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Azerbaijani children receive school kits.UMCOR in Azerbaijan: Reclaiming Health and Hope

Photo: Azerbaijani children receive school kits from UMCOR.

Since 1996, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has been present in Azerbaijan, providing support as people rebuild their lives. Traumatized by war, the loss of family and friends, and the stresses of economic hardship, men, women, children and the elderly of Azerbaijan are fighting to regain a sense of normalcy in their lives.

UMCOR's programs in Azerbaijan focus first on meeting people's immediate needs. Then they support Azerbaijanis in developing ways to sustain and take responsibility for their own redevelopment. UMCOR has implemented programs that support:

1. Vulnerable populations, who have access to free medicines and primary health care.
2. Preschool-age children who participate in educational programs to prepare them for school.
3. Women, who receive gynecological services, contraceptives, and invaluable information about their bodies and their health , as well as the health of their families.
4. Children in 32 children's institutions, who receive primary health care and medicine.
5. Young children, who have new opportunities to play sports and to interact with other children and adult role models.
6. Farmers who receive technical knowledge and skills that help them increase production, generate income, feed their families, and sustain their communities.
7. Medical facilities with needed supplies and equipment.

UMCOR has provided valuable assistance to the people of Azerbaijan, but tremendous needs remain. UMCOR works with the United States government and the United Nations to multiply your gift with additional grants.


What Is Life Like for Many People?

Elderly Azerbaiji Woman in Doorway.

  • Public health conditions have deteriorated rapidly over the years, and the country has seen a rise in communicable-- but preventable-- diseases among the general population.
  • Years of environmental degradation have contaminated the groundwater supply, polluted the air, and wiped out trees and vegetation. Such pollution causes an increase in debilitating conditions and diseases.
  • In the collective centers where displaced persons live, conditions are cramped and unsanitary, with inadequate heating and no running water.
  • Essential medicines are scarce and often unaffordable.
  • Basic public health knowledge is lacking.
  • Hospitals have neither the financial nor the material resources to meet people's complex health needs.
  • Unemployment remains high, and the gap between rich and poor grows more and more visible every day.
  • Those who are poor and vulnerable find it nearly impossible to obtain credit to start small businesses. People living in rural areas have even less access to credit.
  • The agricultural industry cannot meet the demand for food because of the scarcity of seeds, lack of tools and resources, and outdated, inefficient farming methods.

How You Can Help

Azerbaijani woman making bread.

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