The Committee on the Rights of the Child today considered the reports of Azerbaijan on how that country is implementing the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and on children involved in armed conflict.
The delegation of Azerbaijan, which was led by Hijran Huseynova, Head of the State Committee on Family, Women and Children’s Affairs of Azerbaijan, said the training of officials on the Convention and its Optional Protocols was a very pressing issue and much more effort was needed, but the will was there. The problem of sex tourism was being targeted through awareness-raising campaigns. Azerbaijan had acceded to the United Nations Convention on Preventing Organised Crime and its Protocol on suppressing human trafficking. A free and safe shelter existed for victims of human trafficking, equipped with help from non-governmental organizations. In the last year over 600 children were referred to that shelter, where they were provided with psychological, social and legal assistance.
