Azernews.Az

BAKU – A group of Azerbaijani social workers visited Turkey in August to study the neighboring country’s child protection model, the manager of a Save the Children project has said.

Sahib Mammadov told a news conference Thursday that the goal of the four-day visit was to improve the care provided for Azerbaijani children in need, in cooperation with the education ministry, while applying Turkey’s experience in this area.

According to Mammadov, the 10-people-strong group of social workers visited a number of relevant institutions in the capital Ankara.

"They closely studied Turkey’s successful child protection model. They were also briefed on services provided to the mentally disabled and projects like Ashagi Cafe [which employs disabled persons].

The social workers’ visit was paid as part of Save the Children’s Consolidated Action for the Sustained Change (CASC) program being implemented with financial support of US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The project has helped to improve the lives of 30,000 children and 8,000 families in Azerbaijan. One of its goals is to render technical assistance to the Azerbaijani government and assist state-run social institutions in providing high quality services.

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization working to defend the rights and improve the lives of children in over 120 countries. Save the Children’s multi-sector programs, including education, health and nutrition, economic opportunities and relief, have positively affected the lives of over 1 million children and their parents in Azerbaijan since 1993.