Baku hosts conference on child protection
By Sabina Idayatova
Baku hosted a conference on the welfare of children organized by the Azerbaijani Parliament and PACE Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development Committee on June 11.
The event was held within the Council of Europe's Campaign to Stop Sexual Violence against Children.
Addressing the event, Vice Speaker of Azerbaijani Parliament Bahar Muradova spoke of the protection of children's rights and funding for the purpose, saying the Azerbaijani government attaches great importance to the issue of children's rights.
Muradova expressed concern over the exploitation of children, violence against children, and noted that Azerbaijan has joined relevant international conventions and improved the legislative framework in this regard.
She stressed that Azerbaijan is a country involved in war, and more than a million people were faced with the problem of refugees and displaced persons, which has a very negative impact on the welfare of children.
Sevinj Fataliyeva, Deputy Chair of the committee on international and inter-parliamentary relations of the Parliament of Azerbaijan, said it is the third conference within the frame of the program on fighting violence against children.
Fataliyeva said a lot has been done in Azerbaijan for the elimination of violence against children. She also said public awareness should be further increased.
Deputy Chair of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs Aynur Sofiyeva spoke about the problem of early marriages, which remains a serious problem.
According to her, the statistics shows that this problem exists in a number of regions of the country, and cited the question of parental responsibility in dealing with the issue.
Touching on the issue of homeless children, Sofiyeva said appropriate steps are being taken by the committee in this area and monitoring continues.
MP Ali Huseynli, in turn, spoke about the problem related to the impact of the Internet on the lives of teenagers.
He said that civil society, the private sector and international organizations should join efforts in order to address this problem.