In response to an alarming situation, the World Food Programme started its operation in Azerbaijan during late 1993 to maintain the nutritional status of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) having been severely affected as a result of ethnic cleansing policy conducted by Armenia.
Azerbaijan was the first among the former Soviet Union republics to face the problem of refugees and internally displaced persons. According to official data there are 843,000 refugees and IDPs (11% of the population), out of which 610,000 are IDPs (of which 38% are children) from the occupied territories from and around Nagorno-Karabakh who fled the area between 1992 and 1993. The displaced population is settled in different types of shelters across the country. Only one third are residing in an ordinary housing while more than 90,000 are living in 28 different camps/settlements and around 300,000 people are settled in public buildings including rail wagons. It is estimated that around half of the IDPs are living in the urban areas of Baku and Sumgait. Those people are having a comparative advantage over the IDPs in rural areas and camps/settlements, where services are randomly provided and employment opportunities are extremely limited. As a result, food assistance has been mainly targeted to the IDPs outside the major urban areas.
In addition to assisting the IDPs facing food insecurity, WFP’s assistance reached also different vulnerable groups. At the beginning, institutional feeding was undertaken to assist hospital patients and children in social welfare institutions. Also, WFP provided food assistance to orphans in a public orphanage in Sumgait, to in-patient children affected by bone-tuberculosis in the sanatorium of Baku and to some victims of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe.
On December 28, 2004 Mr. Emil Karimov (Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary) was appointed as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations World Food Programme.
On February 25, 2005 President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with John Powell, Regional Director of UN World Food Program, during his official visit to Italy.
During their talk, the Head of the Azerbaijani State spoke of the problems of refugees and IDPs in Azerbaijan, and on the works done for the improvement of the plight. Addressing Mr. John Powell, President Ilham Aliyev said he has been in the refugee camps, and familiarized with their living conditions. He also stressed the necessity of taking into account the social conditions of refugees and render assistance to them.
Expressing his satisfaction with meeting the Azerbaijani President, Mr. John Powell said he would visit Azerbaijan and continue cooperating in this direction.
On May 8-15, 2005 members of the Executive Boards (EBs) of WFP/UNDP/UNICES visited the Republic of Azerbaijan. The purpose of the visit was to allow members of the EBs of the 4 agencies concerned to gain insight in how the UN Agencies work synergistically together at the country level and to what extent, what how the UN Agencies contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, to observe how the UN Agencies support the Government in achieving these goals and to review the facts of partnership between the UN Agencies and bilateral donors. During the visit the members of the EBs met with the officials from the appropriate government bodies, as well as members of local NGOs. The EBs’ members have been received by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of humanitarian assistance, education and health and Minister of Foreign Affairs. They also visited the Imishli, Salyan, Fizuli and Guba districts of Azerbaijan and familiarized with the situation of the refugees and INDs settled there in camps and trains, as well as with the projects being implemented by the UN institutions. Lastly, they underlined the necessity of the international community to continue supporting in solving the existing problems of refugees and IDPs in Azerbaijan.
On July 25-28, 2006 the delegation led by James Morris, Executive Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP), visited Azerbaijan. On July 26 the delegation, together with the chairman of the Republic’s Committee on Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov, visited refugee camps located in the Sabirabad, Imishli and Bilasuvar regions of the country, and familiarized with the vital activities. Mr. Morris informed that WFP adopted a decision on rendering assistance to the refugees and IDPs at the amount of $15.66 million from July 2006 till June 2008. The internally displaced persons expressed their gratitude to Mr. Morris for the prolongation of the rendered humanitarian assistance for another two years. The high guest expressed concern and regret with the difficulties he witnessed in the refugee camps. On July 27, 2006 UN World Food Program’s (WFP) Executive Director James Morris was received by the President of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev.
The President said Azerbaijan is now experiencing rapid development in both political and economic fields. He added, however, that the country continues facing its main problem, the Armenian military aggression which led to the creation of more than one million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The Azerbaijani leader said the Government has been taking steady measures to better the lives of the refugees and IDPs, adding that all the tent camps will be removed very soon as they are not wanted. President Ilham Aliyev thanked the UN World Food Program for continuing providing aid to refugees and IDPs in Azerbaijan, and expressed his hope in the further enhancement of the country’s cooperation. Mr. James Morris described the existing cooperation between Azerbaijan and WFP as very fruitful. He informed the President that during this visit he met with the local refugees and IDPs, and was impressed by the results of what the government and even the President of Azerbaijan have done to improve their living conditions. During his visit to Azerbaijan Mr. J. Morris met with the Prime Minister Mr. Artur Rasizade, Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Ali Hasanov, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov. They discussed issues regarding the further cooperation between Azerbaijan and WFP.
On August 23, 2006 newly appointed country representative of WFP Mrs. Lean Miller was received by the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov. During the meeting the future activities towards the improvement of the living conditions of the IDPs and the implementation of the prolonged operations programme were discussed.
