Germany launches new project on IDPs in Azerbaijan

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan’s State Committee for Refugees and IDPs and German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) will jointly implement a project for internally displaced persons. This was said at the meeting between the Chairman of the State Committee Rovshan Rzayev and the GIZ Director on Azerbaijan Sonia Fontaine on June 4.

Rzayev noted that President Ilham Aliyev is taking significant steps to address the social problems of refugees and IDPs and improve their living conditions. First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva also carries out consistent and purposeful activity in this direction. As a result, about 300,000 IDPs were provided with new apartments, the chairman mentioned.

He expressed gratitude to Fontaine for the assistance in the projects implemented by the humanitarian organizations she heads in connection with solving the problems of refugees and IDPs.

Fontaine, in turn, highly appreciated the current level of relations between Germany and Azerbaijan and noted the implementation of projects in various fields between the two countries.

The sides mentioned that the projects on IDPs are expected to create new opportunities for them. Rzayev and Fontaine further exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

Due to the ethnic cleansing policy carried out by Armenia and the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and IDPs in Azerbaijan hit more than 1.2 million. With a population of about 9.8 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms.

Thanks to the measures taken over the past 13 years, the level of poverty among IDPs in Azerbaijan decreased from 75 to 12 percent.