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RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC According to Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)1, education shall be a basic human right for everyone. The European Union (EU), since its formation, has always emphasised the importance of education, thus, supports Member States in their effort to provide the best education for their citizens. To have a legislative springboard to reach this goal, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR)2 was published in 2000, including Article 14, “Right to education”, ensuring the legal protection for students in Member States upon implementing the European Law. Within the legal framework, Member States aim to tackle the existing challenges regarding education. The Erasmus Programme3 was launched in 1987 to strengthen the stand for academic partnership among Member States. As its name suggests, the prior task for the Programme was to support and train the mobility of university students, however, as the Programme developed, it has expanded its scope, also covering additional fields such as Training, Youth, and Sport across many age groups. The current framework of Erasmus+ Programme4 is being implemented from 2014 until 2020, as it has been renewed parallel to the EU Long-term budgets (MFF)5, being a financial plan for a 7-year period for the EU spendings. As it follows the new Erasmus+ term is approaching with great pace, therefore, planning has already taken place for it. The European Commission has decided to double the expenditure for the Programme up to EUR 30 billion6. On the other hand, there still is a major gap between the level of education across Member States. Even though the general objectives of the Programme7 indicate that the promotion should be in accordance with Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union8, there is a significant level of inequality across different Member States mainly due to the financial barriers. Erasmus+ students tend to come from higher socio-economic groups. 57% of non-Erasmus+ The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948, as a common standard of achievements for all people, and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. 2 The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR) enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for European Union (EU) citizens and residents into EU law. It was proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission in 2000. However, its then legal status was uncertain and it did not have full legal effect until the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009. 3 EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students 4 “Erasmus+”, European Commission, 2019 5 “Multiannual financial framework 2014-2020 and EU Budget 2014 in a nutshell”, European Commission, 2014 6 “Commission adopts proposal for the next Erasmus Programme 2021-2027”, European Commission, 2018 7 “Overview and Objectives of the Erasmus+ Programme”, Kosovo Erasmus+ Office, 2019 8 “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.” 1
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students specify money as the biggest obstacle to participate in the Programme, and as the incentives provided are insufficient9. Thus, the above-represented information shows that the Programme is yet to be equally accessible for all potential beneficiaries. This may eventually lead to several issues such as “Brain Drain”10 or simply not having enough well-trained people. Source: “Erasmus: Facts, Figures & Trends”, European Commission, 2015
CONFLICTS AND ACTIONS The young generation is at stake, According to the Eurostat release11, in 2017, 22.4% of people living in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. During the past decade, child poverty has increased significantly in most of Member States, with youngsters facing a higher risk of social exclusion than any other age group.
“Improving the Participation in the Erasmus Programme”, European Parliament, 2010 Brain Drain is a term used to describe the emigration of highly trained or qualified people from a particular country. 11 “People at risk of poverty or social exclusion”, eurostat, 2019 9
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Mainly, young people, who are exposed to the risk of poverty, come from large, low-income families, households with migrant backgrounds, streets and are subjected to social perils such as homelessness, violence, and trafficking. Additionally, children, born into severe poverty, have their socio-emotional growth, psychomotor development, and cognitive processes seriously impeded what bears negative consequences in their future. The Swedish study12 concluded that long-lasting periods of child’s poverty, when combined with neglectful and poorly educated parents, are the greatest barrier young people face for educational and social achievement. In addition to discouraging family backgrounds, tuition fees in private educational institutions arguably create inherent inequalities between young generation, further causing a spillover effect into undergraduate and graduate studies and, as a result, affecting the socio-economic structure of a country. DOES THE HIGH REALLY WORTH THE PAIN? Even though the funding for Erasmus+ Programme is to be doubled in the upcoming years, a lot of students are still reluctant to take an opportunity to study abroad. As the tendency of getting foreign education has been progressively increasing among people from high and middle social classes, the relative market advantage13 from such studies significantly declines. Consequently, despite a considerable increase in subsidisation, students, especially the ones with limited resources, perceive Erasmus+ Programme as an overkill than a rational way of investing their time and money in. Wholesome childhood is the key to further success, However, very often, the link between penury and poor school performance is either underestimated or ignored completely. In contrast to aforementioned, the success of the Finnish education system is highly interconnected with the way the Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation at the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland14 manages to provide children and their families with equitable opportunities to start a successful educational path at the age of 7. They make early childhood education and care (ECEC), voluntary free preschool, comprehensive health services, and preventive measures identifying potential learning difficulties before children start schooling accessible for everyone. The figure below15 shows the percentage of children from 0 to 6 years old enrolled in early childhood services in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)16 countries, including 25 Member States. Numerous European countries fail to engage the majority of youngsters in ECEC what eventually creates learning difficulties and low school performance later on.
“Pathways to social exclusion”, Olof Bäckman and Anders Nilsson, European Sociological Review, 2011 Relative market advantage is a concept expressing the benefits in future such as job opportunities, financial gain, and life quality. 14 Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland is responsible for the development of education, science, cultural, sport and youth policies, and for international cooperation in these fields. 15 “ECEC for children from disadvantaged backgrounds: Findings from a European literature review and two case studies”, European Commission, 2012 16 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is an intergovernmental organisation with 36 member countries, established to stimulate economic progress and world trade. 12 13
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EXISTING MEASURES Taking this into account, the European Commission has adopted the Proposal for Council Recommendation on ECEC17 which aims to support Member States in their efforts to improve access to, quality, and monitoring of their ECECs. Alongside the aforementioned proposal, Inclusive Early Childhood Education project18 has been aligned, particularly focusing on children with families with poor backgrounds, immigrants, and disabled children. Additionally, the European Commission directs Erasmus+ Programme to support higher educational institutions in improving and executing strategies for inclusion via the renewed EU agenda for higher education19.
KEY QUESTIONS What are the alternatives for the Erasmus+ Programme to be accessible for more students from poor backgrounds and facilitate equitable education? Which additional aspects affect the students’ participation in the Erasmus+ Programme (e.g personal motivation, level of awareness)? LINKS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ‘‘A systematic review of factors linked to poor academic performance of disadvantaged students in science and maths in schools”, Pallavi Amitava Banerjee, 2016; ‘‘Drawing The Line On Educational Disadvantage”, Adam Inder, 2018; ‘‘Improving the participation in the Erasmus Programme”, European Parliament, 2010.
“Proposal for a Council Recommendation on High Quality Early Childhood Education and Care Systems”, European Commission, 2018 18 “Inclusive Early Childhood Education”, European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2019 19 “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a Renewed EU Agenda for Higher Education”, European Commission, 2017 17
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RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC Protection of the rights of minorities represents both a goal and a responsibility for most governments. Obviously, most states implement various frameworks or regulations being directed to their inclusion, however, one of the biggest obstacles standing in the way is the language barrier. Some minorities have limited opportunities to learn, use, and develop their language. The presidential decree “on the Protection of the Rights and Freedoms and on State support for the Promotion of the Languages and Cultures of National Minorities, Numerically Small Peoples, and Ethnic Groups living in the Republic of Azerbaijan”, initiated in 1992, was a positive step towards the protection of non-state languages as it not only assigned “the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the ministries and organisations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, heads of local executive bodies the mission of the state assistance and government policy in safeguarding and developing the cultural, linguistic, and religious specification of the nations in minority, small-numbered peoples, and ethnic groups”1, but also included the creation of philology departments and support for broadcast in minority languages2. However, the following political developments stalled the implementation of the decree and led to the adoption of the “Law on the State Language” in 2002, emphasising the protection of the Azerbaijani language at the expense of other languages and, thus, limiting the use of non-state languages in broadcasting and in citizens’ interactions within the state3. No matter how small in numbers, every single citizen matters equally. One of the pillars of democracy represents an idea that all citizens should be given the same opportunities from the state. Also, successful implementation of inclusive and non-discrimination laws in general lead to peaceful cohabitation. In this sense, Azerbaijan should develop policies that capture and reflect the needs of the vulnerable parts of the community. CONFLICTS AND ACTIONS According to statistics, measured by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, ethnic minorities make up 9.4 per cent of its population4. The aim of every ethnic minority group is to be accepted and be a part of society, which can be a complex issue if we consider the fact that they are not able to speak the national language. The main problem is that the ethnic minorities find it difficult to be engaged in the political, social, and educational life of a country, they reside in, due to the previously mentioned lack of communication. On the one hand, there is an existing solution to this problem which is the plethora of Azerbaijani language courses that can provide people with the knowledge they need to become an active member of society. On the other one, while it can solve the problem, it, at the same time, replaces the concern with another one. The main issue that the ethnic minorities have is a lack of communication with the authorities due to the fact that the majority speaks exclusively Azerbaijani. Completely replacing one’s culture with another will never be the European way.
’’Minority Rights as an Instrument of Conflict Transformation”, Journal of Conflict Transformation, 2016 Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 2019 3 “Minority Rights as an Instrument of Conflict Transformation”, Journal of Conflict Transformation, 2016 4 “Ethnic Minorities”, Republic of Azerbaijan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2019 1 2
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Besides that, Azerbaijan has joined Council of Europe’s Campaign for Diversity, Human Rights, and Participation “All Different- All Equal”. National Campaign Committee involving non-governmental organisations, authorities, media, and etc. has been set up to develop and implement a national campaign programme in cooperation with the Council of Europe. Moreover, Azerbaijan cooperates with other international organisations, for instance, an Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on the issues related to national minorities.
KEY QUESTIONS Where does the problem come from? How can the European Union assist Azerbaijan to protect the rights of the linguistic minorities and further implement the existing regulations? How the non-state languages can be promoted while protecting the cultural and linguistic native qualities? What kind of organisations can be further involved in the inclusion of linguistic minorities and how can they assist the process?
LINKS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH “Minority Rights as an Instrument of Conflict Transformation”, Journal of Conflict Transformation, 2016; “Language Rights of Linguistic Minorities”, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations, 2019; “Ethnic Minorities”, Republic of Azerbaijan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2019; “National Minorities in South Caucasus”, Ahmad Shahidov, 2014; The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO)
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RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC Nowadays, the youth are increasingly facing difficulties to find a job, especially the ones who have recently graduated from university. “Of the 4.6 million working-age population of Azerbaijan, only 32 per cent have a specialty obtained in higher and secondary special educational institutions, as well as in colleges. Every second secondary school graduate does not consider it necessary to enter any educational institution to acquire professional skills.”, stated Salim Muslimov, the Minister of Labour and Social Protection. According to him, neither education, nor professional qualities and experience of unemployed and job-seekers do not meet the requirements of the modern labour market, being one of the main causes of unemployment in the country. According to the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Population, Metin Kerimli, Azerbaijan is one of the few states in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Eastern Europe, in the population of whose the youth is prevailing. “More than 25 per cent of the population of Azerbaijan is young people aged 14 to 29 years. If we take into account the children under the age of fourteen, then about 50 per cent of the population of Azerbaijan is under 29 years old.” Kerimli noted that the growth of youth employment is part of the employment policy of the government of Azerbaijan.
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On September 15, 2017, the state programme “Azerbaijani Youth in 2017-2021” was adopted. This programme includes various activities to promote youth entrepreneurship. According to the state programme on youth, as well as Azerbaijan 2020 Concept1, various business incubators have been established in Azerbaijan. This state programme aims to foster active participation of young people in every aspect of the society through supporting their creative and innovative initiatives, as well as fostering the growth of entrepreneurship. The specific targets included in this programme, which are associated with their employment, are aimed to raise the level of awareness about career decision, market, and employment among youth. In accordance with the “Azerbaijan Employment Strategy for 2019-20302”, it is planned to reduce the unemployment rate by 4 per cent, as well as to decrease the unemployment rate among women and youth to a minimum in Azerbaijan by 2030.
CONFLICTS AND ACTION International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s3 publication “Towards policies tackling the current youth employment challenges in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”4 has addressed persistent youth employment crisis in Azerbaijan with fact-based details thoroughly, in which data complies with the situation between 2000-2016. The general pressing issues underpinning the youth unemployment in Azerbaijan are: over-represented youth employment in sectors with low earnings, working without any formal labour contract, skill mismatches, imbalanced proportion of opportunities for different sections of job seekers, and so on. To give an illustration, in comparison with total population, young people were over-represented in agriculture (48 per cent of youth vs. 37 per cent of all workers in Azerbaijan) in 2014. Besides agriculture, the data given also suggests that young people are over-represented in retail trade, hotels, and restaurants. The reason, why over-representation of youth in the sectors has become a problem, originates from the nature of the provided jobs. These sectors offer low productive jobs with low earnings. Furthermore, public work5 is an active labour market scheme on a large scale in Azerbaijan with regards to the youth employment. For example, 30 per cent of all registered unemployed persons take part in public works in Azerbaijan, an half of them are young people. Even though this factor alleviates poverty and youth unemployment, public work schemes do not provide opportunities for high-skilled employees, and do not guarantee a worker transition from low-skilled employment to regular employment. Moreover, the share of people, working without any formal labour contract, was estimated at 67 per cent in Azerbaijan in 2016. While informal employment contributes some 40 per cent to total employment in Baku, their share moves between 70 and 90 per cent in the regions. These data also indicate that there are large skill mismatches on the labour market. According to an assessment of World Economic Forum on impediments for business development, inadequately educated workforce was identified as serious impediment for doing business in Azerbaijan only because the people, who have been educated well to become professionals in their field, tend not to work in Azerbaijan, as employment, after they have graduated/been trained, is not pledged and prospects of good employment are vague in some sectors, for instance, e-commerce. Besides this major employment barrier affiliated with the professional education, the share of young jobseekers, been registered at the State Employment Service of Azerbaijan and have completed vocational training and been retrained, is 8 per cent. The catalysts for the limited provision of vocational training are the lack of financial resources, as well as the unwillingness of employers to guarantee jobs for trained workers due to their doubts about the efficient implementation of vocational trainings.
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“Azerbaijan 2020: Look into the future” concept of development”, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 2019 “Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on “Approval of the Employment Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2019-2030”, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 2018 3 International Labour Organisation (ILO) is the United Nations agency, setting international labour standards and promoting social protection and work opportunities for all in conditions of freedom, equity, security, and dignity. 4 “Towards policies tackling the current youth employment challenges in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”, International Labour Organisation, 2017 5 Here, public work indicates construction, repair, and maintenance of social and technical infrastructure. 2
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Thereby, the aforementioned factors, staggering youth unemployment, discourage people from specialising in entrepreneurship and starting their own enterprises. Because, the incidence of long-term unemployment (over one year) among young jobseekers in Azerbaijan accounted for 72 per cent in 2013. The problems, associated with youth employment, such as skill mismatches, as well as inadequate educational background of the young people, have a high likelihood of disrupting maintenance of their entrepreneurial activities. In terms of the actions that are taken on a local level, currently, there are three key governmental agencies in Azerbaijan that play a great role in fostering active participation of youth in employment sector from different aspects: the Ministry of Economic Development of Azerbaijan6, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of Azerbaijan7, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan8. The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan implemented several state programmes dedicated to the youth development, namely “‘Azerbaijani Youth’ for 2011-15”, “‘Development Strategy of Azerbaijani Youth’ for 2012-15”, and now “Azerbaijani Youth for 2017-21”, which also reflects the measures taken by the official government to tackle issues related to Azerbaijani Youth. Azerbaijani Youth Foundation represents a programme directed by Azerbaijani youth, aiming to provide financial support for projects focused on the youth policy from educational, cultural, and other social aspects. Recently, the Executive Director of the Youth Foundation, Farhad Hajiyev, has expressed his hope for enabling Azerbaijani youth to use grants to fund their entrepreneurial activities and increase the interest of young people in this sphere. In terms of the EU institutions, a branch of the European External Action Service (EEAS)9, called Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan, focuses on the implementation of the projects to support civil society in Azerbaijan and promote economic and political integration within the framework of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). However, the scope of their activities mostly draws attention to the development in general means and, therefore, has not been aimed at solving youth unemployment solely. As the EU remains a main donor of grant funding, as well as the largest foreign donor of the civil society, their projects within Azerbaijan can be improved with a more explicit attention to the youth employment.
The Ministry of Economic Development of Azerbaijan is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of economic development, state investments, economic relations, foreign investments, sustainable development, and business promotion activities in Azerbaijan. 7 The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of Azerbaijan is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of regulating the labour markets and ensuring social protection of the population of Azerbaijan. 8 The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of regulating activities related to sports and youth development in Azerbaijan. 9 European External Action Service (EEAS) manages diplomatic relations with countries outside the EU but is still considered to have significant impact on the EU’s security and foreign policy. 6
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KEY QUESTIONS To what extent could the measures, implemented outside the scope of the European Union, be applicable to the cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan in terms of tackling youth unemployment and boosting entrepreneurship? In what ways can young entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan compensate for negative impacts of the notable rates of youth unemployment? How staggering youth unemployment might have affected perspectives of young people regarding career decisions? LINKS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH “Entrepreneurship Programme for Job Seekers in Azerbaijan”, International Labour Organisation, 2016; “EU Projects with Azerbaijan”, Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan, 2016; “Solving global youth unemployment”, Mona Mourshed at TEDxUNPlaza, 2013; “Azerbaijan intends to increase youth employment in agriculture”, Azernews, 2018; “Promoting Youth Employment Through Improved Job Search Skills and Networking at Syslab Employment Centres in Masalli and Ganja”, UNDP Azerbaijan, 2019.
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THE RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “mental health” is defined as a “state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can contribute to her or his community”. Mental health directly affects overall emotional, psychological, social well-being, and has a substantial influence on how people think, feel, and behave. Mental health issues refer to a broad range of conditions, or disorders, having a negative impact on individual’s mood, thinking, and behaviour. Nowadays, there are more than 200 classified forms of mental illness with varying symptoms, duration, and severity1. Mental health is an essential part of living a balanced, healthy life; being mentally healthy enables individuals to have an enriching lifestyle, boosts productivity, improves the relationships, and helps coping with adversities of daily life. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan does not have any policy referred to the mental health issues. There also is a lack of the mental health strategy plan and an emergency preparedness plan in the country right now. System of mandatory health insurance has not been well-developed yet, so the mental health services are not fully covered by insurance. When it comes to human rights, even though there is a human rights review body in Azerbaijan, this authority does not consider issues related to the human rights protection of mentally ill people on a regular basis. CONFLICTS AND ACTIONS Mental health problems are often associated with public and self-stigma, making patients’ lives even harder. People, who suffer from the mental health issues, also deal with problems such as insecurity, self-hate, or selfharm, which might lead to suicide attempts. On the one hand, individuals, who struggle with mental health issues, never reach out and ask for advice; on the other one, by the time patients are diagnosed with the disorder, it is too late to provide an efficient treatment process. According to various sources, the number of people, who suffer from mental health related issues, has risen significantly in Azerbaijan, alongside with the increased rate of suicide attempts. For instance, during the past few months, many suicide attempts, mainly by teenagers, have made headlines and have been a topic of heated discussions and debates by professionals and officials as well as the general public. One of the recent incidents was the suicide of a 14 year-old schoolgirl who had problems with mental health and, also, was a victim of bullying. The above noted accident caused a huge wave of reaction throughout the whole country, showing the poor state of mental health care in institutions. This case led to the discussion of issues such as lack of attention both by parents and school administration2. 1 2
“What is Mental Illness?”, Mental Health Association in Forsyth Country, 2019 “Azerbaijani girl’s death by suicide shocks nation’’, Eurasianet, 2019
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To be more specific regarding the current state of mental health care in Azerbaijan3, even though some improvements have been made in recent years, one of them being the adoption of the Mental Health Law by the Azerbaijani Parliament in 2001, still, the conditions in hospitals and health-care institutions do not meet the basic Western standards4, and mental health care expenses are not covered by the insurance policies. As for the European Union, both at national and inter-governmental levels, different policies have been developed and implemented regarding the mental health care5.
“WHO-AIMS Report on Mental Health System in the Republic of Azerbaijan”. World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health, the republic of Azerbaijan, 2007
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“Mental Health Services in Azerbaijan’’, Fuad Ismayilov, 2004 “Good Practices in Mental Health and Well-being”, the EU Health Programme, 2014
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KEY QUESTIONS How can the stigma, attached to mental health issues, be eliminated? How can “adequate access and treatment for citizens” be defined? What factors stand as an obstacle in the way of improving mental health support facilitation in Azerbaijan? LINKS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH “Mental health problems - an introduction”, Mind for better mental health, 2017; “What It Feels Like To Have Depression | Body Language”, BBC Three, 2019; “The European Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2020”, World Health Organisation, 2015.
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RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC Young people represent an integral to society’s development. The stability and sustainability of a state can only be ensured by engaging youth and making them equal partners in design and development. When youth are empowered, there is a great potential for bringing about positive change to society. Nevertheless, over the past decades, youth interest in civic and political engagement in Azerbaijan has been increasingly decreasing. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the monopoly of the Komsomol1 in conducting youth work came to the end. The new youth policy, under the cover of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan, began to evolve. For the last two decades, the Ministry has implemented several projects, however, they did not provide enough opportunities for the youth. The National Assembly of the Republic of Azerbaijan, namely Milli Majlis, comprising of 125 deputies, is the legislative branch of the Azerbaijani government2. Even though every citizen, not younger than 25, may be elected as the member of Milli Majlis, there are no representatives of the youth in the Parliament3. Since most of the Assembly consists of the old generation, youth challenges fail to be heard. Nonetheless, Milli Majlis is not the only place for addressing issues of public concerns. For these purposes, active citizens founded different types of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in humanitarian, educational, health care, public policy, social, and other areas of human involvement. However, out of 280 NGOs in Azerbaijan, only five per cent are related to civic concerns and political issues, and even less of them were founded by the youth4. These dramatic numbers reflect the sad reality — lack of interest and initiatives among youth in civil and political spheres.
Komsomol was the Soviet Communist Youth League during 1918-1991. “The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan”, 2016 3 “Deputies”, Milli Majlis, 2019 4 “Non-governmental Organisations”, Azerbaijan, 2019 1 2
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CONFLICTS AND ACTIONS Political alienation of youth in Azerbaijan The key factor of political alienation of youth in Azerbaijan is the absence of self-efficacy - confidence in one’s ability to influence government decisions5. According to the study, conducted by the University of Latvia, on a scale from 1 to 5, the average self-efficacy of individuals aged 14-29 stands at 2.0 for post-communist countries, compared to 3.0 for Western democracies6.
Civic skills, such as interest in and understanding of political issues, also form an important complex for active political behaviour. The data suggests that the average political competence (derived from questionnaires) of youth in post-communist countries is 2.5/5, while that in Western countries is measured at 3.0/5.
Finally, the youth’s perception of the government as responsive towards their inquiries has shown to have a major effect on the political activity of the former7. A negative trend in such perception has been observed as the groups from age 14 to 29 were examined across the post-communist domain, which shows much room for improvement in this respect of youth’s political activity8.
“Political Participation and Development of Political Attitudes in Post-Communist Countries”, Inta Mierina, 2011, p. 125 6 Ibid., p. 126 7 Ibid., p. 130-132 8 Ibid., p. 126 5
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SMALL SCALES OF THE MEASURES IN PLACE The political, civic, and other kinds of engagement of Azerbaijani youth has been on the agenda of Azerbaijani government for over two decades, underpinning the establishment of the Ministry of Youth and Sport in 1994, being the key actor in implementing national youth policy. Among non-governmental organisations, the main cooperation platform and the coordinating body for Azerbaijani Youth is the National Assembly of Youth Organisations of the Republic of Azerbaijan (NAYORA), currently having 65 member organisations. Also, the Azerbaijan Volunteers’ Union (AVPU)9 is a non-governmental organisation, aiming to develop volunteering, promote solutions to the societal issues, and improve the well-being of disadvantaged segments of the Azerbaijani population. Their capacity also includes the promotion of knowledge on human rights in various regions of Azerbaijan. Since 2015, Azerbaijan has also been a participant in the UNDP Post-2015 Development Agenda10, resulting in events such as Model United Nations and several Youth Forums held in 2014-2018. However, the scales, required for major political and civic mobilisation of Azerbaijani youth, are larger than the coverage the events, been held so far, can offer. For example, in the context of 2.1 million individuals representing the 14-29 aged group in Azerbaijan, the First Global Forum on Youth Policies in Azerbaijan, held in 2014, only involved 800 youngsters11. Another example regarding this issue is the project executed by the Intelligent Citizen Enlightenment Centre (ICEC) during 2011-2013 as a part of a larger “European Union Funding to Civil Society in Azerbaijan” initiative. The programme had several quarters in Ganja, Samukh, Goygol, and Shamkir, and, among other capacities, educated young individuals about human rights and democratic values in a modern society. However, during these 2 years of operation, only 200 participants were involved in the activities12.
KEY QUESTIONS How can the EU facilitate the expansion of demographic and geographical inclusivity of extant political platforms for youth in Azerbaijan? What measures should be taken to raise the political self-efficacy among the Azerbaijani youth? In what ways can the EU help improve the educational dimension of political and civic initiatives directed to the Azerbaijani youth? How should young individuals be assisted and encouraged to increase their presence in the Azerbaijani legislature? LINKS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH “Country Sheet on Youth Policy”, Youth Partnership, 2010; “Political Participation and Development of Political Attitudes in Post-Communist Countries”, Inta Mierina, 2011; “Dialogue with Civil Society and Other Actors: YOUTH”, Ruslan Ismayil-Zada, 2015; “EU Projects with Azerbaijan”, Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan, 2016; “Young Political Leaders Programme”, European Parliament, 2018.
"Country Sheet on Youth Policy Azerbaijan", Youth Partnership, 2010 "Dialogue with Civil Society and Other Actors: YOUTH", Ruslan Ismayil-Zada, 2015 11 "Making a Difference: Relying on Youth", United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2015 12 "European Union Funding to Civil Society", European External Action Service (EEAS), 2012 9
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RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC Tourism has become one of the most significant economic sectors in many countries of the world mainly due to its contribution to the income and employment rates. For instance, the travel and tourism sectors contributed an estimated EUR 782 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the EU in 2018 and resulted in 14.4 million jobs through direct employment. Attracting tourists is an opportunity for the countries, with diverse culture and complex nature, to advance their economic situation. Meanwhile, in Azerbaijan, the tourism sector has been developing rapidly for the last 10 years. The World Travel and Tourism Council reported that Azerbaijan is among the top 10 countries with the greatest increase in visitor exports from 2010 to 2016 and ranked as the 7th among European countries for the development of tourism. In 2006, Azerbaijan was visited by 900 thousand tourists, while, in 2017, the number reached 2691 thousand tourists.
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The chart shows the percentage of tourists that visited Azerbaijan in 2018 per country1. Within the chart, Russia, Georgia, and Iran represent the main countries, tourists come from. However, from 17.2 per cent of other tourists, only 4.3 per cent are from Member States. Considering the complicated visa-regime between the EU and Azerbaijan, alongside with the lack of promotional activities within the country, the EU citizens are less willing to visit Azerbaijan. The graph below shows the total number of tourists from the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France arriving in Azerbaijan from 2010 to 2014. All the units are expressed in thousands. The number of tourists had been increasing until 2011 by reaching 6760 thousand2.
CONFLICTS AND ACTIONS The devaluation of the national currency of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani Manat) lowered the prices and made Azerbaijan a more attractive destination for European tourists. Visitors to Azerbaijan can enjoy the same European standards but for half of the price. The organisation of international events such as Eurovision, Baku 2015 European Games, Formula 1 Grand Prix, or the Islamic Games for Solidarity has undoubtedly increased the flow of foreign citizens to Azerbaijan. However, despite the similar resources and price level, in 2014, Azerbaijan accommodated approximately 2.3 million international travellers while for Georgia this number equalled to 5.5 million. The potential obstacles to visit Azerbaijan may include costs of travel to Azerbaijan, concerns regarding low service and infrastructure quality, lack of attention on the protection of the environment and the absence of the sufficient number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point of Sale (POS) terminals in the country3. Also, the lack of awareness about Azerbaijan reduces its attractiveness among tourists, possibly leading to negative prejudices such as Azerbaijan being a religious country, having high crime index, unstable political situation and poor infrastructure. Likewise, the EU citizens’ categorisation of Azerbaijan as one of the post-Soviet countries undermines the competitive touristic advantages of Azerbaijan and places it into competition with other members of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) for attracting the European citizens. 1 "Number, origin of tourists visited Azerbaijan in 2018 revealed", Leman Mammadova, 2019 2 "Why Azerbaijan needs a Strategic Reform of its foreign policy towards the European Union?", Cristina Juan Carrion, 2016 3 "CESD Policy Report on Tourism Sector in Azerbaijan", CESD, 2011
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Furthermore, reported in tourist guides and feedbacks in the tourist website, the quality of staff and employees in the hotels and other touristic businesses in Azerbaijan is low4. Most of the personnel are not trained and educated to work in this sphere. The reason behind it is that the businesses do not finance any training courses for the staff and accept low background candidates to the job to spare finances. Consequently, unprofessional staff will not be able to efficiently serve to fulfil the demands of the customer. These conditions are not appreciated by the European tourists since the European standards are relatively higher than those of Azerbaijani. Therefore, in 2006, the government decided to create Azerbaijan Tourism and Management University5, an institution with the aim to train and educate people to manage the different aspects of tourism on a professional level6. In the face of all aforementioned factors, hindering foreign tourist flow to Azerbaijan, the Decree on Visa Facilitation was signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2012 to ease the visa regime for the European citizens and encourage higher visiting rate. Previously, to obtain a visa for Azerbaijan, the EU citizens were required to apply through the Consulates of Azerbaijan abroad and the procedure lasted from one to nine days. Starting from March 15, 2013, the Decree made it possible for foreigners and stateless persons to get online single-entry Asan visa valid for the maximum duration of 30 days after which the foreigners have to cross the border and re-apply for a new visa. If the visa procedures were complicated before, now it can be obtained in three days. While it is possible for the United States’ and Arab Countries’ citizens to get a visa upon arrival immediately at the airport, the visa procedures for the EU citizens are longer. The limitations of a visa, required to visit Azerbaijan, leads many tourists to visit Georgia instead - a country with similar resources and tourism facilities. Thus, the flow of tourists may increase if less restrictive visa regime is applied to the EU citizens coming to Azerbaijan. Moreover, in 2016, an international conference on “Inter-religious Tolerance and the Role of Media” was held in Baku, and visits to the EU institutions in Brussels by the leaders from various religious communities in Azerbaijan were organised in 2017 and 2018, followed by the annual “Imagine Euro Tolerance Festival” in Baku, aimed at promoting the values of intercultural dialogue and tolerance through different expressions of art7. The aforementioned events have positively affected the relations between the EU and Azerbaijan and further attracted the EU citizens to visit Azerbaijan.
"Analysis and Perspectives of Tourism in Azerbaijan", Francesco Ricapito, 2015 Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Tourism Education, 2015. 6 "Analysis and Perspectives of Tourism in Azerbaijan", Francesco Ricapito, 2015 7 "Facts and Figures about EU-Azerbaijan Relations", European External Action service, 2018 4 5
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KEY QUESTIONS How should Azerbaijan position itself for European citizens? What type of image should it promote? What are the barriers for EU citizens to visit Azerbaijan? What steps should be taken on a governmental and EU-level to attract more EU citizens to Azerbaijan? How can the EU develop its relations with Azerbaijan to reach an improvement in the tourism sector of Azerbaijan? How can the EU assist Azerbaijan in diversifying its economy away from the oil sector?
LINKS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH “What Europe knows about Azerbaijan?”, Neco Graphy, 2016; “Azerbaijan Signs EU Visa Facilitation Agreement”, Radio Liberty, 2014; “EU Countries that travel the most”, Worldatlas, 2018; “190 million Europeans have never been abroad”, European Data Journalism Network, 2018
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