DISINTEGRATES, THE WORLD COMMUNITY MERELY WATCHES?

2009-06-20T15:22:00.004+05:00

Iran is witnessing a protest its leader had not foreseen, not even in the distant future. The protest is a show of displeasure over the election between the current president Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the country former prime minister, Mr. Hossein Mousavi. Mr Ahmadinejad who is everything about the Islamic revolution and also an anti-Israel has the support of the ruling council made up of mullahs and headed by supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but Mr. Mousavi, a reformist has rallied the support of youths including a large portion of the women.

Suffice it to say that the protesters are largely made of youths and are outrage about the election result that has Ahmadinejad winning the election with as high as 64% of the total vote.

The protest has taken the mullahs unawares because they probably might have thought that the hard path that has been the approach of the leadership and the subjugation of the peoples will and freedom over time should have discouraged this type of scenario. The protest is an indication that the people and not the government have the ultimate and final say over the direction of the nations. Over the years in Iran, the youths, including women have watched as their freedom was taken away from them. Women were compelled to hijab even against their wish, satellite cables were confiscated as such depriving youths access to the global events; entertainment, a thing for the youths was clamped down, and the people were pressed towards taking the hard lines. Furthermore, the continuous disgust of Ahmadinejad towards Israel was also seen as unwarranted by the youths who think it wise that the world presently desire to be at peace with one another.

So as Iran disintegrates, the Iranians look up to other nations for help. The US president Obama has come up with the strongest statement on the issue, stating that the world is watching. However the brave Iranians desire more from the world community besides just watching. The totalitarian government of Iran will implore any means, including very harsh measure to silent the voice of these protesters. This is why the world community must come up with emphatic statement about the issue and not just stand by and watch as innocent people get punished for demanding their God given right to all mankind.

YOUTHS PROTEST FLOWER DAY IN AZERBAIJAN

2009-05-11T14:24:00.001+05:00

Some youths protested at various spots where the “Flower day” holiday was been celebrated mainly at “Sahil bagi” and the central Boulevard of the capital city -Baku. The 10^th of May has been marked annually as flower day in Azerbaijan and has been declared as a national holiday. Coincidentally, the 10^th of May is also a day that marks the birthday of the father of the president –Ilham Aliyev. His father Heydar Aliyev was the past leader of the nation.

The youths who protested were questioning the reason for the celebration when nothing tangible has been achieved in the investigation of the shooting at the Oil Academy that claimed lots of innocent lives. The protest is the first of its kind in modern Azerbaijan.

Most of the protesters were arrested at the Heydar Aliyev Park, in Baku which is located just opposite the Azerbaijan Central Bank. The statue of Heydar Aliyev is boldly visible to any onlooker around the area. The protesters had comprised of both boys and girls, and it’s been reported that about 15 – 20 persons were arrested.

Azerbaijan has over the years experienced a relatively calmness with the popularity of the president very high among the citizens. The country is experiencing a relative prosperity from the revenue derived from the sales of its abundant Oil and Gas resources. To the credit of the government, a lot of developments have been achieved during the period of the administration. This is why any unrest that will agitate the people will easily be clamped down by the security personnel.

LESSONS TO BE LEARNT FROM SHOOTING AT THE AZERBAIJAN OIL ACADEMY

2009-05-09T13:54:00.000+05:00

On the 30th of April, 2009, the entire Azerbaijan was thrown into turmoil as the population heard the news of shootings at the State Oil Academy. The incident had occurred in the early hours of Thursday between the periods of 9 – 10am. Students were already seated for their early morning classes when the horrified incidents took place. Until now there is no definite story as to what happened. The killer is known. The most popular story has it that the killer shoot himself after trigger happily killing dozens of others, both staff and students.

As we sympathize with the families of those who have lost their love ones, it is wise to put some questions in perspective. It could be anybody, but why is there no concrete news as to what actually happened? Why is there still no defined motive for the killings? Who were those involved? And to what extent has investigations revealed other “assumed” accomplice?

The first story that was popularized just immediately after the news broke out was that the killer was from African descent. In as much as it has already been proven to be false, but why did the media not verify a fact before reporting? I have followed this same incident from BBC, Euronews and CNN, but none of these International news agencies reported the Azerbaijan press version. The scenario simple portrays the degree of professionalism of some in the Azerbaijan news reporters, obviously low. A sensitive issue as that should be thoroughly verified as facts before it is put in the public domain. The reporters of the media organization that broke the false news should burry its head in shame. Until now, they haven’t even repudiate or put out an open apology for the false information. Let us hope that they learn a lesson though and next time, they think through to ensure that only facts are put into the public domain.

It is also shameful that a university as popular and as famous as the Oil Academy has no installed surveillance camera in and around the premises. Because based on eye witness account, there were strange persons who left the scene unidentified but these information can’t be followed through in the absence of actual video evidence to back the eye witness claims. The advantage of technology is to simplifier life and life issues, so it should be sufficiently used.

It is hoped the government learns from the incident. High security measures are to be put in place at the university premises. Not just universities, but in all public institutions and organizations.

REMEMBERING THE MARTYRS OF JANUARY 20TH IN AZERBAIJAN

2009-01-21T13:12:00.005+04:00

Its now 19 years since the sons and daughters of Azerbaijan gave their life for freedom. These martyrs were victims of the then Kremlin aggression. A defeat on human freedom was a typical characteristic of the communism ideology. Therefore on every hint on the people’s inclination to emancipation, Kremlin had acted with severe military actions.

On that faithful, the 20th of January 1990, the Azerbaijan population woke up to witness a great number of the Russia army in their capital Baku. The direct order wasn’t exact but the consequences of the day was so clear –there were hundreds of innocent civilians -men, women and children killed particularly in the center of the capital city. There were fathers went to work and never returned; children went to school, bidding their parents good bye without realizing that that was the last good bye they will ever wish them. Women went to market and never returned; wives and husbands were separated by death prematurely.

Today as America celebrates the inauguration of Barack Husein Obama, the first black president in the history of the USA; it shows the extent human freedom has come. That “all man is created equal and that no man, race, or tribe is more superior to another” is a God’s free gift to mankind and must be enjoyed by all.

Irrespective of where it happened, an injustice anywhere is injustice to mankind. This is why the whole world ought to join Azerbaijan and remember these freedom fighters. They gave their life not just for Azerbaijan but that the whole world will live in freedom. Like every other freedom fighters through out history, these Azerbaijan martyrs died for the simple believe that the good legacies they fight for will one day be reaped by the generations to come after them.

So, remembering the martyrs of January 20th creates an opportunity for good reflection by the Azerbaijan government, the Azerbaijani population and the entire world. The food for thought here comes in the form of a self intended question which is “am I living my life so as to preserve the good fight people before me had fought so I can live in freedom and still live a better place for the generations to come?”

AZERBAIJAN THE ANTIDOTE TO RUSSIA ENERGY THREATS

2009-01-13T18:09:00.002+04:00

It is no news that Russia has decided to block the supply of gas to Ukraine over the reason that Ukraine owes her -Russia so much debt.

This is not the first time Russia is using this means on Ukraine. In 2006, the same scenario played out and with the intervention of the world community especially Europe, the dispute was resolved. However this time around, the EU nations are also a victim.

Russia is accusing Ukraine of siphoning the fuel made for the EU nations that was route through Ukraine. Because of this Russia said it is blocking the flow of gas. The consequence is that much of Europe including Ukraine is without gas despite Europe having to face one of the harshest winter for about two decades.

This new development once again leaves Europe at the mercy of Russia. It only emphasis the threat Russia still remains to the collective goal of the EU.

Although, what the situation creates is that it allows EU to consider its policies with Russia.

As an advice to the EU community: Azerbaijan, Russia’s near neighbor has a vast gas deposit in the Caspian Sea. If the EU can channel its focus on how to better inculcate Azerbaijan into its policies, establish a stronger relationship with the Azerbaijan nation and pursue a wide national development, there is way Russia will not feel threatened and as a result the Russia threat can well be nullified.