USAID Supports Child-run Advocacy Group Elections
On April 5, Azerbaijani children at Children and Family Support Centers in the Mingechevir (central), Goranboy (southern) and Shuvelan (urban) districts of Azerbaijan held elections to select representatives to self-advocacy groups that will represent the voice of children in Azerbaijan.
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| Participating in the elections, an Azerbaijani youth from Mingechevir casts a ballot for members of the children’s self-advocacy groups |
The Children and Family Support Centers were created with support from USAID’s Community-based Children’s Support Program (CCSP), which is implemented by Save the Children Federation in partnership with United Aid for Azerbaijan. The initiative is designed to assist young people in becoming empowered members of society, to promote the influence of children within society, and to help their families, schools, and communities prepare children for their future. With determined motivation, USAID-supported Children and Family Support Centers directly empower these children so they can address key issues with the most appropriate authority. Children can contribute their opinions about problems which affect them, participate in relevant decision-making, and mobilize themselves to slowly transform their world.
Towards that goal, the centers work to involve disadvantaged youth in social change by establishing three children’s self-advocacy groups in target regions of Azerbaijan. Unlike other children’s committees existing in Azerbaijan, this group is comprised of extremely vulnerable children, ages 12 to 16. Children participating in the elections selected seven of their peers in each center who will engage in activities to promote youth rights and solutions to problems such as de-institutionalization and child welfare reforms.
As groundwork before organizing self-advocacy groups, training courses were provided to 22 youth in each center in Mingechevir, Goranboy and Shuvelan to build a strong understanding of the children’s own rights and responsibilities in Azerbaijan. The training program also taught students an array of leadership and self-advocacy skills including self-awareness, communication skills, goal-setting, problem-solving, decision-making, and teamwork. These groups are intended to nurture children’s development into individuals who will not be merely passive observers, but rather active agents in shaping their communities and their own lives.
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