Pioneering Program Begins in Azerbaijan

Mercy Corps' Child Survival Program is the first of its kind in Azerbaijan. The program will benefit children and mothers in rural villages. Photo: Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps has received funding from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the first Child Survival health initiative to be awarded in Azerbaijan.

The award was announced in October 2001 and will run through October 2006. The project sites chosen are all in the mountainous regions in the south: Yardimli, Lerik and 25% of Masali. These areas are among the most isolated in the country with up to 50% of the villages inaccessible in wintertime.

A Mercy Corps assessment indicates a tremendous need for community-based maternal and child health services in the project area. Preliminary surveys have all been completed and program activities are soon to commence.

Child Survival is the term used worldwide for programs, which aim to reduce the deaths of infants, children and mothers in disadvantaged populations around the world. The program brings simple lifesaving and preventive health care to areas with traditionally high rates of infant, child and maternal mortality and morbidity.

Child Survival efforts in Azerbaijan will focus on mobilizing community-level mechanisms and networks that will facilitate health education and promote positive, preventive behaviors for caretakers of children under five and their mothers. Mercy Corps will strengthen the ability of mothers, caretakers and communities to take responsibility for their own health and the health of their children. In addition, primary health care will be improved through the training of feldschers and midwives, who provide the first level of health care at the community level.