UMCOR Azerbaijan

Basic health care for IDPs in Azerbaijan

10 March 2004

Many of the 4,000 'temporary' residents of the former Technical College in Baku, Azerbaijan have been living there for up to 10 years. The dilapidated college buildings serve as an IDP camp for people forced to flee from their homes as a consequence of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno Karabakh in the early nineties.

Conditions in the college are appalling. Every morning, 240 people queue at a single toilet block. The sanitation of a latrine, which has been overused and received no maintenance for over ten years, is virtually indescribable. During the day, people try to keep themselves occupied, perhaps by earning some money in some way. Finding work is not an easy task in a city of 4 million with unemployment figures running at over 50% and so many people resort to begging, crime and prostitution. In winter, the chief occupation is keeping warm in the freezing temperatures and the heating system hasn't worked in years. At lunchtime, 120 families converge on four kitchens to cook their main meal for the day.

UMCOR runs a medical clinic in one of the former-college buildings, funded by the US Department of State. The main complaints are intestinal infections, worms, heart disease and stress-related illnesses according to medical staff. The UMCOR clinic provides free medicines and primary health care for the IDPs, just as they do in many other similar institutions throughout Baku. The provision of basic health care is of vital importance to the residents here.

UMCOR is able implement vital programs in Azerbaijan thanks to the commitment of the international community. The needs of these people, left in displacement by an apparently forgotten conflict, are very real and it is essential that we continue to provide them with assistance.